As mentioned in my previous post (True Satisfaction Or. A Momentary Meal) I wondered about the child soldiers of Sierra Leone. True to my word, I conducted more research on these children of war and gained a better understanding of who, what, where and how they became a part of the war.
WHO and HOW: The RUF abducted children who survived village attacks and after their parents were killed in their very own eyes. The age of these children ranged from nearly eight years old (possibly younger) to kids in their adolescent years. What definitely surprised me was that I didn’t expect that both boys and girls were forced to be a part of the groups. Another staggering fact was that child soldiers were found on both sides of the battlefield being on the front lines of the RUF and the pro-government rebel group Kamajors. I couldn’t believe that the government would allow a group fighting in support of them to use child soldiers.
WHAT and WHERE: There are nearly 300,000 child soldiers around the world, 10,000 of which were in Sierra Leone alone. The RUF camps would train the children within three months, while the Kamajors provided training as well and told the children that they would obtain magical powers called ‘juju’ by following rules. The number one choice weapon for the child soldier; the AK-47. It is light weight, easy to use that “even a child could do it” and can discharge 600 rounds per minute. By using easy to use artillery like the AK-47 rebel groups themselves have an easier time recruiting and training children. Something else that came to mind was that children seem so enthusiastic to join because they have nowhere else to turn to, and nothing else to do. During our group’s interview with Majur Malou, a Sudanese refugee, he stated that there was a lot of violence in the refugee camp he stayed in. He saw many young people holding guns, and fights would start out because of the slightest thing. Majur even said that one of the main causes was boredom. “It was like a fun for them”, Majur claimed, because they had nothing else to do.
Something else that I looked into that I questioned before was what is being done currently to help rehabilitate former child soldiers. Apparently, there are numerous rehabilitation centers and orphanages around Africa, including in Sierra Leone that specialize in this. However I was not able to find what the UN specifically is doing, as well as what other supporting countries to contribute to this cause. I would like to continue on with this information hopefully find an answer soon.
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