2007. aastal elas Kullar kolm kuud GLENI projekti raames Ugandas ja sellest sündis üks kaunis film nelja poisi elust Acetipagulaslaagris. Simonil, Davidil, Patrickul ja Michaelil on kõigil jutustada iselaadi elulugu, kuid nende mälestustes on midagi sarnast – nad rööviti lapsena oma kodudest ja sunniti teenima Joseph Kony kurikuulsa Lord Resistance Army (LRA) ridades. Neil õnnestus LRA´st põgeneda ning filmimise ajal elavad nad lapssõduri elu asemel pagulaslaagris ning õpivad laagri kutsekoolis ametit, mis aitaks neil tulevikus oma perede ülalpidamiseks leiva lauale tuua. Sel nädalal õnnestus mul olla Kullari reisikaaslaseks põhja, kus ta kohtus esimest korda pärast viit aastat poistega, kellest vahepeal on saanud mehed.

David ja Simon Kullari kingitud särkides David and Simon posing with T-shirts Kullar gave them as gifts. "I am David/Michael and I have a friend in Estonia" Foto: Kullar Viimne

Võrreldes Kampala ja selle ümbrusega on Põhja-Uganda hoopis teine reaalsus. Ka seal kihutavad tänavatel mikrobussid ja bodaboda´d ning suurte autodega muzungud; juuakse Nile Speciali õlut ja lõunaks süüakse maisiputru. Aga mikrobussides sumisevad inimesed omavahel hoopis teist keelt kui lõunas, bodaboda juhtideks võivad olla isegi naised, kihutavateks muzungudeks pole mitte rikkad expatid, vaid hoopis arenguabitöötajad ning  Nile Specialit juuakse kordades rohkem ja maisipudru sisse segatase hirssi, mis muudab selle valge võrdlemisi maitsetu käki tumepruuniks ja minu arvates ka nauditavamaks.

Põhja-Uganda keskuseks on linnake Gulu, mille tänaste pangahoonete alustel maalappidel magasid veel eelmise kümnendi esimesel poolel LRA mässuliste röövimiste eest kaitset otsivad lapsed. Enne Gulusse minekut olime korduvalt kuulnud, et linn on viimaste aastatega võimsalt kasvanud, kuna ligi 1,5 miljonit põhja-ugandalast, kes sõja ajal umbes kümme aastat pagulaslaagrites elasid, on nüüd laagritest tagasi koduküladesse kolimas. Tänased noored pole aga laagrist maatööde oskusi kaasa saanud, ning seetõttu pole maaelu väidetavalt kuigi populaarne - pigem kogunetakse ikka linnade lähedusse. Siiski, siiski, Kullari mälestuste põhjal ei ole Gulu viie aastaga nii radikaalselt muutunud. Juurde on kerkinud ehk mõni kahekordne hoone, kuid linnas on tunda väikelinna romantikat – ja paraku ka päris kõvasti sõjajärgset raskust. Võin oma järeldustes olla ülekohtune, kuid kannan tänavatel kakerdavad joodikud, inimeste tõsise oleku ja sigaretilembuse sõjaarmide nimekirja.

