I am a farmer. Just like my parent before me and their parents before them.
I receive joy when my family and I can grow enough food to eat for the entire year.
I worry when I can’t grow enough to feed my family for the coming season.
I have never hurt anyone but stranger come to my village and hurt me and my family and the people of my village and take away our food and sometimes they kidnap young girls from my village.
They have guns, I’ve never even touched on in my life. Sometimes these men kill us for no reason. We have no weapons to fight back. We don’t even know how to fight. I’ve been so scared for so long it hurts even to breathe.
When they came and took my family I thought my life ended.
And then the strange foreigners came. I thought things could not get any worse and it might get even worse.
But you didn’t hurt us. Instead, you asked us questions and gave us food and medicine.
You have guns just like the others but yours look different from theirs. You confused me and everybody in the village.
You were nice to us, and to me. After a two days time, you were gone. And then, after a long period of time, all of you came back. But you didn’t come back alone. You brought back all of our people who were taken away.
I thought I was dreaming again. But it wasn’t. I became twice as happy as I was sad. I was so happy I cried very hard.
I wanted to thank you all for what you did, but I didn’t know how to. But only after a short while, all of you were getting ready to leave again. You have to let me thank you, but your leaving.
Your interpreter said I don’t need to do anything, but I told him I would feel bad.
You leader came and gave us more medicine and food.
We were a family again, the village was a village again. We became happy. We went to sleep happy.
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When the interpreter was telling us the story he was instructed to tell the farmer not to worry. Everything is going to be OK from now on. He didn’t need to know that all the bandits were terminated.
We camped that night just to make sure that all was well. Our commanding officer helo’ed into the village and gave everyone who was abducted a quick physical.
After all was said and done, and everyone was going to be well, we made sure the villagers were all asleep, we packed our things and quietly left the village around 0400.