Looking for Former Child Soldiers

I'm planning to write a piece on Child Soldiers as a means to share their stories to the world. Anyone who assists will of course get pseudonym if he or she wishes.

A child soldier in this case refers to children under 18 who have been voluntarily or forcefully recruited into armies/rebel groups/opposition groups. Both boys and girls. It's not necesarry to have been a fighting soldier; many other tasks done for a military group are included in the term "child soldier." It could be for sexual use, for coooking or cleaning, running errands or spying, just to name a few. No special country or region is preferred; anyone who fits into the description could do a great lot for others to open their eyes for what's going on in the world.

Are you one of these or do you know anyone who is?

Please contact me for more information.

Child Soldier

According to the Cape Town principles, a child soldier is:

"Any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to cooks, porters, messengers, and those accompanying such groups, other than purely as family members. It includes girls recruited for sexual purposes and forced marriage. It does not, therefore, only refer to a child who is carrying or has carried arms."

In Sudan, thousands of child soldiers have been recruited and used by armed forces, government supported militias and armed opposition groups. In January 2005, a deal was made between Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Sudanese government. The deal, the Comprehensive, Peace Agreement (CPA), or the Naivasha deal, made sure that the parties signing the deal would demobilize all children in their ranks before July 2005. But children are still being used in the conflicts of ignorant adults. They are easily manipulated and used. Even after a long time of abuse and mistreat, they can start to trust you, because they are children. Innocent, white cheats of lives that fill the canvas with whatever the grown ups tell them to put there.

War saddens me, as every injustice in this world. But nothing upsets me more, than the unjust use of poor children - young people that could have a whole bright future ahead of them, if bloodthirsty and vengeful grown ups wouldn't destroy all hope of freedom.

I'm stydying pedagogy at the moment, and will hopefully get my bachelor's degree in June. So I've started to think of what to write as my final paper. For many years I've known that I want to work with those who are less fortunate than me, to make their lives a little bit brighter, and my stay in Sudan confirmed all those thoughts and feelings. So my idea is to write the paper about the effects that education have for those who have been child soldiers, if it contributes to their reintegration into society and if it helps the healing of their souls. I haven't thought of the details yet, but at least it's an idea, or the start of an idea. If you have any suggestions of how to improve the idea, do let me know.