Customer Reviews

Aboke Girls. Children Abducted in Northern Uganda

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Despite the writing style seduces you to finish this book the same day you have started it, the topic of it is so heart breaking and shocking, you just need to put it away and give yourself the time to reflect on what it is all about, to get your courage together, and proceed again.
This book is written by a great brave lady I happened to meet on one of her book presentations. It handles about the child soldiers in Uganda and the bravery of an Italian nun who risked her life to get them out of the hand of the rebellions in the North. Els has quit her job and focused on the writing of her experiences and on the project of helping the ex-kids soldiers back to a normal life. Because of her activities the warlord has recently, 2002, has put a price on her head. This however doesn't keep her from going again to Uganda.
The profits of this book goes to her education project.
If you want information out of first hand, then you should buy and read this book!

The abduction of over 40 girls from the Catholic School at Aboke, and the nun who followed the rebels on foot to get them back is an amazingly heartwrenching and well told tale.

Els De Temmerman also offers fascinating insights into the twisted mind of rebel leader Joseph Kony, and his spiritual quest to purify the Acholi race. If at all you are interested in the Northern Ugandan crisis, then this is an absolute must read.

Everyone should read this book to be more educated on how to act as advocates on behalf of children around the world, especially in Uganda. While the story is heartbreaking, it's necessary for us to know the world we live in. Thank you to the author for her excellent work in getting the story of these children out.

I own more books about Uganda than every University in my State combined, I am as familiar with Uganda and the plight of that nation as almost anyone and yet this book still managed to shock me. It follows the story of the Aboke girls who were kidnapped into Joseph Kony's rebel army. The children are used, abused and are forced to endure unspeakable conditions and commit some of the most horrific crimes against humanity that I have thus encountered.

Ms. Temmerman has provided the reader with a glimpse into the madness that is central Africa. Joseph Kony and his LRA are still in the mix, although they rely more on Islam these days than Christianity to justify their savagery. This book is highly recommended for those with an interest in Central Africa and the challenges that remain. Highly recommended.

The first time I read this book was in December, 2003, a few days before I headed to a town in Uganda that had been invaded by this rebel group. While there to help pastors who were helping thousands who had escaped their small towns or villages and reached this much larger town, I interviewed kids -- ages 10 to 16 -- that had been abducted and used as slaves, been forced to kill or watch others be killed, and who had escaped or been abandoned [expected to die b/c of physical illnesses or damage], and then been found and brought to safety. Overall, despite the victory of their escapes and return to their families, their stories broke my heart.

This book is an accurate picture of what parents, children, teachers, helpers went through to try to turn these events around ... and the rejoicing at one time, the horror at another.