Today You Will Understand: Women of Northern Uganda Speak Out

"Today You Will Understand" is a collection of 16 transcribed audio testimonies from women living in areas affected by the war between Ugandan government forces and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Northern Uganda. Members of FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers Association, interviewed the women in January 2008 as part of a radio project with Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) Radio. These true stories aim to reveal how war has impacted the lives of ordinary women, many of whom were displaced from their communities and now survive in camps for the internally displaced. The women and girls tell of being raped, shot, disabled, displaced, abused, and enslaved, of witnessing their loved ones being killed in front of them, and of being burdened with the responsibility of raising their children alone in poverty. According to FEMRITE coordinator Hilda Twongyeirwe, "Sharing and publishing these stories is one way of raising awareness about the atrocities of war and making the world reflect more closely on what happens in armed conflict." The booklet of transcribed testimonies is accompanied by an audio CD of the actual interview recordings, originally broadcast on local radio stations.