http://ndavises.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/2236755 hostage.it was a very sad scene and unfortunately eight of the hostages lost their lives and the kidnapper killed also.
]]> Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:26:00 -0400 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/2236755 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/762483 Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0400 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/762483 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/705569 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:47:00 -0400 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/705569 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/678673 Mon, 25 May 2009 15:18:00 -0400 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/678673 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/643339 Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:32:00 -0400 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/643339 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/643271 Yesterday was the day he was to kill his daughter when she was rescued by residence..
]]> Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:55:00 -0400 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/643271 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/619767 Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:16:00 -0400 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/619767 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/612859 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:35:00 -0400 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/612859 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/601189 ]]> Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:41:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/601189 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/601191 Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:41:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/601191 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/597159 Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:43:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/597159 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/592205 Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:05:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/592205 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/575705
As for the last girl I talked with, her situation was different. A year ago she used to come at the flash points, there she got pregnant. She was still coming until the she was six months-pregnant. She give birth to a premature baby boy in her seventh month, the baby had since been at the hospital for about two months. There are no means to pay her medical bills, ]]> Sat, 24 Jan 2009 12:02:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/575705 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/575695
Part two of the debate was why one should not take revenge on former child soldier? We told the audience, we were kids, not knowing what we were doing, we were under the influence of drugs and our commanders; we were ignorant not knowing what war was all about. Members of the community were given time to express themselves. 70% of those who came upstage were very proud of our openness, they said it was a very good step to reconciliation, they agreed with our opinions, and said they have already forgiven us and are willing to work and live with us, but they can not forget the memories of the past, because it affected their lives and that of their families. 40% of those who came up stage refused to forgive and forget the past. They said some of them were faced with similar problems, but never took arms as a child, because they never have the mind and heart of destroying God’s creation. The debate was a good step towards our re-integration process.

]]> Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:50:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/575695 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/572009

In 2002,Augustine a former child soldier was killed by the aid of his own cousin.On that morning around 3am,she came at his house in the gap,knock on his door to have a urgent word with him,as soon he open the door,three guys wasted acid on his face and toke him to the golf and left his body there,after three days before his body was discovered, from the way he was position,one will know he did went through a painful death.It was on his birthday.He left behind his little son.Today,his son mother is path of our program.

In 2007,Fred was killed in Liberia and his body dump on Broad street.He left camp Buduburam due to the death of his father in Monrovia.While at a club that night,a black pick-up drove by,four men got out from the car,enter the club to arrest him,saying they were police officers..He refused to fellow them,he was dragged outside by those men and put in the car.The next morning his body was discovered on the street.Today the Government hasn't said nothing about his death.Many of us fear going back home and also not wanting to be holding part of our community because of what happened to our friends and continuous to happen to us up to date.There are many more cases of such.]]> Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:06:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/572009 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/562987
I will like to share this with my many viewers concerning one of the former child soldier who was in the devil forest selling, before it got deserted.He and his grilfriend was happly living together when he was getting some income from his sale in the forest.After he stop,she strated cheating on him,on christmas day they were to be together for that night,only for her to leave and go out with another person who was a Ghanian.He did met them at a club and fought this guy, using any weapons his hand could touch at the club.He ended up at the police station that night.I was call on the 26th of December to bill him out.After that,I did counsel him to try and join some of our programs,that will allow him to be self relient,but he did inssisted at all cause he will try to win the love of this gril at any cause.

To my many viewers,if you will love to watch our documentay call Telling you the facts.you can go to www.whitetara.org.]]> Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:36:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/562987 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/560291 Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:12:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/560291 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/557647 ]]> Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:08:00 -0500 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/557647 http://ndavises.tigblog.org/post/557645
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I was at the Devil forest this morning on my normal routine to identify former child soldiers and help reintegrate them in our programs and projects. I came across a friend from the same unit when we were fighting in 1990. I couldn’t recognize this guy anymore because we were kids at that time, but he could still recognize me. He was cutting his Indian herb to be parcel for sale when I greeted him, trying to tell him about myself and that of my mission to the forest, he astonished me by calling me by my nick name when we were in the bush fighting. That, actually, put me on my heels, there he was recollecting my past… we did have a lengthy discussion, but I was not able to convince him to leave the forest, cause his mind was made up not to have anything to do with the community, but just to be in the forest to find for his living.

