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"I was defending this region during the war," says Domingo Seiala, leaning on his rusty crutches – a constant reminder of the injuries he suffered during the Angolan civil war.
The post-colonial bloody conflict lasted from 1975 to 2002, pitting the ruling MPLA against rebels of Unita.
Seiala, a veteran of the MPLA's military wing, is now living in a collapsed and abandoned high school, still riddled with bullets by the war.
"We have nowhere to go," he says.
Disabled and without any help from the state, former soldiers such as Seiala find themselves in dire straits at Kuito, UNITA headquarters and home to some of the fiercest battles of those 27 years of war.
According to the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, Angola has about 159,000 veterans, but only a small percentage receives a pension of 23,000 kwanza (60 euros, 67 dollars) per month.
"The war is over, we are at peace, but there are many things we do not have, like money to buy food to eat," says Seiala.
The 49-year-old stepped on a mine and was wounded in the foot and leg during the Cuban-backed MPLA-US-backed war with the United States, which made more than 500 000 dead and many others maimed.
& # 39; Waiting for God & # 39;
"After the end of the war, we were wounded and now we are without support.Now we are like that (disabled) … The government is giving up … There is a lot missing in our lives", said Seiala, wearing a torn and faded camouflage military cap.
The Angolan government, still headed by the MPLA, has promised to build 36,000 homes for veterans by 2013, but to date, only 9,000 have been completed.
Domingo Tomas, also a veteran of the MPLA, lost his right leg in the war.
He lives in the same destroyed building as Seiala, and the couple tries to make do with what he has.
"All my family died in the war," says Tomas.
Nearly two decades after the end of the conflict, some parts of Kuito still carry scars.
Homeless children play in front of a ruined building while their parents prepare food over an open fire. The clothes dry on the walls covered with plaster, partially masking bullet impacts.
Further down the street is the abandoned house of Jonas Savimbi, the leader of Unita killed in action in 2002.
Recently exhumed, his body was officially buried in June in his home town of Loipitanga, two hours from Kuito.
The veterans of the war "are part of the history of all Angolan citizens", recently insisted the secretary of the ministry, Clemente Cunjuca.
The government introduced a bill to virtually double pensions to 42,000 kwanza, provide free transportation, and provide access to schools and hospitals.
But Seiala is skeptical.
"There is no support, we are waiting for God to do something," he said.
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