Ocen Ivan Kenneth

Ocen Ivan Kenneth

Uganda

My name is Ocen Ivan Kenneth, A young peace activist, Founder and Program Manager at Foundation for Development and Relief Africa (FIDRA). Born in the rural war toned zone of Northern Uganda, I started developing passion for arts as part of peace promotion and rehabilitation for the victims of the massacre of the past 25 years of the Lord’s Resistance Army of Joseph Kony. Being a capable bright child who loved studies, I requested my parents to buy me a school bag unfortunately war broke 3 days before school term opens. We trekked 80killometers before reaching to the internally displaced persons camp (IDP) where life became too hard. In amidst trauma and hunger, As part of consolation, I would wake up every morning, pick my pencil face the wall and draw different pictures including soldiers and school children, broken houses, dead people among so many thing that I can’t remember. I kept drawing so many pictures and I remember after the war came to an end, I went to school and drew peace pictures on all my books and displayed them on the walls and one was sent to the Project Peace Pal which enabled me get a sponsor throughout my primary and secondary school. To date, My organization has so far provided reconstructive medical repair to over 21,000 war victims of rape, mutilation, gun shots). Challenged by the hardships of war and poverty, while living in the camps at the age of 13 years, Ocen formed a Peace Club and bravely led the anti-child soldiers’ recruitment campaign amidst the war in northern Uganda. I grew up to become one of the most important figures in Africa, a key reference when it comes to struggle for human rights and justice, a product of resilience, a personification of struggle