The Cost Of War

The
People's Coalition For Justice
&
Humanity
***
Survivors: Portraits of Children and War

The United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict recently released the following numbers.

In the past decade:
2 million children have been killed in conflict situations
Over 1 million have been made orphans
Over 6 million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled
Over 10 million have been left with grave psychological trauma
At the present moment:
There are over 20 million children displaced by war
Some 300,000 young persons under the age of 18 are currently being exploited as child soldiers around the world
Approximately 800 children are killed or maimed by land mines every month
Last year innovative theater director Ping Chong joined with the Center for Multicultural Human Services to create "Children Of War," a new multi-disciplinary theater work based on the personal testimonies of a diverse group of young people who have experienced war and domestic trauma. The piece evolved through discussions between Ping Chong and the participants.
"Children Of War" is part of Ping Chong's "Undesirable Elements" series which explores history, culture, and ethnicity's effects on individuals and their communities.
The participants in "Children of War" range in age from 12 to 19 and come from El Salvador, Somalia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, and Kurdistan. Learn more about their worlds and read their words below.

Fatu Sankoh, Sierra Leone

Fatu Sankoh arrived in the United States in 2000 from Sierra Leone. That former British colony, which gained independence in 1961, has been the scene of civil war for more than a decade. As many as 50,000 people died and many thousands more were horribly mutilated, raped or tortured during the fighting . Sierra Leone's brutal war was in part financed by the sale of what have come to be known as "Conflict Diamonds." A little over a year ago a peace declaration brokered by the United Nations was signed.
In "Children of War," Fatu describes the tactics of killers, often children themselves. The young soliders used amputation as a form of punishment. Fatu also witnessed the death of a close friend:
I was shaking. And I just leave the -- the water and everything and splash on the ground. I was waiting like an hour. Everything is clear at night. I wasn't sure that Abu is really, really dead. Cause the blood was in my hand, my clothes, even my face is splashed. I was like move over, I need some space.
Although a peace treaty has been signed Sierra Leone is still suffering. As preparation for war crimes trials new reports are surfacing about the role of the illicit diamond trade and the use of rape as a tool of war.
Source: http://www.pbs.org/now/arts/pingchong.html

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