David Cameron's reponse to Juliets letter

http://www.scribd.com/doc/36061066/Letter-From-David-Cameron-to-Juliet

Juliets letter to British Priminister David Cameron

Dear David Cameron,

My name is Juliet. I come from Northern Uganda. I am visiting London this week because the charity war child helped me to come to England to share my story with school children and politicians. I am weiting to you to appeal for your support for girls like me who have been affected by conflict. when I was 12, I was abducted by rebels from Lord's Resistence Army. I experience many terrible things. I saw many children being killed. We moved long distances, carrying heavy luggage with children on our backs. My friend whom we were abducted together also died. At 14, I was forced into sexual relationship with a man above my age. I got pregnant and had painful labour for two weeks. in the bush there is no hospital. I was not in a position to deliver so the baby died and I got health problems. Eventually I was taken to kenya for treentment and from there I planned my escape.

I was lucky and i managed to get away. I made it back to my family and got help to rebuild my life. many people and organisations helped me including The Christian Counseling Fellowship and WarChild Uk who helped me back to school, get medical support and counselling.

when I was in the bush I missed school for 6 years but alwys had the desire to go back to school. I now joined the school that was founded to help children who have been affected by war including child mothers. the school has a day care centre so girls with babies can still study and breastfeed during break times. Expectant mothers get medical support from school.

This is the only school in Uganda like this, without this school, girl mothers and former girl soldiers would not be able to be in education. Returning to studies after a long time away was very difficult but I am making it. I am Head Girl and I hope to continue to university to study law.

I want to be a lawyer so I can defend girls who have been sexually abused and to bring men who abuse to justice.

Many girls in northern Uganda and other countries affected by conflict all over the world have experienced the same situation that I went through. Girls suffer most in the war. Girls and many young woman are making up more than half the people in these countries. I appreciate the UK government for their kindness upon the children of northern Uganda. I thank you for giving money to help my country and I ask that your money reaches girls affected by conflict so the impact of you will be greater as more people will be helped.

When you meet the United nations this September to talk about developement in poor countries, please remember us girls who went through conflict. We can get great thing if supported in education.

I have never forgotten about the children and girls who are still in the bush. I also appeal to you to find a way to relaease the girls and children who are still in the bush with the LRA in the Demcratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic and South Sudan. They should come back home and be supported with studies. This is an international problems and I ask you to take international leadership to stop this injustice which is still carrying on.

I request your support to help girls and v=children like me. We should be in school and in a position to achieve in life. We should not be forced into war and early marraige.

I also give you a present. on the CD is a message from my friends in northern Uganda and also some of the children I met in England.

Thank you very much

Apio Juliet

http://www.flickr.com/photos/warchild/4792633847/in/photostream/

CNN report on child soldiers, featuring War Child beneficiary Juliet

Bit more in depth look into Juliet's story and child soldiers

Juliet's story - From Child Soldier to Global Campaigner

Captivity

Juliet’s unborn baby turned out to be her saviour.

Kidnapped by Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in Northern Uganda when she was just 12 years old, Juliet had no means of escape from the bush where she was being held captive.

At 16 she fell pregnant after being forced to become the ‘wife’ of a rebel commander.

“Soldiers are not allowed to fall in love. If one is caught charming a girl he is killed. Girls are there to be used whenever they want.”

During labour, she was forced to walk for miles as the rebels tried to evade the Ugandan army. The journey caused her son to die before he was even born. So Juliet had to endure an agonising operation to remove the baby.

There was no anaesthetic, just a local doctor and a razor blade.

“If your baby dies you are not supposed to mourn for it. If you do, they will kill you. You have just to go somewhere secretly and cry. When you return, you should look like nothing has happened.”


Escape

After the crude operation Juliet’s health rapidly deteriorated. However, during peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan Government in 2006 she was given the chance to get hospital treatment in neighbouring Kenya – though an LRA escort had to stay with her at all times.

While in hospital Juliet befriended a nurse who heard her story and helped her to escape.

“When I was packing my bags I felt no fear. All I knew is that I was not going back to that place”

Juliet, with the assistance of the Ugandan Embassy, was then able to board a flight back to the Ugandan capital, Kampala.


Reunion

Juliet now attends a school in Northern Uganda created especially for girls who have missed out on education because of the conflict. She is working hard to catch up on the years of schooling she missed whilst in captivity with the LRA

“When I came back I really wanted to go back to school. Although a terrible thing happened to me when my baby died, it led me to get the chance to escape. It shows that something positive can come from something terrible.”

“If you are not educated, you are nothing.”
Juliet

Juliet now hopes to continue her studies at university and qualify as a lawyer so that she can bring those who have recruited and abused girls to justice. As she points out: “Many girls have been through hardship like me, they are denied an education.”

London

To help Juliet get her voice heard and her plight understood, we brought her to London for a week. We supported her to campaign on behalf of the thousands of girls in northern Uganda who are still being denied an education.

She delivered a personal letter and video message to the Prime Minister, appeared on TV and radio, lobbied politicians and inspired school students with her incredible story and compassionate, positive outlook.

Her impact

Juliet’s letter received a personal response from David Cameron and she was mentioned in a debate in the House of Lords by Lord Alton after meeting him. Audiences across CNN, BBC Radio 4, The BBC World Service and beyond heard her incredible story, and she made a real impact on the lives of the young people she met in the two schools she visited whilst she was here.

Hundreds of school students wrote and signed letters in support of Juliet, and we used those to lobby politicians as part of the Global Campaign for Education and the Millennium Development Goals summit meeting in New York in September.

Juliet hopes her journey - from abducted child soldier to global campaigner - will demonstrate the power of education not only in transforming the lives of individuals but also conflict-affected countries as a whole. As Juliet says, “children who experience terrible things can also achieve great things in life – if they are given an education.”

“I feel like I've changed a lot having met you, and I really am going to strive towards my goals the way you have. You had nothing and yet you fought so hard to gain what you now have and that sense of achievement must be absolutely amazing so I truly hope that I can be as successful as you have been.”
Catherine, a 15 year old student from Calthorpe Park School that met Juliet