I really didn’t want to be a soldier. They sent me to your home to be a student so I didn’t have to be a soldier.
A few weeks ago, we posted a Philippines fact-sheet to acquaint, or re-acquaint, you with the very basics of the country’s culture. This blog series is an attempt to remind ourselves that child soldiers are more than child soldiers. Each comes from a different cultural context with a very complicated history.
Project: AK-47 is committed to reclaiming children from armed conflict, wherever they may be. In one sense, a child soldier is a child soldier, but we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the differences between the countries we work in.
Project: AK-47 is committed to reclaiming children from armed conflict, wherever they may be. In one sense, a child soldier is a child soldier, but we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the differences between the countries we work in. It may seem obvious, but a child soldier in Burma does not have the same experience as a child in the Philippines. Like the rest of us, these children are in large part defined by their cultures. This child is an individual, a product of his context—for better or worse—and it is our goal to work within this culture to restore the child to a life free from violence.
This week’s blog is an interview between Project: AK-47′s founder Marcus Young and one of our rescued child soldiers. The interview has been transcribed from a video we took while in Southeast Asia recently. What you are about to read is such a great example of the what we do and why we do it. This kid’s life has been completely changed because of the Project: AK-47 community.
Enter your email address to get blog updates.
