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 Uganda's Betty Bigombe Betty Bigombe had left her native Uganda for the comfort and security of a job at the World Bank and a condo in Maryland. Until, that is, she happened to see on television the story of a 200-person massacre by the child-soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, followed by an image of her own face as the only person who had ever gotten the rebels and the government close to a peace accord, ten years earlier. Looking deep into her heart that day in February 2004, she decided to abandon her well-paying job, to risk her life and to try for peace in her native land one more time. She took an unpaid leave from the World Bank, anticipating being in Uganda for three weeks. Instead, she has been there since, making her headquarters a small hotel in rural northern Uganda. She returns to the United States for short periods to visit her college-age daughter. She began her effort without an official capacity, depending only on the history of trust among all sides that she had developed as a minister in the Ugandan government in the 80’s and 90’s. She has lived on her own money. Some of it she spends on calls to the rebels’ satellite phones. She is constantly in conversation with all sides in the struggle. Outside observers say that one of her great talents is the ability to build and nurture the trust of all the involved parties. She listens to and understands the needs of each side, and she does what she can to meet those needs. Occasionally she purchases such basic supplies for the rebels as rice, salt and soap, so that they do not raid local villages to get them. Stopping the raids also protects village children, as by some estimates, 80% of the rebel soldiers are kidnapped children. Often, the President, the army commanders or the rebels call her in a rage. In those times, she falls silent and listens while they rant. “When I go silent, they know I’m not pleased,” she says. In the silence, the callers can reflect on the essential question for each of us in each moment, “Do you want to blow it all up --- or move towards peace?” In December, 2004, Bigombe arranged for the first face-to-face talks between the government and the rebels in ten years. Peace seemed very close, but then collapsed. Still, she has not given up. Two and a half years later, she is still deeply involved with the peace process, working as the chief mediator. Her willingness and efforts to find peace in the 20-year-old war have continued to this day because “we owe it to tens of thousands of children living with nightmares of LRA atrocities to keep pressing for an end to their suffering.” Resources: (1) “Africa’s peace seekers: Betty Bigombe”, byline: Abraham McLaughlin, Christian Science Monitor, September 13, 2005 (2) http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3972&l=1
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