In the Devil forest, there are five joints, when I got to the second joint which is called the ‘crab hole’, I did call for one shot of herb tea, while drinking, I met a former child soldier from the Ivory Coast who was really stressed out concerning his condition since 2003, when he came to Ghana. Presently he survives by selling cassava leafs in the market. He told me he has to walk about an hour and half to purchase the leafs from the Ghanaians in the villages, before getting it to the market. He has a great aspiration about his business, he believes that one day, he will be able to travel abroad, come back and start packaging cassava leafs for export. Presently he is undergoing counseling with our counselors. He doesn’t actually have any fear, because Ivorians aren’t many.


Today, we have about 125 former child soldiers identified and about 10% of them still have fragments or bullets in them. One of those with fragment in his body lives with me in the same block. Presently he is living on one kidney, due to surgery from bullets some years ago; he also has one fragment in his right knee. Talking with him this morning about his plans, he told me as for him, he is not in the position to go back to Liberia. He is hoping that on day the UN will come and help him go to a third country for asylum. Concerning his health, we have been making some efforts, but he is yet to undergo the surgery. It is one of our most difficult tasks for now. He spends most of his hours during the day laying in his room listening to the music.

The most vulnerable former child soldiers are the FCS which means the female child soldier. Most of them are teen-age mothers, some are caring for two children without a father on the camp. How do they manage with their day to day life? Talking with one them who was a beneficiary on one of our scholarship program, she said due to the hardship in caring for her children’s needs and at the same time going to school was a very difficult task for her.Presentlying she leaves the kids with her landlady and go fetching for money any possible ways she can at night to enable her sustain her kids. She told me that she is already done with her process with the UNHCR for her to go back home. There are many others in such a position.
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Presently volunteering with a community base organization at the camp called Veteran Child Soldiers Association of Liberia (VECSAOL).VECSAOL was founded on June 30,2003 due to the re-recruitment of former child soldiers in the Ivorian crisis, a group of former child soldiers came together to educate their brothers and sisters that war was never the solutions to their many problems, but render coming together to speak against child soldiering.

The purpose of the organization is to unite, protect, and advocate for former child soldiers and war affected youths. The goal of the organization is to empower these target groups using rehabilitation and reintegration strategies in order to further peace and the development amongst themselves and the society as a whole.

My personal responsibilities is working directly with former child soldiers and war affected youths, identifying members and integrating them into VECSAOL programmers and projects.

Most of our brothers find it difficult to have their daily activities with resident of the camp or with people who are not former child soldiers, due to that most of them spend their days in the ghetto were they feel they are save and are able to chat with friends who will not think different about them or remind them of the past. Most of them don’t want to be identify because of fear. Fear of the community attitude towards them, and also fear of people who they offended in the past, might get to know there where about and will want to revenge, for instance we have similar situation in the past, where a former child soldier was killed on the camp by the two sons of the man he killed in the war. Most of them do leave camp for Accra were they feel they are more comfortable living among the Ghanaians ,but live there with them are difficult. there daily routine focuses on areas I do called flashpoints, those areas are were they hung around to meet whites or others strangers and beg them for money to survival and most of it do go on drugs. Met one a few days ago, asking him to come on camp to join us for the rehabilitation program, and he told me, there were lots of people on the camp he will not love to see.

Working with both former child soldiers and that of the war affected youths is very much challenneging, cause the war affected youths think we are the cost of them been affected, and we do need them for the process of reintegration.
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