Rebuilding in Uganda

Ojwang Santino, left, began rebuilding his home in Uganda about a month ago and hopes that recent fighting in the nearby Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan between the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels and troops from Uganda, the Congo and southern Sudan does not prompt the rebels to return to Uganda. He hopes to finish his house and move his family in within a few weeks. His son, Odong Sam, 18, helps him put up posts for the roof.  (Vanessa Vick / For The Times)

Atoo Silvia, 46, lives in the Tertugu internally displaced people’s camp in Gulu, Uganda. Emboldened by greater security, thousands of families have been going home. Displacement camps that once held 90% of northern Uganda’s population today house only a quarter, according to figures from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.  (Vanessa Vick / For The Times)

Kitara Martin works on the home of Ojwang Santino, his uncle, in Gulu, Uganda.  (Vanessa Vick / For The Times)

Ojwang Santino, a father and grandfather, is one of the 1.8 million Ugandans displaced by a 22-year battle between the government and the dreaded Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group, which is known for going on murderous rampages and methodically preying on children to use as soldiers and sex slaves.  (Vanessa Vick / For The Times)

Okello Brian Phillip, 8, right; Ojok Wilbur, 6, front; and Eric Watman, 8, left, are children of Ojwang Santino. Odong Godfrey, 9, in a blue shirt, is a relative. They help rebuild the family home in Gulu, Uganda.  (Vanessa Vick / For The Times)

Ojok Wilbur, 6 , plays with a bicycle in the Tertugu camp for displaced people in northern Uganda. Most of the camp’s residents have returned to their homes since the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels moved into Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Recent fighting across the border between the LRA and troops from Uganda and other nations has made people nervous that the rebels will return to Uganda.  (Vanessa Vick / For The Times)