Ilukol’s Story

As told by Ilukol’s big brother Tikol: “Ilukol was born in Lorendechora, Karamojoa region of Northeastern Uganda. The Karamojong are a nomadic tribe moving with the seasons and raising cattle for a living. Being close to the border of Sudan and Kenya, automatic weapons became common to protect cattle and families from raids by rebels. Our father was killed in one of these raids when all of us children were young. Losing him changed the family so much.

In 2009, our mother fell ill and a short while later she died. This made my brothers and I total orphans. After the death of our mother, Ilukol and brother John Bosco went to live with our grandmother. At the ages of 3 and 5, the boys would go to the fields with grandmother to work so they could have some food for the day. Neither studied as it wasn’t a possibility and they didn’t have hope that it would ever happen for them. Meeting the basic needs of food and water was a struggle and they often went without these things.

In 2013, Peace for Paul came to rescue Ilukol and brothers Daniel and John Bosco. They are all now studying at good schools and performing very well. They are healthy and happy and so grateful for the opportunity they have been given. Ilukol is a very high performer in school, and is almost always the top student in his class. He wants to become a lawyer one day so he can fight for justice. In the words of Ilukol: “Thanks I give back to all who helped us out of that situation because I can’t imagine where we would be. I was nobody and now I am somebody. Thank you so much.”