Since 1986, a rebel group calling itself the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has led an insurgency in northern Uganda. Though its stated objective is toppling the national goverment of Uganda, its victims have more often than not been the innocent bystanders and civilians of northern region. Thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands have fled from their homes and live in displacement camps, and an estimated 20,000 children have been abducted by the LRA and forced to be rebel soldiers and wives. Here, a child's drawing of a battle between LRA rebels and the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF), the government army, hangs in a counseling center for the war-traumatized.

Photographer Rick D'Elia lived in Uganda in 2003 and 2004 working on short-term contracts with Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children USA and the U.S. embassy in Uganda. Traveling across the northern and central region from displacement camps to health clinics, D'Elia photographed Ugandans as they continued to adjust to and cope with what has been called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Rick D'Elia is an award-winning freelance photographer who has worked in Cambodia, Mexico and Albania in the employ of news organizations such as the BBC and numerous NGOs. His work in Africa is also represented by Corbis' current events division. For more information about his portfolio and future work, he can be contacted by email at rdelia@deliaphotographic.net or through his website: www.deliaphotographic.net.