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In 2003, Geoffrey Obita was interviewed by BBC journalists, lying in a hospital bed writhing in pain and still bloodied from the brutality he had suffered days earlier.  Geoffrey was a hard working student, progressing his way through school and well aware of the opportunities that a full education in Uganda could provide.

Uganda has a long history of internal conflict and Geoffrey became another victim of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) when he was barbarically attacked by a group of rebels, accusing him of being a government soldier.  The rebels, often child soldiers themselves, proceeded to hideously mutilate Geoffrey, cutting off his ears, lips and fingers.   Geoffrey begged the rebels to kill him but mercy was something alien to his attackers.

Whilst recovering in a hospital bed in Kitgum, Northern Uganda, Geoffrey came across one of his attackers who had himself been shot in another attack.  Geoffrey was justly full of animosity and thoughts of revenge, but he chose to forgive his attacker, discovering that he had himself been abducted and forced to join the LRA.

Geoffrey in his Kitgum shop.

Nine years later, Geoffrey still struggles to make a living.  He originally opened a small bakery in Kitgum after leaving hospital, followed by his own grocery store, but business slowed, and Geoffrey was unable to work the nearby farmlands like his friends.  Geoffrey’s four year old son Isaac had been turned away from nursery for unpaid fees and times were tough.

With the help of the BBC, All Answers made contact with Geoffrey and offered to pay Isaac’s full tuition fees for the coming year.   We feel it is important to give something back to the less fortunate people in the world, and through no fault of his own Geoffrey had his education snatched from him.  For the sake of just £350, we have been able to provide Isaac with another full years’ worth of education, giving him the chance to flourish and enjoy his childhood, something Geoffrey was cruelly denied.

Geoffrey was ecstatic to receive our donation.

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