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Full Download When The Walking Defeats You 1St Edition Ledio Cakaj Ebook Online Full Chapter PDF
Full Download When The Walking Defeats You 1St Edition Ledio Cakaj Ebook Online Full Chapter PDF
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For Alexander, Olivia and Sebastian
Ju dua shumë!
kado – salt
kadogo – (Swahili) small, used to refer to child soldiers
Kaibiles – Guatemalan Special Operation Forces
specializing in jungle warfare
Kandoya (Luganda) – also known as a “three-piece suit,”
this is a particularly brutal way of immobilizing
someone by tying the forearms behind the back just
below the elbows
kurut – corruption of the English term “recruit,” used
by LRA fighters to refer to new (usually young, male)
abductees
kwete – alcoholic beverage made from millet or cassava
kwon gwana – doughy bread made from cassava flour,
similar to posho or ugali which is usually made with
cornmeal
Ladit – Mr/Sir
lakwena – messenger, the embodiment of the Holy Spirit
lalweny aligu – guerrilla fighter
lapwony – teacher/commander
Lapwony Madit – the Big Teacher/Commander, referring
solely to Joseph Kony
luceke – reed straw
lut – sticks
Luo – the language of the Acholi
mina kic – home of honey (referring to a tree with a beehive)
moo ya – shea-nut oil
mzungu/muzungu (Swahili) – usually referring to a
foreigner, or a person with fair skin
oddo miyangweny – four hundred lashes
omel – mudfish
omera – brother
ot lum – small circular huts made with mud walls and
thatched roof, similar to the Sudanese tukul
pala – river flotsam
panda gari (Swahili) – load the truck (the act of arresting
people in northern Uganda)
rail – LRA term for walking in single file
rec – fish
shamba – likely a corruption of the word “chamber,”
meaning a small hut near a garden
standby – an assault or looting team often including
women and children
tamam (Arabic or Turkish) – good, ok
ting-ting – prepubescent girls who ran chores in the
households of LRA commanders. Many often ended
up being “married” to LRA commanders
tongo-tongo – term used primarily in Pazande-speaking
areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central
African Republic and South Sudan to refer to LRA
members. Oto-tong (the cutters, the mutilators) used
to be a term referring to the LRA fighters in northern
Uganda early on in the conflict
wang oo – Acholi tradition of telling stories around the
fire at night
wod – son
youngus/yanga – young fighters/child soldiers; also
young boys running errands, the male equivalent to
ting-ting
There are many books about war these days. Sadly, too
many of them miss their mark as they try to make either
heroes or villains out of ordinary people caught up in
extraordinary times or distort the ugly realities of war
by turning it into something worthy of a Hollywood
blockbuster. This book does not fall into either category.
Instead, the author, who knows much about what has
happened in one of the most obscure conflicts of our
time and has a visceral understanding of what it feels
like to be lost and alone, takes us on a long journey into
a hidden part of Central Africa. He shows us the inside
of one of the most secretive and brutal armed groups in
recent history. But not only does he show us, he makes
us feel it.
George, the main character in the story, foolishly
thinks he can find refuge from a difficult family situation
and make a better life for himself by joining the Lord’s
Resistance Army. Using family contacts, he arranges
to volunteer and soon finds himself a personal body-
guard to Joseph Kony, the Army’s charismatic, ruthless
leader. Initially, he is led into thinking that the LRA is
serious about trying to get justice for the Acholi people
I first met George (not his real name) in 2011, less than a
year after he had left the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
and a few weeks after he had returned home to Gulu in
northern Uganda. At that point I had spent about three
years talking to defectors and communities affected by the
long conflict in Uganda, Central African Republic, Demo-
cratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. My interviews
with George continued whenever I visited Gulu until the
summer of 2015, just as this manuscript was finalized.
George is one of over 500 former LRA members I have
interviewed over the years. Our first talk stuck with me
because of his keen intellect. He would often want to
debate the works of local and international authors and
demonstrated a very careful eye for detail. I also believe
there are at least some parallels between his life and mine.
Having dropped out of high school at 16 in my native
Albania, where I felt hopeless and trapped, I could under-
stand George’s hard decision to leave his home in search
of a better life.
“We never stopped walking,” George said in one of
our first meetings. “Walking is the biggest enemy. It can
defeat you easier than the bullets.” It reminded me imme-
diately of the time I walked for days from Albania to
Ledio Cakaj
Washington DC
December 2015.