---
description: TIME reports from the Central African village where the U.S. Military has set up camp to help track down the LRA's Joseph Kony.
title: On the Ground: Safe from #Kony?
image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb8e6d2dca3233fb/69879d3935ba6f126cc08d24/nahr-obo-06a.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9
---
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# On the Ground: Safe from #Kony?
by
[Alex Perry](/author/alex-perry/)
## Alex Perry
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Mar 16, 2012 8:00 AM CUT
Jan. 27, 2012\. Locals stand in the midst of new home construction.
Jan. 27, 2012\. Locals stand in the midst of new home construction.Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
by
[Alex Perry](/author/alex-perry/)
## Alex Perry
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Mar 16, 2012 8:00 AM CUT
In the years we’ve worked in Africa, _TIME_ contract photographer Dominic Nahr and I have been to some pretty out-of-the-way places: Sudan, Somalia, the Ethiopian mountains, Congo. But I doubt we’ll ever again go somewhere as off the map as Obo in southeastern Central African Republic. To reach Obo, you fly to CAR’s capital Bangui, then for four more hours east over unbroken jungle, with almost no sign of life below. Once in Obo you find a town with no power, one road, one church, one hospital with one doctor, several thousand refugees, who have fled from as far away as the Democratic Republic of Congo to escape Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)—and one U.S. Special Operations base built out of palm thatch and grass.
Access to the Special Forces: nil, as expected. Access to the Ugandan army, who the Special Ops are assisting in their hunt for the LRA: nil, which was disappointing. But with close to 100 of its people abducted by the LRA and forced to become fighters, only to escape and return home years later, Obo turned out to be a treasure trove of information on one of the most mysterious and notorious rebel groups in the world.
It was also a revelation on another count. Hundreds of miles from anywhere, with nothing to eat but what they grew or caught, Obo was one of the most welcoming, most charming and—now that they had U.S. base on the edge of town to discourage attackers—the most peaceful places we’ve ever visited, proof, if ever it was needed, that a rich life can be measured in many more ways than mere money. In the evenings, Dominic would complain that he’d come to shoot a war and had ended up shooting a bucolic paradise. I think his beautiful pictures capture the place perfectly.
Read More: [“The Warlord Vs. The Hipsters”](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2109123,00.html?pcd=pw-lb "undefined")
_Alex Perry is_ TIME’_s Africa bureau chief._
_Dominic Nahr, a_ TIME _contract photographer, photographed the_ [_Arab Spring in Egypt_](http://lightbox.time.com/2011/04/04/the-uprising-reflections-on-the-egyptian-revolution-by-dominic-nahr/ "undefined")_. Nahr is represented by_ [_Magnum_](http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific%5FMAG.PhotographerDetail%5FVPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3RT4UBI7&nm=Dominic%20Nahr "undefined")_._
The images in this gallery were made by TIME contract photographer Dominic Nahr on assignment in Obo, Central African Republic in late January.Jan. 28, 2012\. Children stand next to a village water pump. They were relocated following attacks by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 27, 2012\. Locals stand in the midst of new home construction. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 28, 2012\. Three men wash their clothes in the river on the outskirts of Obo before sunset. Beyond the small river is LRA territory. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 26, 2012\. A young Congolese boy stands next to a Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) truck, where a soldier smokes a cigarette. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 28, 2012\. Locals attend a memorial party celebrating the death of a prominent community figure. The last time LRA fighters staged a big raid in Obo, they kidnapped locals during a similar memorial party. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 27, 2012\. A young boy walks with his donkey in the main section of Obo. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 27, 2012\. A UPDF pickup truck can be seen outside a local hut. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 26, 2012\. The airfield in Obo, which is used by the UPDF, the UN and US Special Forces. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 27, 2012\. Young Congolese refugees play music while children dance and sing in a camp on the outskirts of Obo. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 26, 2012\. A Congolese man climbs a palm tree to use parts of the tree for housing. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 29, 2012\. A woman sweeps near her home in the early morning. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 28, 2012\. A young man burns his land on the outskirts of Obo. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 29, 2012\. Congolese Refugees prepare for Sunday service on the outskirts of Obo. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
Jan. 29, 2012\. Two children sit around a fire in the early morning. Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIME
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