PRAfrica　プロフィール ― Profile

PRAfrica（Poverty Relief）は、ウガンダ北部のキトゥグムで、戦争やエイズによる孤児を主な支援対象に、ママ　ウガンダ（宮本　ラムノ）が発起し、欧米豪日の友人たちと立ち上げた、活動を始めて10年少々になる、ウガンダ・カナダ両政府公認・登録済みのNGOです。

 

　キトゥグムのあるウガンダ北部は、南スーダンと国境を接し、LRA(Lord Resistance Army)という反政府武力勢力による戦火に20数年以上さらされてきました。

　LRAは村々、学校を襲い、抵抗する者は虐殺し、子ども達を大量に拉致しました。また子ども達を残虐な手法で洗脳し、“少年兵”に仕立てると、戦闘の最前線で手榴弾を手に突撃させ、LRAコマンダーたちの盾にしました。その上、そのコマンダーたちの相手をさせられる“Sex Slave＝慰安婦”として“使い捨て”するなど、残虐の限りを尽くしていました。

　戦闘でのLRA側の死傷者の大多数は“少年兵にされた拉致被害者たち”であると報告されています。

戦闘の混乱に紛れて逃走したり、救出されたりしてLRAの手から生還した拉致被害者たちは、身体的にはもちろん、心にも深い傷を負っています。 

 

　５年ほど前に、政府軍等の掃討作戦により、LRAがウガンダ国内より撤退し、治安面でも大幅に改善し、復興プログラムが進んでいる現在も、HIV感染率はウガンダ全体の感染率を大幅に上回り、その姿が、20数年間の悪夢・悲惨さを物語っています。一見ごく普通の人々の多くが、「自分も拉致され、〇年間LRAの野営地にいた」、「少年兵だった」、「スパイをさせられていた」、「あの赤ちゃんはLRA将校の子」など、辛い過去を背負っている現状にあります。2015年現在も、医療関係のNGO等により、傷病やPTSDへのリハビリが続けられています。 

 

　国連WFPの発表によると、数年前までキトゥグム住民の約80％が、農地や家畜を捨て、着の身着のまま過密したキャンプに逃げ込み、生活の全てを支援に頼るしかない避難民たちでした。

 

　LRAが国内から一掃された現在、政府による帰還プログラムが進み、キトゥグムだけでも200以上あったキャンプは、ほぼ全て解消しています。

 

　しかし産業の要である農地は、20年以上戦火に蹂躙され、荒れ果て、長いキャンプ暮らしの結果、農作業の経験がある働き手が皆無という一家一族も多く、また近年の異常気象による洪水、干ばつなどによる不作・食糧不足など様々な問題が絡み合い、餓死者が出るなど、事態が改善しているとは言い難い状況です。衛生面でも劣悪なため、肝炎やコレラ等の発生、死亡報告が頻繁にあり、北部特有の“うなずき病”（主に子どもが患う原因不明の病気）などの奇病にも苦しんでいます。

 

　かつては、人口に比して一流大学への進学者数が多い、と言われた学力も、20年の間に北部全体で大幅に落ち込み、他の地域に比べてダントツの低さです。20数年間の“ナイトコミューター”（夜闇に乗じて村々を襲撃するLRAから逃れるため、寝るためだけに毎夜何キロも歩いて町に通い、空き地、学校、教会の敷地、商店の軒先や道端、木下などで仮眠し、朝に帰村する子ども達のこと）暮らしで、体力・知力をすり減らし、たとえ通学できたとしても、授業に集中できるわけはなく、当然の結果と言えるでしょう。

 

　また、キャンプで生まれ育った全ての子ども達の50～70％が、戦争やエイズ孤児と言われ、さらにその約半数が、授業料無料の公立小学校にすら通うことができません。従って、成人後も識字率が低く、英語（公用語）どころか、部族語でさえも読み書きができずにいます。彼らは意思疎通や情報把握が不十分なため、搾取や不利益を被っていても、そのことに気付くことすら困難です。“10～20円で選挙の一票が買える”という状況は改善されず、無知・貧困がさらに続く、という悪循環を生んでいます。

 

　ママ　ウガンダは、キトゥグムを2003年に初訪問し、他の地域よりも一層悲惨な実態を見聞し、いくつもの既存NGOに支援を呼びかけました。しかし全て断られ、「それなら自分でできることをしよう！」と決意、呼びかけに応じてくれた友人たちと、地元の公立小学校にさえ通うことができない“the Poorest of the Poor Children”―貧しい中でも特に貧しい子ども達を主な支援対象に始めた、極小さなNGOです。

 

 

