Link: Loving Child Soldiers Back Into Society [Ode]
One of the most horrific effects of war in Africa in the past decade or so has been the use of child soldiers. Despite the criticism that the book has received, I still absolutely recommend that you read Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah if you would like to read an autobiographical account of a child soldier from Sierra Leone.
Today’s post is about former child soldiers from Liberia and the changes they have made since the end of the war in 2003.
Child soldier fighting for Charles Taylor's government [source]
I came across this brilliant website today: guardiansofthefuture.org. According to their front page, Future Generation Guardianship refers to the notion that:
“People who live today have the sacred right and obligation to protect the commonwealth of the Earth and the common health of people and all our relations for many generations to come.
Future Generation Guardianship is one way to do that. It is a new twist on an ancient idea” - guardiansofthefuture.org
The Future Generation Guardians are a handful of former child soldiers that have worked hard over the past six years to rebuild their lives, resume their education and move away from the life of violence, drugs and alcohol that they experienced as child soldiers. They want to talk about what happened to them, build and heal meaningful relationships, help rebuild Liberian society and be of service to their community.
Do visit the touching section featuring stories and photos taken by the children themselves. More photos can be found at the site futureguardiansofpeace.org which also features a section on how you can get involved and help these young people to reform and grow into contributing members of a developing society.
5 comments
it is very easy to manipulate the mind of a child, hence they use them in wars and even now they use them for cheap labor..
I am now following your bog.. I hope you can follow mine too
Make or Break
Hi interesting site.
It was very very interesting articles in here, I will definitely return to read more.
I am very interested in things that have to do with history.
I have a site, I agree with much history ( Factasy The History site at the web ), especially the American civil war category, I think you should take you a look at
A tragedy put them in to the war, A tragedy steal their childhood, a tragedy for all of us.
This is very touching. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
@ pehpot: It is true - it is so easy to manipulate them. I have been looking into human trafficking and slavery recently too. Terrible stuff indeed.
@ factasy: I liked your section on the Vietnam war.
@ Italo: I absolutely agree.
@ Gaelikaa: It is a pleasure - thank you for reading.
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