Taking a Stand Against Child Soldiering

Blog post by Katrina F., Team Iraq 2012

I chose to research the topic of child soldiers.  I honestly did not know a thing about what was going on until I started researching… and I am sick to my stomach as I sit here reading quotes from actual child soldiers and the things they are made to do.  They are made to do some sick things, so sick.  They have to kill their best friends to prove their loyalty, they are beaten to death sometimes for no reason at all, the girl soldiers are raped repeatedly at night by the other youth soldiers and adult men… at ages of 11 years old… and if they cry, they will beat them.  It is seriously one of the worst things I have ever heard.

As I research, most of my quotes from the children came from this website.  You too will be sick after reading a lot of these “voices” of these child soldiers. 

AIDS Orphans: Overwhelming Statistics

Blog post by Wendy K, Team Haiti 2012

Looking through the lens of my mind’s eye, I see two children.
Two children separated by continents.

One sitting pretty clothed in family,
A backdrop of abundance….
A broad smile…
Eyes of hope…
A triumphant shout…
A life of promise.

The other -
Utterly alone.
A backdrop of empty…
A vacant look…
Eyes of misery…
A silent scream…
A life lost.

Two children made in God’s image, precious in His eyes, worthy of respect, dignity and a opportunity.  Two lives- one full of hope, the other hanging in the balance.  I ask myself what I would do if this was the plight of one of my children.  One life lost is tragic enough, but over 16 million children have been orphaned by AIDS.  14.8 million of these children live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

From raising money to going….

Blog post by Bethany A., Team Ethiopia 2011

 

Bethany A. will be serving on the Ethiopia Journey 117 Team leaving in December 2011.

Child Soldiers

Blog post by Carol D., Team Uganda 2011

Children are defenseless.  Children are vulnerable.  When rogue forces sweep a village for resources, they sometimes kidnap children and brutally force them into various forms of servitude.  When that service includes arming children and forcing them to fight, maim, and kill, the children become child soldiers.  Children as young as five and six may be abducted.  If a child is not strong or coordinated enough to carry a gun, they may be used as look-outs or spies.  Children are sometimes drugged or raped into submission.  Sometimes they are given an ultimatum of kill or be killed; or kill or your family will be killed.  They are brainwashed and shamed for the atrocities they are forced to participate in and then are told that their families and communities won’t accept them back any longer, so they have no one else to turn to.  Globally there are at least 35 conflict zones where children are used as soldiers. 

Child Trafficking and Its Various Forms

Blog post by Trista H., Team Uganda 2011

Many people believe that we have made great strides in our fair treatment of human lives.  In many parts of the world, however, this is far from true.  While slavery is not legal in most places, it continues as a common practice in most countries.  Poor, uneducated, and marginalized people are often drawn into false promises of better lives.  Among these people are women and children who are commonly forced or tricked into various forms of slavery. 

What Ever Happened to Moderation?

Blog post my Jenny G., Team Uganda 2011 

In our advanced intellectual Western culture of 2011, we don’t really even consider gender when it comes to most everything. We had the 70’s “Women’s Rights” movement that brought about major cultural change for women to the point that I think we have completely abandoned God’s plan for the family. His example for us is Christ’s relationship with the church. Christ is our head and the man is to be the head of the family. Christ loves us, the Church, unconditionally and completely, just as a man is to love his wife unconditionally and completely. With “women’s lib” we have taken that privilege and God-given position away from men in our society in the name of gender equality.

Aging out of the System….Then What?

Blog post by Janice O., Team Uganda 2011             

A child growing up in a loving home has hopes, dreams and desires of the life they will eventually live, the person they will become some day, and their future as a happy adult.  How is that different from an orphan child in Africa? In Africa 11 million children die each year before the age of 5.  Many of these orphan children don’t think of their future adult lives, because most are thinking of when they will eat their next meal, where they will sleep tonight, or how they will survive another day.  There are approximately 143 million orphans worldwide and in Africa, 2,102,400 children are becoming orphans each year.  The lucky ones may enter into an orphanage system, to be cared for by strangers with the hopes of being adopted some day by a loving, caring family.   With only 250,000 African adoptions annually, there is a desperate need for a change. 

Modern-Day Slavery: Human Trafficking in Uganda

Blog post by Melissa M., Team Uganda 2011

Human trafficking is our modern-day slavery and needs to be addressed. The United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”  This means the victims are trafficked through force, fraud and/or coerced by promises such as better jobs, marriage to a person of higher economic status, money given to their family or reuniting them with loved ones.

Child Soldiers

Blog post by Preston A., Team Uganda 2011

The crises that orphans face in the world spans anywhere from pedophilia to slavery.  Orphans are prone to so many various struggles and problems because they: are without parent or guardians to watch after them, many are homeless, many lack quality education, many lack proper social skills to keep them from danger, many lack proper access to resources, and many are in and around high conflict areas.   A major issue in many African countries and Middle Eastern countries is child soldiers.

Human Trafficking Issues

Blog post by Sarah Z., Team Uganda 2011

Human trafficking, or slavery, is the world’s second largest criminal enterprise (after drugs), and it is estimated that before the year 2011 is complete, human trafficking will rise to be the leading illegal business in the world. There are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world today – more than any other time in history. That’s more than the population of any given state in the U.S. except California. Over 2 million children are trafficked every year. Many of these are orphans.