One Day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War by Charles London

Author:Charles London
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780061240478
Publisher: HarperPerennial
Published: 2007-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

“Were you afraid when you arrived?”

“When I arrived, there were rumors of a bad spirit in the camp, and outside the camp there were blood suckers and animals that kill people. I was afraid then. I’m not afraid anymore. I have gotten used to living here.”

“Do you feel safe here?”

“Living in the camp is too difficult. It is hard to build a home. It is hard to get enough food, and we always eat the same yellow peas. It is hard to get enough supplies, women’s supplies.”

Safety and supplies are one and the same for girls. If girls do not have access to sanitary napkins, then once a month they must stay out of school until their period is over. If their clothes are torn, it is impossible to go to school, as they could be seen as goading men on. Falling outside of accepted norms can be an invitation to violence against them. Non-food items are essential to the well-being, education, and safety of school age girls and are often in short supply.

“Some people go into the Tanzanian villages [to get supplies] but it is dangerous to go without permission. Sometimes you are beaten and sometimes you are not. They may rob you and leave you with nothing. You cannot go alone, and I have no one to go with me.”

“Does your foster family help you?”

“They mistreat me. I have left their home.”

“Your foster parents mistreated you?”

“No, there is a brother and sister. They mock me for being an orphan. They insult me so I do not stay there anymore.”

“Do you know other children who have lost their parents, in school maybe?”

“No, I do not go to school. I stopped going because the other children tormented me about my past. About being an orphan.” She sat with her dress tucked between her knees and looked over her shoulder out the window. “I want to learn to read and write. I would go back to school if they would not torment me. One day, when there is peace, I want to go back to Burundi and take my inheritance for my family. For now, I am getting used to living here.”

Jeanine felt very alone with her problems. In Burundian culture, women cannot inherit property, and somewhere in her mind, she must have known that. The land would go to her uncles or brothers, if she had any. I didn’t want to remind her that her plans were nearly impossible, because her regard for the future seemed to be a source of strength for her and perhaps she would grow up to challenge societal norms, to get her own piece of earth. She had already chosen to leave her foster family and live on the streets rather than endure their taunts. I got the sense from one of the social workers in the camp that she was a troubled girl, who made a lot of trouble for the agencies that tried to help her (specifically for this one social worker), though towards me she was polite.

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