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Paska Alal is forty years old
and has given birth to eight children (aged ten to
twenty-seven). Alal, along with her last-born are HIV positive. She
lost her husband to AIDS as well.
Paska spends all day in the quarry pits, breaking rocks into gravel which is
then used by the building industry. Her only break is the Sunday morning church
services she attends.
As since she is
so busy at the quarry, she has her children prepare lunch.
She makes the supper, which is typically boiled dry maize. They do not take
breakfast.
Paska was abducted by the LRA in 1998. At the time, a plane was being used
to drop ammunition in southern areas of the Sudan. She had to carry the ammunition
back into Uganda. Failing to carry the ammunition fast enough meant a quick
death at the hands of the rebels.
One day, three weeks after abduction, she noticed that there were no LRA rebels
around her. She dropped what she was holding, and ran as fast as she could.
She would hide during daylight hours and travel only when it was dark. After
three days of walking (with a swollen foot) she arrived back to the relative safety
of Kitgum.
After she was reunited with her husband, the built a hut in Kitgum. Some years
later though, the Kitgum council told her that her hut was in the path of a planned
road. She was given two days to move her belongings before her hut (and her
husband's grave ) were graded over.
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