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Angelina Atyam: The Forgiveness of a Mother (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Alice Irasari and.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: I'm Patrick Woodward. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: It is easier for people to understand no matter where
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: in the world they live.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: It was October tenth, nineteen ninety six. Fourteen year old
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  Speaker 1: Charlotte Aweno was sleeping in her room at Saint Mary's
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: College in a Boca, Uganda. It was very early in
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the morning. Suddenly Charlotte woke up. She heard the sound
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of someone banging on her door. Next she heard the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: breaking of glass windows.
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  Speaker 2: On that night, rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army or LRA,
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  Speaker 2: broke into the school. They took Charlotte and one hundred
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: and thirty eight other girls from the school. The rebels
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  Speaker 2: tied the girl's hands. They forced the girls to march
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  Speaker 2: through the rain and into the jungle. When a girl slowed,
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: the rebels would hit her to keep her moving.
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  Speaker 1: A teacher named Sister Rachella Fassara followed the group. When
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  Speaker 1: they stopped for the night, she spoke to the rebels.
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  Speaker 1: She fell on her knees. She continued asking again and
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: again for the rebels to release the girls to her,
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  Speaker 1: but the rebels refused. Finally, the rebel leader separated the
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  Speaker 1: girls into two groups. He told the sister that she
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  Speaker 1: could take one hundred nine girls, but they would keep
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  Speaker 1: the other thirty. Sister for Sarah said no, but the
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  Speaker 1: rebels said they would kill the thirty girls if the
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  Speaker 1: sister did not agree. With great sadness, Sister Forasis Sarah
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  Speaker 1: left with only one hundred nine of her one hundred
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  Speaker 1: thirty nine students.
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  Speaker 2: Charlotte was one of the thirty girls left with the rebels.
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  Speaker 2: Charlotte's mother, Angelina Atiam, was deeply hurt by the loss
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: of Charlotte. She did not know where Charlotte was or
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: if she was even alive. However, in her sadness, Angelina
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: found great freedom and hope. Today's Spotlight program is about
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Angelina Atiam's story.
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  Speaker 1: Angelina knew what it meant for Charlotte to be taken
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  Speaker 1: by the LRA. The LRA has been fighting the government
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  Speaker 1: of Uganda since the nineteen nineties. They have caused terrible
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  Speaker 1: suffering for the people of northern Uganda, but their worst
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  Speaker 1: crimes were against children. The LRA has taken thousands of
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  Speaker 1: young children from their families. These children, some as young
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: as seven or eight were trained to be child soldiers.
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  Speaker 1: Older girls, like Charlotte were forced to marry older soldiers.
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  Speaker 2: After the kidnapping, the parents of the girls taken from
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  Speaker 2: Saint Mary's began meeting together. They were all very angry
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: and worried about their girls, so they gathered to pray
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  Speaker 2: for their daughter's return. Angelina said that the group was
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: wrestling with God. The parents were Christians. They believed in God,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: and they loved God. But they were angry, angry at
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: the rebels and at God, and they did not understand
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: why this had happened.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Angelina told about a special day when the parents gathered
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  Speaker 1: to pray. One parent stood up and began to pray
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's prayer. This Christian prayer begins with words like these,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: our Father in heaven, you are a holy God. Make
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  Speaker 1: the world a good place. Do what is best here
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: on earth, Make it like Heaven. Give us everything we
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: need for today. Forgive the bad things we do. Help
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  Speaker 1: us to forgive people who do bad things to us.
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  Speaker 2: After these words, the parent stopped praying. All the parents
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  Speaker 2: in the room were quiet. They recognized that they had
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: not forgiven the rebels who had done bad things to them.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: After that day, Angelina knew that she needed to forgive
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: the rebels. She knew freedom from her anger and sadness
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  Speaker 1: would only come through forgiveness. So Angelina did an amazing thing.
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  Speaker 1: She met with the mother of Joseph Coney, the rebel leader.
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  Speaker 1: She said to his mother, I am here to tell
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  Speaker 1: you that I have forgiven your son, although he is
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: still holding my daughter hostage. I have forgiven your clan
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  Speaker 1: because I need to be free inside. I have also
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  Speaker 1: forgiven your tribe, and I want you to feel free
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  Speaker 1: with me.
