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Title: READ THIS !!!!!!! Post by: Aaron on December 18, 2001, 05:00:00 AM Children swap murder for maths Colombia's government has set up safe houses with the aim of rehabilitating former rebel soldiers as young as 12 Martin Hodgson in Bogota Marisol, 16, appears to be an ordinary schoolgirl. She dislikes maths, her spelling is not always perfect, and she says that when she finishes school she would like to be a pop singer. "I was a good fighter and a good commander, but I had no freedom. All I had was war," she said. Marisol talks confidently about weaponry and tactics, but she now faces what may be her toughest battle so far: returning to civilian life after five years on the front lines of Colombia's bitter civil war. An estimated 6,000 children fight with the rebels and rightwing paramilitaries, and as more children are sucked into the conflict, the Colombian government has opened a network of halfway houses to help fighters like Marisol who desert or are captured by the army. Aged between 12 and 17, most of the young ex-combatants have experienced fighting, and all face enormous difficulties after leaving the war. "When all you can expect is death, you have no vision of any future. We try to help the kids to think ahead, and realise that they can decide what will happen in their lives," said Julian Aguirre, who runs the rehabilitation programme for the Colombian Family Welfare Institute. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), is the largest recruiter of children. The oldest rebel faction, it had just 1,000 guerrillas 20 years ago, but now fields 17,000 fighters, owing in part to the widespread use of child soldiers. "In some regions recruitment is indiscriminate. I've heard Farc commanders saying that they'll take anyone big enough to hold a rifle," said Mr Aguirre. About one-quarter of child combatants are press-ganged, but the majority are volunteers. Some - like Marisol, whose father was a Farc commander - have family ties with the rebels; others join up to flee domestic violence or sexual abuse. But most go to war for want of any other options. According to Rocio Mojica of Save the Children, 3m of the country's 14m children have no access to education. In much of rural Colombia, there has never been a consistent state presence or investment in education and the local economy. "There are very few opportunities for work or education, and joining an armed group gives young people a sense of importance and belonging that they can't find elsewhere," she said. Miguel scraped just three years of school, and at 15 he was working as a bus driver's assistant when rightwing paramilitaries offered him a job. They paid him £300 a month - more than three times the minimum wage - and equipped him with a pistol, a radio and a mobile phone. At first, his duties were minimal: he carried messages and patrolled the hills around his home town in central Colombia. But two months after joining up, he was ordered to torture and kill a suspected guerrilla. "The 'paras' said that if I didn't kill him, they'd shoot me because I knew too much," Miguel said. After the murder, the paramilitary commander forced him to drink the victim's blood. "Once you've done that three or four times you don't respect anything. You just kill for the sake of killing." Miguel fled the group in July. He now lives at the same shelter as Marisol. Plagued with nightmares, he initially found it hard to trust his former enemies. Now, his best friends are ex-guerrillas, but he still dreams nearly every night of the man he tortured to death. "The ghosts inside are very strong. Most of the kids suffer from anxiety and depression," said Carmen Liliana Forero, a teacher at the centre. The past can reach out in more deadly ways. Guerrillas and paramilitaries share the grim policy of murdering both deserters and former enemies, and the shelter's location is kept a closely guarded secret. In a secluded country home, 20 children undergo psychological help and receive a basic education as well as various vocational skills. "The idea is to help them become productive, so that when they leave the centre, they neither return to the war nor turn to crime," Mr Aguirre said. The children usually remain at the home for an average of four to six months while they decide what to do next. Those who can, return home. Others are sent to foster parents. "Many of these kids will never see their families again," said Mr Aguirre. Mileidy, 18, is one of the lucky ones. It is her last day in the shelter before returning to the family she has not seen for five years. She joined the Farc because her parents couldn't afford school fees, but now she wants to become a social worker. She grins nervously at the thought of civilian life. "It's going to be hard to start over with my family, but you can get used to anything. I don't know what will happen, but at least I know that I'm out of the war," she said. Title: I know how most of these children feel....sort of .. Post by: hilton on December 18, 2001, 05:00:00 AM ... in response to READ THIS !!!!!!!, posted by Aaron on Dec 18, 2001
