pagina 25 IAK027
Lost Boy traumatized by the rape of girls in his village, is  now defending girl’s rights
I saw girls being raped, people being killed, and I had to leave my grandmother behind when I fled for the Sudanese army.  After many years I finally reached refugee camp Kakuma. Now I am working for an organization supporting girls' education. I want to help defend girls’ rights across the world, more especially in war torn countries. My name is Peter Hessen Abdalla. I'm 30 years old. I'm Sudanese by nationality from Nuba Mountains and I'm single. My father was killed by the Sudan army, leaving me behind with my mother and grandmother. There was a time when my mother was badly sick. She left to Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, for treatment. Unfortunately, after my mother left, the Sudan army attacked our village early in the morning at around 4 AM. I was home with my grandmother during the attack.  I was very young, thirteen years. My grandmother was very old and could not manage to run away during the attack. She told me to run with other people from our village. There were a lot of gunshots everywhere. We ran towards the mountains and we hide ourselves behind the mountains in a cave. We saw them killing people, raping women and young girls. They burned our houses to ashes. They arrested many young boys and girls in the village. They forced them into their vehicles and went with them. They also took all our animals and properties. The whole village was burned to ashes. Many dead bodies where all over. I saw my grandmother seated in the compound and our house was burning next to her. They hadn’t touched her because their targets were young boys and girls, strong women and men. We stayed in the cave until they left our village after being completely destroyed. After we came back from hiding the elders ordered everyone in the village to leave for safety. My grandmother could not walk over a long distance. She told me to move with the group heading to Kakuma, for my safety. I had no other option but to leave her and move on to become a Lost Boy in Kakuma. It was a painful experience for me.  I had never imagined having to leave my grandmother behind. The journey was long and full of challenges and problems. We traveled three months before we arrived in Juba, South Sudan. We stayed in Juba for 5 years because it was hard for us to get the means of transport to Kakuma.
When I arrived in Kakuma in 2007, I joined school and finished both primary and secondary school. And afterwards I was given a scholarship for tertiary education. I obtained a diploma in social work at Turkana University in Lodwar. Later, I came back to Kakuma and I was employed by Windle International Kenya (WIK). This organization supports girls' education. I'm now working with Kenya Equity in Education Project (KEEP) through teaching and helping girls in an inclusive school on Saturdays and during school holidays. I chose to work in this girls' program because I want to see young girls in Kakuma educated. I did not like the way girls were being raped in my village. They were vulnerable and are always victims of sexual harassment. My dream is to see girls educated and to use education as a strong tool to defend girls’ rights across the world, more especially in war torn countries.
Interested to get into contact with Peter? Mail: info@i-am-kakuma.online
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