words to live by.

on child soldiers

Lately, I have attempted to educate myself on child soldiers. I’ve tried to find out why they’re used, how they’re used and what’s being done about it. I’ve read. I’ve Googled and Wiki-ed and, to be honest, I think I’ve saturated my brain with so much information that it’s become absolutely inflamed with anger about the apathy.

Granted, I’m far from knowing everything that’s going on in the world and the shitty things that are happening in my own city. But this just pisses me off.

Kids, as young as 9 and 10, are being given AK-47’s, are being manipulated into taking drugs and drinking alcohol, and are being trained to kill in order to suit the needs of a man whose main desire is complete and total power. They’re used as pawns. They’re put on the front lines in order to distract and deter the enemy from attacking. They’re used in order as dummies to test fields for land mines. They’re used as sexual objects and for menial tasks like laundering, cooking, cleaning, and whatever else is needed in the bush.

If they’re freed from the bush, attempts are made in order to reintegrate them into society. But reintegrate them into what society exactly? These societies aren’t exactly stable or adequate. Some communities don’t even accept these little boys and girls, especially if they’re pregnant, have children, or have killed. The stigma surrounding these children often forces them back into the bush and into the camps and beds of these warlords. At least they are somewhat protected and respected there.

Romeo Dallaire urges people to think about the potential these soldiers could hold. While they’ve gone through immense traumas and psychological pain, the tools they’ve unintentionally learned could help foster a new generation of youth. Young women that have led troops into combat could assert these leadership skills in more productive and beneficial ways. In studies regarding child soldiers, young girls are often ignored; they’re often absent from these studies. When they’re written about, they are almost always talked about as victims of rape and warlords’ sex objects and wives. But what about their potential? Imagine the power of a young woman who battles through the demons caused by this trauma. Imagine the strength.

I’m not saying that every kid that escapes the bush will be able to harness what they’ve learned in a positive way. I’m not even saying that they should. I’m just saying that the possibilities are absolutely endless. Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years. The pain he must have went through is unsurmountable. Yet, in 1994, he led South Africa out of apartheid and inspired the world to seek equality.

Is it idealistic to imagine a world for these kids that is better? Maybe. But a former child soldier has said, “The reason why we believe that change is possible is not because we are idealists but because we believe we have made it, so other people can make it as well.”

If you’re reading this, I really hope that you don’t forget it. I hope you don’t move on to the next thing because this is so important. You’re probably young and feel in your gut that you have the ability to change the world. Everyone has that gut feeling every once in a while. Change the status quo and make people care. That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to make you care about the boy and girl somewhere in Africa who is, at this moment, carrying an AK-47 ready and willing to kill someone with it. Or about the young girl in Asia or Eastern Europe who was kidnapped, pumped with drugs and forced into prostitution. Or that teenager in the States or Canada who, because there was no other option, turned to dealing drugs for a gang to make some cash.

Realize your potential so that some kid can have the chance to realize theirs.

“To the homeless, the poor, the beggar, the victim of AIDS and Alzheimer’s, the old, and the humble, the prisoners in their prison and the wanderers in their dreams, it is our sacred duty to stretch out our hand and say, ‘In spite of what separates us, what we have in common is our humanity.’”
- Elie Wiesel

[If you want to learn more, I urge you to check out Invisible Children and/or Dallaire’s Child Soldiers Initiative. Read his book: They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children. It’s informative without being a boring read. Trust me.]


P.S. Today, the trial portion of Thomas Labunga's case at the ICC came to an end. He is the first individual whose trial has focused solely on the recruitment of child soldiers. His trial and its outcome will set legal precedent for those of its kind that follow. I only hope that his judgement is fair and just. Click HERE to read more about Labunga.

adele.

The power with which Adele commands a room through merely standing in its centre and singing a song is absolutely remarkable.

This woman has music and talent flowing through and out of her everything and I will never know what the human race did to deserve this angel and her music but I thank the universe every day for bringing her to us.

i just want to know...

what makes your heart beat, beat faster for me?

a must read

All I can really say is that this is fantastic journalism.

It must be read as it invites deep and introspective discussion. The author's own confusion and unwillingness to form an opinion on Childers may mirror the reader's and while there are universal atrocities that must be put to an end, the methods to do so must also be questioned, thought about and criticized.

Perhaps the best part of this article is that it showcases the LRA, Kony and the atrocities committed in the Congo, C.A.R., Sudan and Uganda. Finally, people are given the resources they need to learn.

life

Ahh, the all important life question.

sunday.

To all my friends from the Fourth Estate: 

a tye, larema.

before sunrise

Even though my sentimentality is far greater than yours and you will probably never once think a single thought about me ever again, I will still think of our time together as a 'before sunrise' moment. Not in the way in which a missed love is the main focus but in the way that I could have learned so much more had time been kinder.

It was an experience in which time was too short and the wish for what could have been far outweighs the amount of time we spent together.  

But then again, perhaps it was the short bonds that made the time so sweet.

tiptoe across the line between laziness and decompression

There is a fine line between laziness and decompression.

I believe that this summer has been a fine lesson for me in how to straddle the line without tipping towards complete and utter laziness.

Nevertheless, I know I must continue to fight the desire to do nothing even though this desire is strong. September brings another year of hard work and libraries and books and reading through words and drivel of educators smarter than I am and who make me extremely jealous of their intelligence. BUT, I see the finish line. I see the goal. I see that April and May and June and July and August bring an entirely new future that is completely mine to fashion and paint. That is, if I continue to resist the temptation of laziness and use my time and decompress wisely.

Jedidiah Jenkins perfectly sums up my feelings on the Fourth Estate

If these members walked out a bit dizzy, stumbling over thoughts too big for the brain, we have done our job. If these members walked out convinced of nothing except the dignity of human beings and a desire to protect that dignity, then we have done our job.
If these members exchange self-serving profit for life-serving purpose, if they see their lives as part of a living body, and not an ignorant cancer, we have done our job.
If we prioritize worthy things, and marginalize unworthy things. If we celebrate beauty and mystery and belonging, and if we critique abuse, the rape of the human soul and the natural world, the fragmented fiction that my choices are separate from yours… then we have done our job.
If we stop blaming injustice on laziness, culture, and history, and start solving injustice with love and focused attention, then we have done our world a service.
And if there is a God, He will be well pleased.

I cannot speak for the other 650+ attendees, but for me, all of the above was accomplished. Thank you, Jed.