THANK YOU FOR HELPING CHILD SOLDIERS FIND SAFETY
March 2018 Update
Thanks to your support, children like Tshibola*, who've been forced to fight and kill, have a safe place where they can begin to recover from everything they've been through.
The thought of a child being forced to carry a gun and made to fight is a truly terrifying one. But this is the horrific reality for some children. And it's not just boys. In the Democratic Republic of Congo almost half of all child soldiers are girls – innocent girls like 14-year old Tshibola.
“They gave me alcohol and on the second day they said we were going into battle.” - Tshibola, 14
Tshibola lived with her mum and brothers in a small village when the rebel army attacked. They kidnapped her in the night – tragically, her sister was killed. She remembers the first time she was made to fight, "The military started shooting when we arrived, and I fell to the ground.” She'd been shot several times in the legs.
Thankfully, Tshibola was able to escape and is now at a children’s centre, where she's safe. These centres give children like Tshibola the physical and emotional care they need to begin to recover. They help reunite them with their families and begin the long process of rebuilding their lives.
Tshibola’s greatest hope is to find her family. “I’m waiting to go home so we can find my mother and I can go to school,” she says.
It's thanks to you that children like her have safe places to go where they can get the support and care they so desperately need.
* her name has been changed to protect her identity
MORE THAN 300 CHILD SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN FREED THANKS TO YOU
Just like Tshibola, thousands of children are being forced to fight and go through unimaginable trauma. But thanks to your support, 311 children, including 87 girls, were freed last month in South Sudan - the largest child soldier release in the country in the last three years.
Children like Victor, 15, who was abducted and forced to be a spy for an armed group. “They told me to go near the road and if I heard the sound of a car coming, I went and reported it. Then they would come and take the car. They would shoot at it [and] they would burn it. The people inside the cars would sometimes escape and run. Other times they would be killed,” he said.
Thanks to you, Victor, like many others, will get the support and care they need to start the long road to recovery. They will also get help so that they can find their families and given training to learn new skills and start building a brighter future.
Thank you for the hope you’re giving to these children.
Photo shows Victor, 15, one of the 300 child soldiers, who was freed last month thanks to your support.