Neljast poisist õnnestus meil kohtuda kolmega. Kõige rohkem leidis meie jaoks aega bodabodamehe ametit pidav David. David on vaikne ja raudne mees. Kuna David väga palju ei lobise ja kõigile küsimustele ei vasta, siis jätab ta väga salapärase mulje. Veetsime tema seltsis kolm päeva ning iga veedetud päeva preemiaks saime teada, et tal on veel üks naine. Kokku siis kolm naist ning neljas ja viies laps tulekul. Naistega kohtumised olid väga üürikesed ning mul kriibib hinge, et nendega vestelda ei saanud. Davidi bodabodal libisesime poolteist tundi mudateel Aceti pagulaslaagris suunas. Laagri kunagisest 17 000 elanikust on alles jäänud u 800, sealhulgas ka Davidi esimene naine ja tema kaks last. Kuna jäime ööseks laagrisse, siis oli meil aega Davidi bodabodal ka ümberkaudsed mudateed järgi proovida. Ühel sellisel kihutades osutas David kui muuseas teeäärsele künkale ja mudaonnide kogule „This is Kony´s place“. Joseph Kony – LRA spirituaalne jõhkardist liider on sündinud Acetist vähem kui viie kilomeetri kaugusel! Tundsin end tobeda turistina sonkimas inimeste sõjamälestustes ning edasi istusin Davidi seljataga sõnatult, püüdes võimatut – kujutada ette, millest mõtleb David kihutades üle küngaste ja läbi kõrge heina, kus ta kunagi oli sunnitud LRA halastamatuid käske täitma.

Taamal Kony sünnikodu Kony´s place from the road Foto: Kullar Viimne

Teel Acetisse käisime külas Simonil. Simon on üks neist, kes on pöördunud tagasi oma vanemate külla ning elab nö maaelu. Siia asfaltteed ja ühistransport ei ulatu, küll aga arenguabi töötajad – Simoni õue pealt paistab ehitamisjärgus arstiabikompleks, kelle pumbast saab pere oma vee ning kelle bussiga saab teinekord tasuta linnagi sõidetud. Simoni koduks on suure mangopuu ümber ehitatud kolm mudaonni, kus lisaks Simonile, ta naisele ja kahele lapsele elavad veel Simoni vanemad ning veel kaks väikest poissi (Simoni vennad?). Simoni naine näitab mulle oma „tööruume“ – põllulappi ja kööki – ning jutustab, kuidas ta jäi kooliajal rasedaks ning tuli siis Simonile teatama, et viimane peab ta ära võtma. Simon aumees võttis asja ette ning on praegu naise vanematele lehmade maksmisega poolel teel. Õuelt tagasi teele jalutades kiidan Simonile ta imeilusat naist. Simon naeratab häbelikult vastu ja nõustub, et tal on hea naine.

Viimasel õhtul Gulus järasin õhtusöögiks kanakoiba koos lauakaaslase Michaeliga. Michael on neljast poisist ainus, kes Aceti kutsekoolis õpitud ametiga täna palka teenib – ta töötab ehitajana. Michael tuli otse töölt, kandes keset ekvaatori soojust pikka mantlit ja villaseid kindaid. Michaeli perest vesteldes libises mu pilk laual lebavale ajalehele, mis kuulutas, et Uganda sõjavägi on Kesk-Aafrika Vabariigis metsast kinnipüüdnud LRA komandöri Caesar Acellam Otto. Suutmata oma uudishimu talitseda hakkan artiklit lugema. Michael vaatab üsna külmalt artikli poole ja lausub: „See artikkel on vale. Acellam ei ole 60 aastat vana. 10 aastat tagasi oli ta LRA´ s minu turvamees – see mees on noor“. Olen jälle tummaks löödud. Michael vist märkab minu ehmatust, sest natuke aega hiljem naeratab ta oma sooja naeratust ja kinnitab „But I´m a good boy now“ (Aga praegu olen ma hea poiss). 

Aceti pagulaslaagrisse jäänud üksikud majad Former IDP camp with its solitary houses Foto: Kullar Viimne

In 2007 Kullar stayed in Uganda for 3 months to document a life of four boys in arefugee camp called Acet.  Simon, David, Patrick and Michael have all different stories to tell of their life, but there is something similar in these stories – they were kidnapped as children and forced to join a notorious Lord Resistance Army (LRA). They managed to escape from the army and by the time of filming they were living in a refugee camp attending camp´ s vocational class to maintain professions. This week I accompanied Kullar on his trip to the North where he met the four boys for the first time after five years.  

