PERSONAL STATEMENT FOR PHD STUDY AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON I almost stopped my education at primary seven due to the stigmatization of being former Lord Resistance Army abductee. However, the words of Prof Ogenga Latigo on the fateful afternoon of November 2001 at CigaCiga primary school to us before sitting for our Primary Leaving Examination, “you can be what you want to be in your life by hard work”, put back my life, academic inspiration and gave me hope that I can be what I want to be no matter the stigmatization. This conviction pushed me through from primary level to the university where I pursued BSc Environmental Science, Technology and Management, majoring in environmental quality management, which deals with socio-economic aspects of humanity and environment. I graduated with a first class (Honours) in 2012 compared to students who had all good family and academic background. Nevertheless, I continued to pursue the profession of environmental management alongside other leaders to address the most pressing environmental problems through an understanding of human behaviors, ecological systems in relation to environmental changes entrenched in the ecological-economic model. Subsequently, in May 2014 I got an appointment into the civil service as the District Environment Officer of Pader District Local Government. However, after about 7 months in service, I felt there is need for project design and planning skills to develop projects that harmonize the clash