　特にカナダの友人が強力に活動を推進してくれ、彼女の主導で、2005年にカナダ政府の、翌2006年にウガンダ政府のNGO登録を完了しました。2015年現在まで、当NGOには、有給スタッフ*はおりません。ママ　ウガンダも支援してくれる友人も、活動費や生活費、ウガンダ訪問、滞在費を全て自己負担する無給ボランティアです。また、これまで現地ボランティアとして参加してくださった方々、物資寄贈や寄付をしてくださった方々のご協力により、全ての活動が支えられています。

 　*Kitgumでは、圧倒的大多数の住民、特に子供は現地部族語しか話せませんので、活動には英語との通訳が不可欠。そのため現地人に少額の謝礼で働いてもらっています。

 

 

　About Poverty Relief Africa

 

Based in the Kitgum district of northern Uganda, Poverty Relief Africa was founded in 2003 by Hatsue Miyamoto and friends from Western nations to provide support for orphans in the region who have been affected by conflict and AIDS. It is a non-governmental organization that has been accredited by and registered with the governments of Uganda and Canada.

 

Kitgum is located in northern Ugandanear the border with South Sudan. For more than 20 years it was affected by an insurgency campaign mounted by the anti-government Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

 

The atrocities of the LRA knew no bounds. Villages and schools were raided. Those who resisted were killed, and many children were abducted. Children were also brainwashed through brutal methods and made into soldiers who were given hand grenades and put on the front lines of the hostilities to serve as shields for LRA commanders. Other children were forced to become sex slaves.

 

Most of the casualties on the LRA side were reportedly children who were abducted and forced to become soldiers.

 

Abductees who were able to flee amid the confusion of the hostilities or who were rescued and returned to their homes were traumatized both mentally and physically.

 

As the result of a clean-up operation by the government army, the LRA pulled out of Uganda about five years ago. Security has greatly improved, and rebuilding programs are underway. But the HIV infection rate in Kitgum remains much higher than the overall rate in Uganda, a legacy of the more than 20 years of nightmarish misery that affected the region. Seemingly ordinary people have painful pasts and tell of being kidnapped and held for years at an LRA camp, of being child soldiers, of being forced to spy or of having a child as the result of rape by an LRA officer. NGOs that provide medical care are still treating injuries and illnesses as well as PTSD.

 

According to the United Nations World Food Programme, until a few years ago 80 percent of the inhabitants of Kitgum had abandoned their farmlands or cattle, fled to an overcrowded camp with little more than the clothes on their backs and were living as refugees, entirely dependent on assistance for their everyday lives.

 

Now that the LRA has been cleared out of the country, government repatriation programs are moving forward, and most of the more than 200 refugee camps in Kitgum have been closed.

 

But farmland, which is vital for industry, was overrun throughout more than 20 years of war and laid to waste. As a result of living in camps for years, many families have no workers with farming experience. And the unusual weather of recent years has led to floods and droughts that have resulted in poor harvests and food shortages. As a consequence of these and other problems, people have died of famine, and the situation shows little sign of improving. Because sanitation is poor, there are frequent reports of suffering and death from hepatitis and cholera. Northern Uganda also suffers from rare diseases such as nodding disease, which primarily affects children and whose cause is unknown.

 

In the past a relatively high proportion of the population went on to top universities. But there was a dramatic academic decline throughout northern Uganda during the 20 years of war, and the region now ranks much lower than other parts of the country. Throughout the hostilities many children lived as “night commuters” who walked several kilometers every night in order to avoid abduction by the LRA, which attacked villages under cover of darkness. These children slept in empty lots, on the grounds of schools or churches, under the eaves of shops, on roadsides or under trees, returning to their villages in the morning, thus wearing themselves out both physically and mentally. So even if they were able to go to school, they could not concentrate in class.

 

An estimated 50 to 70 percent of the children who were born in camps have been orphaned by war or AIDS. And about half of them are unable even to attend public elementary schools where no tuition is required. So as adults their literacy rate is low, and they cannot read or write their tribal language much less English, the official language of Uganda. Because they have trouble communicating and grasping information, they have difficulty recognizing when they are being exploited or taken advantage of. Vote-buying is common, and a vicious cycle of ignorance and poverty continues.

 

When she first visited Kitgum in 2003, Hatsue Miyamoto learned that conditions there were worse than any other region in Uganda. She sought the support of several NGOs but was turned down by all of them. She then resolved to do what she could on her own and with the help of friends established a small NGO that primarily assists “ the poorest of the poor children,” who cannot afford to attend the local elementary school.

 

With the strong support of a Canadian friend, Marnie Williston PRA was registered as an NGO with the Canadian government in 2005 and with the government of Uganda the following year. PRA has no paid staff.* Miyamoto and the friends who lend their support are unpaid volunteers who pay all of their own expenses. All of PRA’s programs are carried out through the generous support of volunteers in Kitgum and those who have donated supplies and funds.

 

*Nearly all of the inhabitants of Kitgum, particularly the children, speak only the local tribal language, so English interpretation is essential to our efforts. For that reason, locals are regularly paid a small gratuity to serve as interpreters.