Child Soldiers
By: Samantha and Jo
Thousands of children in more than 40
countries across the globe are being forced or
tricked into becoming soldiers.
The Problem: US
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A child goes missing or is abducted
Broadcasting descriptions
Flash pictures
Post information regarding the abduction
Police move out in force with helicopters and planes
Bring a child home to its family
Go after the abductor to put him behind bars,
The Problem: AFRICA
• Northern districts of Uganda, 300,000 children abducted in 20 years:
nobody does a thing.
• Almost every family has been affected.
• Many families lost a child through abduction, or their village was attacked
and destroyed by an army of abducted children known as The Lord’s
Resistance Army.
• Countryside virtually empty
• People move to "safe villages" protected by the government
• Said not done.
• At night the children of the north flee into towns to sleep, fearing that
they might be abducted.
The Main Info
• Children around 10 years old are taught to kill
• Child is commanded to kill others in order to stay alive
• The number of children under the age of 18 who have been
coerced or induced to become child soldiers is thought to be in
the range of 300,000
Joseph Kony
• Claims to make Uganda better place based on the Ten
Commandments, but he has broken every one of them.
• Control of children and the doing of a crazy man.
• Known nothing else but death and destruction.
The Time/place
• 18 years, no resolve in sight.
• Recruits soldiers from villages and schools of Uganda
through abductions.
• Children have been robbed of life itself
• Ruthless killers who no longer feel
A Story in Pictures
Drawings by former child soldiers as young as 5 years old
http://www.amnestyusa.org/child_soldiers/gallery.html - A
story in pictures.
1. This is what the LRA has been doing to our children for
over 18 years now, and it's time for it to stop. Kids as
young as 5 years old, are drawing these images after
being a child soldier. No hearts, no pictures for mommy.
just cold- blooded murder scenes.
Quotes
FORMER GIRL SOLDIER in hiding in Colombia “They told me I had to cut a man's throat. I was
frightened. But I had to do it to survive."
Quotes
FORMER CHILD SOLDIER - "I killed innocent people
in terrorist attacks with bombs. I haven't given it much
thought. I know there was one town where I planted
dynamite - I used about 25kg of explosives. I am
really not sure."
Quotes
"I've seen people get their hands cut off, a ten-year old girl
get assaulted and then died, and so many men and women
burned and buried alive… so many times I just cried inside
my heart because I didn't dare cry out loud," said a 14
year-old girl, abducted in January 2000 by the
Revolutionary United Front, an armed group in Sierra
Leone.
Quotes
CHILD SOLDIER, Myanmar - "I feel sorry. Why do I
feel sorry? Because by the time I could go to school, I
am already too old for the beginner's class. I can't
dream of going to school any more because it is too
late. I will stay in the army until I die. I lost all my
dreams, all my hopes for the future, I feel like a dead
person."
Quotes
LRA ESCAPEE - "The LRA were looting the village. I
tried to run away but it was too late. They forced me
to carry two 50kg bags of sugar. I couldn't carry them
on my own, so they captured 2 more kids to help."
Video Link
http://www2.invisiblechildren.com/videos/3765611 -Who
We Are video
How We Can Help:
1. Donate. Go to www. invisiblechildren.com, to donate your
money, and help the invisible children of Uganda, become
visible.
2. Support. Invisible Children co. has recently started their
bracelet campaign. They have started selling bracelets
handmade by the Ugandan people, that will benefit the
people of Africa. By purchasing one of these bracelets
you will help support the Invisible Children, and child
soldiers of Uganda
3. Spread the word. By spreading the word about child
soldiers, we will help educate ourselves and others about
the problem in not only Africa, but also the rest of the
world.
Bibliography
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/stories/s596672.
htm
http://www.amnestyusa.org/child_soldiers/gallery.html
http://www2.invisiblechildren.com/videos/3765611
http://kabiza.com/Lira-Children-Kony-Rebels.htm