Northern Uganda is a different realm compared to Kampala and its surroundings. Similarly to Kampala you see a lot of minibuses, bodabodas and muzungus driving big cars. People also drink Nile Special beer and eat maize porridge posho for their lunch. However, travellers in minibuses speak another language, some bodaboda drivers are even women and the muzungus driving big cars are not expats, but development workers. Moreover, instead of taking one Nile Special per night, people here might drink three of them, and inside white posho porridge they add millet, which colours it brownish and adds flavour to this otherwise rather tasteless staple food of most of Ugandans.  

The central town in the North is called Gulu. Before getting there we heard several times that the town has grown a lot in last years due to the elimination of IDP camps. 1,5 million people, who were displaced to the camps during the war are now supposed to be moved back to their villages. However, after ten years in the camp, today´s youth do not know much of a farmer´ s life and they therefore tend to move to towns. Based on Kullar´s memories, though, Gulu has not changed as tragically as we expected – there are some new two-store buildings, but one still feels the small town romance in Gulu. Unfortunately one also notices unforgettable burdens of recent war. I might be too hasty in my conclusions, but I interpret drunken people at the street, seriousness of people and too many smokers as after-effects of the war.  

We managed to meet three of the four boys Kullar befriended with in 2007. The longest time we spent with David – now a quiet and serious young man, who works as a bodaboda driver in Gulu. David, not being very talkative, seems to be mysterious. We spent three days with him and as if a reward, by the end of each day he revealed us that he has one more wife! In total 3 wives and they are expecting his fourth and fifth children. David is still in his early twenties... Unfortunately I did not get a chance to talk to the wives much...

On David´s bodaboda we took an hour and a half ride to Acet – the camp where Kullar met the boys five years ago. In 2007 there were about 17 000 people living here. Today, around 800 people have stayed, including David´ s first wife and two children. As we stayed in the camp until next day we had enough time to try out mudroads in surroundings. Driving in one of them David suddenly pointed at the bush and a bunch of mud huts on our right stating: “This is Kony´s place”. Joseph Kony – the evil of East-Africa was born less than five kilometres from Acet! I realized myself to be an ignorant tourist nosing about people´s war memories. Rest of the ride I was sitting behind David speechless seeking impossible – imagining what David might think about while racing on his bodaboda over the hills and through the bush where he had been forced to war horrors by LRA commanders not too long ago.

Acet Foto: Kullar Viimne

On our way to Acet we stopped to visit Simon. Simon is one the youngsters who has returned to his village. Tarmac roads and public transport does not reach here; but development workers do. Next to Simons´ compound they are constructing a big medical centre. Simon gets water from the pump of this centre, and sometimes he can even get a free lift to town by their transport. Simon is living with his wife, two children, parents and two other kids (Simons´ brothers?). They live in three mud huts built around a big mango tree. Simon´s wife is showing me her garden and kitchen and at the same time tells me of how they two met. They met in Acet and she got pregnant while still at school. She then had come to Simon to break the news and asked Simon to take her as his wife. Simon, a man of honour, did what needed to be done and has by today paied half of the cows he owns to his wife’s parents for marriage. When saying goodbye to Simon I congratulate him for his beautiful wife. Simon shyly smiles and agrees he has a very good wife.

It was our last dinner in Gulu when we met with Michael. Michael is the only one of the four whose daily work is connected to what he learnt in the vocational class in Acet. He is a constructer. He came straight from work, wearing woollen gloves (despite equatorial heat!). Chatting with Michael about his family I notice a fresh newspaper on the table. The front cover announces that Ugandan Army had caught an important LRA commander Cesar Acellam Otto in the bushes in CAR. Being too curious I open the paper and start reading the article. Michael gives a rather cold look at the article and states “They are wrong in this article. Acellam is not in his 60s. Ten years ago he was my escort in the army. He´s still a young man.” I´ve lost my words again. Michael seems to notice this, because a few minutes later he looks at me with his very warm smile and confirms “But I´m a good boy now”.