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  Speaker 2: Angelina said. Forgiving was not easy for her or the
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  Speaker 2: rebel leader's mother. However, after their talk was over, the
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  Speaker 2: two women held each other close and cried. They found
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: peace together.
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  Speaker 1: Angelina and the other parents continued to meet together. This
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  Speaker 1: group became known as the Concerned Parents Association, or CPA,
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  Speaker 1: and Angelina became the group's leader.
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  Speaker 2: Soon CPA grew to over five thousand family members of
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  Speaker 2: children stolen by the LRA. Angelina traveled to many places
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  Speaker 2: to tell her story. She even spoke to the United
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  Speaker 2: Nations about the problem of child soldiers in Uganda.
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  Speaker 1: CPA also began helping child soldiers who had escaped from
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  Speaker 1: the LRA. When these children returned, they had a very
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  Speaker 1: difficult time living a normal life. They had seen and
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  Speaker 1: done terrible things as soldiers, so CPA helped provide care
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  Speaker 1: for their mental health.
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  Speaker 2: Often, when Angelina met an escaped child's soldier, she would
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  Speaker 2: ask if they knew Charlotte. Over the years, she learned
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  Speaker 2: that Charlotte had been forced to marry an LRA soldier.
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  Speaker 2: She also learned that Charlotte had two children.
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  Speaker 1: This news was both happy and sad at the same time.
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  Speaker 1: Angelina knew that Charlotte was alive, but she also knew
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  Speaker 1: that Charlotte suffered every day. So Angelina continued to pray
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  Speaker 1: to God for Charlotte's release. I prayed and one day
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: was again wrestling with God, and I sat on the
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  Speaker 1: floor and was telling God. The Bible says, you do
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  Speaker 1: not change. But seven years and seven months have gone
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  Speaker 1: by and I have not seen my daughter. In the
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Bible it says the seventh year is the year of freedom. Lord,
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  Speaker 1: are you changing in my situation? I was wrestling with God.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: That was the night of July the nineteenth, two thousand
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  Speaker 2: and four. The next morning, Angelina's daughter Charlotte escaped from
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  Speaker 2: the LRA. Days later, Angelina and Charlotte were reunited. Angelina
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: was so thankful to God for returning her daughter. Charlotte
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  Speaker 2: had lost many years of her life. She now had
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  Speaker 2: two children and no husband. However, Charlotte and Angelina knew
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: that together they could find joy.
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  Speaker 1: Angelina finally had Charlotte back, but that did not make
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  Speaker 1: her forget the thousands of other children still lost.
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  Speaker 2: Angelina says that twenty six thousand children were taken by
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: the LRA over many years. Of these, six thousand have
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  Speaker 2: not yet been found, and five thousand children are thought
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: to have been born to girls while they were kidnapped.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Angelina continues to speak out about these lost children of Uganda.
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  Speaker 2: In an appeal to the United Nations, Angelina said, and
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  Speaker 2: my hopes silence the guns, stop the fighting and the suffering.
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  Speaker 2: Let the children get back to their villages. And we
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  Speaker 2: also need your help. Will you help in any way?
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  Speaker 2: Will you alone? We cannot stand this. We need to
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  Speaker 2: gather the effort of everyone to end human suffering. Please
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: help us heal our children with education, mental health programs,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: and basic healthcare. If you act quickly, you can save lives.
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  Speaker 1: How would your parents react if you were taken from them?
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  Speaker 1: How would you react if your child was taken from you?
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  Speaker 2: You can leave a comment on our website at www
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: dot Spotlight English dot com. You can also find us
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, a X. You can also
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: get Spotlight episodes delivered directly to your Android or Apple
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: device through our free officials Spotlight English app.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: This program was written by Spotlight and produced by Michio Osaki.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: The voices you heard were from the United States and
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this episode
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  Speaker 1: and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or artificial intelligence was
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: used in this episode. Spotlight Episodes are written, voiced, and
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: produced by real people for real people, no matter where
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: in the world they live. This episode is called Angelina
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Atiam The Forgiveness of a Mother.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: Spotlight program. Goodbye.