Peter Oloya - the Ugandan LRA child soldier who moulded a new future in art - BBC News

One of Uganda's best sculptors, Peter Oloya, has used art to overcome his childhood abduction.

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Steve Russell StudiosImage caption, Peter Oloya at work in 2019By Penny DaleJournalistThe joy former child soldier Peter Oloya finds in sculpture was first sparked while hunting for clay with his grandmother in northern Uganda - an area that became infamous for the terrifying raids led by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group.

"My grandmother showed me where clay is, what type of clay to be used and why," says the Ugandan artist, who grew up in the village of Lemo Bongolewic in the district of Kitgum.

This was in the early 1980s before much of the population was herded into camps to save them from the attacks and abductions.

Oloya and his late grandmother, Helen Atoo Ocula, would often follow grazing cows as they made a beeline for moist spots under groves of certain large trees.

There was a particular clay called "punu" in Oloya's Acholi language. It was adored by the cows for its minerals - and by Oloya's grandmother because it was perfect for the pots she made for cooking and to store water.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68217014?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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