You see, I grew up in foster homes; about 11 of them. This is due to the fact that my mother was a drug pusher and dope addict herself. I became a ward of the clerk at the age of 5 and become 'free' at the age of 18. I remember my mother whipping me with an extension cord or a wet belt or the times that she made me strip my clothes, jump into the bathtub, got me out of the tub and began whipping me because I stole a cookie from the refrigerator in the middle of the night or did some other thing that a 'normal' child would do; I was only 4 years old then. I still have extension cord marks, that look like stretch marks on my back, from her whippings. She's my momma and I still love her no matter what. I just hated what she did to me. I haven't seen her since I was 18 and went off to college on both a basketball scholarship and a music scholarship(emphasized in playing the piano..in the gifted program) So, anyway, when I was 5 years old, I had to have a physical done, as part of a school program for 1 grade children. Come to find out, I was gifted and jumped to 2nd grade. Part of this was due to the fact that I was naturally inclined at playing the piano by ear without site reading training. So, anyway, the doctor found my scar tissues by mistake(three long scars from the extension cord 'whoopings' that I would get. He contacted the child abuse center and social workers at my elementary school. And, as they say, the poop hit the fan! What really tipped the anger scale of the social workers is when they found out that I was intentionally burned, on my right hand, by my mother(a 3rd degree burn from cooking grease), while she was 'trying' to fry chicken(while drunk!). This was done to me when I was 5 years old; and 3 months before I went into full state custody. I went through 11 foster homes from the age of 5-17. Part of that, due to my anger, rage, and empathy that I had for my mother, was due to me wanting to find my mother; even though she treated me the way she did(I did't know any better and became use to the daily beatings). I was told by my social worker that nobody came out alive and well(mentally or physically) when put through that much stress. But, now, as a grown man, I have, as you have already witnessed from my story about the last relationship I was in, I have come to understand and know that I will never beat my children or treat them in any undisciplined way. Furthermore, I have vowed to myself and the God above that whomever I marry, I will treat like a queen. But, I just have found that doing that here, in America, is usually worthless most of the time. This is the reason that I know that Colombia is the place that I can fullfill my dream at. But, as I was about to say, the thing that kept me out of trouble was that I did two things well: 1) Hated to do drugs and alcohol 2) And, I was always to myself or in a library or playing the piano in my local church. I didn't learn how to read music until I was 17, which seemed real easy for me to do. Those two things is what kept me out of trouble. That is the reason why I don't go to bars, clubs, don't drink, smoke and hate to be around others that do it. So, I can feel some of the pain of those children and what they are going through. Hell, I would go as far as to adopt one or two of those children in the foster home system; even though I would adopt a younger child for the sake of being able to influence the child more. I feel their hearts, soul, and mind. Peace, Hilton Title: Hilton.... Post by: Hoda on December 19, 2001, 05:00:00 AM ... in response to I know how most of these children feel....., posted by hilton on Dec 18, 2001
Bro... There's nothing in my childhood that I can relate, to what you've experienced. To survice & thrive from a childhood most of us only have nightmares about, says so much about Hilton the man. From what we've shared off & on the board, I have all the confidence in the world, that you've broken the vicious cycle of child abuse in you life. There's a lady out there, who doesn't know it yet. But she's going to be a very, very happy woman, once Hilton steps into her life. You have a God given strength, that got you where you are today. Hilton my man, go out there find & be found by love. I don't believe there is ANYONE who deserves it more than you..... Peace....Hoda P.s. You don't have to drink or smoke, BUT YOU'RE GONNA HAVET TOO DANCE....LOL Title: Re: I know how most of these children feel....sort of .. Post by: Cali vet on December 18, 2001, 05:00:00 AM ... in response to I know how most of these children feel....., posted by hilton on Dec 18, 2001
There's a huge population of "gamines" or street children in Colombia. I've seen more in B/quilla than Cali. I'v'e seen a lot of them sleeping on sidewalks around the "mercado" area and the terminal. Bogota of course has the most. My companion told me that many poor families just have children they can't afford to feed and cloth so they just kick them out or mistreat them untill the run away. We visited her relatives for a few days in Riohacha in the Guajira (north coast) and I was surprised to see a little boy, nine years old living with them and working in the tienda they had. It was strange. He wasn't quite treated like an adopted child but was treated with some warmth. It was clear he had to earn his keep and he worked hard. He just showed up on their doorstep one day having made his way all the way up to the Guajira on his own from Bogota. His name was Peladito or little boy since he either didn't have a name or wouldn't tell it. It's certainly not difficult to see how the guerilla can easily recruit young kids, especially in the campo but they are getting a lot of criticism in the press for doing it. Title: Re: READ THIS !!!!!!! Post by: Cali vet on December 18, 2001, 05:00:00 AM ... in response to READ THIS !!!!!!!, posted by Aaron on Dec 18, 2001
A sad and gruesome account and all too true. |