Writings

Our writings section features stories addressing the issue of ChildSoldiers written by youth in Sierra Leone

Child Soldiers

by Brima Lakoh, a student of the Saint Edwards Secondary School Freetown, Sierra Leone

These are young boys and girls who are also in the army. These children have decided or forced to join the army. In most parts of Africa, children are forced to join the army when they find out that the big army men are not sincere. countries like Sierra Leone,Liberia,Uganda and Somalia are some of the countries which are forcing children to hold gun.

These commanders will call them one by one to give them drugs , which act on there nervous system, cocain, tobacco, and alchohol. Those are the children that are chosen to fight, burning houses, kill innocent civillians.

Also, when the war started in Sierra Leone rebels were taking children from there homes and put them in the bush for training, some eight days training in the bush, will take them to a rich place called 'Kono', where they mine diamonds. Then the children will love money and not books, killing for money. They will forget education is better than silver and gold. They will sometimes work illicitly in the mining areas for their bossmen, rebel bossmen and when the diamond is found they big ones will sell them to Liberia, Libya, Ivory Coast, Belgium, France etc and the money will not come to benefit the child soldier for food and shelter or clothe or shooling but to buy more guns and amunition to fight and kill again.

These are some of the things which will make them to continue become child soldiers.