ALOTO, NEAR KITGUM, 12 November 2007 (IRIN) - Dalson Oyo is an organiser at Aloto resettlement site for formerly displaced people, 25km south of Kitgum.

I came here in November last year and back then there was just bush, thick bush.

I never even thought about going straight back to my house. I was worried about landmines and about the LRA coming back from South Sudan but also about raids from the Karamojong, the neighbouring pastoralists, who come and seize cattle around here. It's better that we have some protection and the security is good here because we have soldiers nearby.

The first thing we did when we came back was to clear the ground, to slash back the bush. When I arrived there were just three of us and I lived for five months under the trees before we built a hut.

People slowly moved back and now we have 558 people in Aloto. Many of them are still building their huts but I've now got three so I'm putting my energy into other things. A lot of my time at the moment is taken up with building for the village - this afternoon I've been digging the new school's latrines with other villagers.

We have really encouraged volunteering in Aloto - I think it's the only way we will develop. So far we've built a school - it's only a temporary building from wood and mud but it's a good start.

We have a lady who cooks for the children in the school. The parents don't have money so instead they will dig her garden for her. Some of us are building furniture for the school.

The reason why I'm doing this is because I want this village to develop. I want it to be a nice village and I want to develop myself. I hope this will also encourage others to do things by themselves.

As I see it, we have a duty to improve ourselves. God told Adam and Eve to work after Eve ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden. We can't wait for things to be done for us.

As northern Uganda starts to rebuild after years of war we must all come together and work hard and honestly.

All the commanders should be mobilised and should be educated to copy this kind of example. If volunteering were set up in all the camps we could start to grow fast.

But at the moment too many people, especially in the camps, aren't working. They are drinking alcohol and living on food from the UN. The drinking causes problems between mothers and fathers, it leads to mental confusion and wastes people. There is no way to educate people who are drunk.

I am sorry for those who drink so much they can't go and dig in their gardens; they are only waiting for the food being brought by the UN. We need to reform them.

They think the food is there, why waste time going to the gardens if I already have my dinner. That sort of 'help' is just encouraging dependency.

The money the UN uses for food should be spent on other things like building new health centres and schools - things we really need.

The temporary school we've built is better than nothing, but our children really need something bigger and more permanent. Many parents keep their children in the camp because the school here is just too small. At the moment you can see the children carrying everything, including the clock and blackboards, back to the village every evening.

Secondly, we have a lot of sickness but the nearest place for treatment is 15 miles away and that's a long way to walk when you are feeling ill.

Water is also a big problem. The government built a borehole a little while ago but they didn't do it properly and so it's still dry and we are walking a mile there and back whenever we need water.

We also need tools - we hear on the radio that the local government has got funds for giving returnees tools but we aren't seeing them.

So as the camp leader here I'd like to see help better targeted. It shouldn't encourage dependency and should be focused on things we can't do ourselves.

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