Children Soldier Stories...

George (13 years old)
“I joined by force. I was living with my parents in the village and one of the factions captured the village and said all the young boys in the town should join them. Some of us said we didn’t want to join them, but they started to hit us with a gun. Most of them were very, very, bad people. They would shoot people between the legs, just to scare them. I didn’t do that type of thing. I was a good guy in the faction. I was a bodyguard to one of the generals. I was scared initially, but then I lost my fear. I fought for two years, and then I managed to escape in 1996 and came here to Monrovia.
The war is over now and I’m all right. I don’t want to fight anymore again. I don’t think about the war anymore. I’m thinking about the future and about developing my country. I hope that Liberia remains peaceful and that everything will be alright in Liberia.”
 
Momo Famole (17 years old)
“In 1990, the fighting started getting close to my village and me and my Family fled. Everybody fled: my mother, my father, my late brother and Sister. Everybody ran away. But we got separated. I tried to look for them but I couldn’t find them. I found some of my friends. We were all hungry, but we couldn’t find any food. My friends told me to join them and the four of us went into the bush. We went to Robert sport and ran into one of the factions. They told us only soldiers could pass. If we didn’t joined them, they wouldn’t let’s through so we joined. I was only 10 years old. We had to go fight on the front. The days we fought, we got food. But if we didn’t go to the front, we weren’t given anything to eat. I fought throughout the entire war. I don’t know if I killed people, but I fired a lot. I didn’t enjoy it, but had to do it because I had nothing to eat. I was afraid but when they gave me drugs, I became brave. When the war was over, I tried to find my family, but I couldn’t. Then I
Looked for my grandmother, but I couldn’t find her either. So my three friends and I walked here to Monrovia. We wanted to go back to school. When we got here, I found a man and told him “oh, I’m looking for somewhere to live. I don’t have anybody to live with.”
I said, “My people are not here. So I say I want to live with you.” He Said, “all right, but I can’t take all four of you”. Two of my friends said they didn’t want to live with the man, so they left. My friend and me still live with the man. I want to open my shop and start working, just to advance myself. When I get enough money to open a shop, I’ll get a place. I want to go back to school too. I haven’t been to school since 1989. So I really want to go to school. If I can make furniture, I’ll be able to earn enough to pay for my school fees. I’m happy there’s peace now in Liberia.
 
Robert (14 years old)
“I became a combatant in 1991 when I was 8years old. I became a fighter because I felt that my friends and my parents were suffering. I joined a faction and served as a bodyguard to one of the chiefs of staff. I used an AK-47. It wasn’t too heavy. I used it often, but I never killed civilians. I was often really afraid. I was given cigarettes and marijuana during the war, but I’ve changed now and I don’t smoke. I don’t really think about the war much now, and I don’t have nightmares. I talk to counselors a lot about what happened. I want to go back to school before starting to work.”

---