My dad hated the idea of guns so much that he did not even like us having water guns when we were kids. My parents also tried their best to make sure we did not watch movies or TV shows that were not age appropriate (no rated R movies at 10). I even remember my parents watching a couple of Bollywood movies in the night and not letting us watch the movies the next day (they would show us the good songs though!)
In Liberia, kids as young as nine were given AK-47s and other weapons and sent directly to the front lines with no training. This was done by both the government and rebel forces during the civil wars. The kids only had one choice, to fight or die. Many child soldiers were killed or wounded. For those that survived, they spent up to 15 years fighting and violence and power over others became an integral part of their life.
Innocence was destroyed during this time; there was no such thing as a childhood for many. Girls were abducted and forced to become sexual partners of the abductors. For those children that did not fight or were not abducted, they were working, or in refugee camps and watched their country destroyed right before their eyes.
In the last three weeks, I have had a chance to speak to quite a few Liberians about their lives during the war, or what their lives are like as a result of the war. Some are not much older than me and were going to school and supported by their parents before the war. During the war, they lost their parents and had to work to support the family. Others lost everything, home and businesses, and the kids had to go to work to help support the family, putting aside their education, and any dreams they may have had for their future. Many were separated from families and lived in refugee camps in Guinea or Sierra Leone. As one mentioned to me, the women who went to refugee camps had it much easier. The ones who stayed back in Liberia faced assault, rape, etc.
As I have been traveling through many towns and villages, I have seen what guns and the war have destroyed: mosques, churches, schools, businesses, and homes. These destroyed buildings are a small symbol of what has been broken and lost during the war.
Mosque destroyed in war
