Cold Water: Women and Girls of Lira, Uganda

Book excerpt: In Cold Water: Women and Girls of Lira, Uganda, the women retell their horrifying experiences in northern Uganda during the 1987-2007 civil war and life after the war. In that war, Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army disrupted lives, destroyed settlements, killed, abducted and raped thousands of children. The contributing authors not only recall the hopelessness felt during the war, but also narrate stories of hope and resilience after the war. Every page is crammed with emotional recollections of personal experiences. The stories show how communities can be rebuilt even where hope seems to be lost. The book makes public the trauma, courage and triumph of the remarkable women of Lira. The women's words are the cold water that provides cool relief to experiences of pain through the retelling of stories of endurance in the struggle that makes life better after the war. The authors demonstrate the importance of culture and cultural values in transcending trauma. The resilience of the women of Lira is rooted in their beliefs in their community, their religion and solidarity of women. They also describe international efforts to empower young women to make meaning of their lives, relationships and hopes after the trauma.