Ariel Tung | Feb. 25, 2009
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| Photo by Ariel Tung |
| Author Peter Eichstaedt read from his new book during a lecture Monday night at Ernie Pyle Auditorium. |
Eichstaedt, who is Africa Editor for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), shared his first-hand experience Monday evening with an audience in the Ernie Pyle Auditorium. Traveling as part of a book tour for his new work, First Kill Your Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army, Eichstaedt spent the day visiting classes and talking to students before giving his public lecture about his experiences in Africa.
Eichstaedt’s work often tells of regional events as seen through the eyes of the people most affected by them. To help his audience understand, he began his talk by showing where Uganda lies on a map of Africa.
Eichstaedt said that his assignment with IWPR sent him to Uganda after a reporting stint in Afghanistan. In Uganda, he met and spoke to many child soldiers who work for the Lord Resistance Army. What he saw, experienced and felt propelled him to write his most recent book, published in February.
Eichstaedt read an excerpt to the audience, detailing the plight of child soldiers in Uganda. Thousands of children as young as eight were abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and forced to work as soldiers or sex slaves.
His book examines the little known 20-year war that the rebel LRA fought in northern Uganda and now the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the AP report, few national armies nor the United Nations factions have had success repelling the LRA. In small villages, residents armed with ancient firearms or even with large pestles used to mash yams into powder have had little success against the LRA’s assaults.
After his poignant account of child soldiers’ plight, Eichstaedt shifted to a more lighthearted mode, showing his audience pictures of the Ugandans’ daily lives, such as the kind of food they eat and sell, and the witch doctors who are believed to cure the sick. The audience was amused when Eichstaedt pointed out that peanuts are commonly referred as “g-nuts” in Uganda because they come from the ground.
During the Q&A session, a journalism student wanted to know how Eichstaedt got people to open up their lives to him. The author said that the Ugandans just want to talk and want to let the outside world know about their lives.
Another student asked Eichstaedt about the availability of journalism jobs in the current economy. Eichstaedt agreed that it is difficult time for journalists and those aspiring to be journalists as news organizations are cutting back jobs. But, he saw more opportunities for freelancers to fill in the gap.
However, Eichstaedt said that one cannot simply step into a foreign land to freelance without first building some contacts. It can be dangerous to go there without preparation, he warned.
Eichstaedt’s advice to students who are interested in a career in foreign correspondence is to go to Peace Corps for two years where they will be taught the local languages, culture, politics and history of the country.
“Doing voluntary work is also a good way to build contacts and knowledge in a foreign country,” he said.
During a talk earlier in the day to students and visitors to Roy W. Howard Professional-in-Residence Joe Coleman’s J560 International Reporting class, Eichstaedt said teaching English would be a good start to establish themselves in a different country.
Eichstaedt, whose next stop for his lecture and book tour is Ohio, said that he is currently working on his next book, which will portray the tension between North and South Sudan told through the experiences of the Sudanese.
