| Actual Image
Peacebuilding & Reconciliation - Revised (34)
Dpbours
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2040 W: 542 N: 1888]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (7685) | We're in a refugee camp outside of Gulu, Northern Uganda. The boy is watching other children play. (see workshop)
The other children are playing a game of an NGO. The white expatriate specialists found out that 'playing' is helping these children to cope with their remembrances of war. They can be a child again, as the slogan states.
This boy wasn't ready 'to be a child again'. As a child soldier, he might have been forced to walk around with a very adult AK47. Or he might have seen other children do things that children normally never do. Or he's just living in the refugee camp and one of the lucky few to be choosen by the NGO to play with the balls and 'be a child again'.
I was told that he wasn't ready to participate. And this was due to all the horrible things he had been through.
I personally think this boy was much smarter than all the white NGO specialists think! This boy knew that throwing a ball would not get the people back who disappeared from his village. He knew that throwing a ball would not help him being accepted in his village. And he knew that throwing a ball would not help him getting his childhood back. They all lost that years ago when the war started. Whether or not they were a child soldier, lost families or saw horrible things - they were all robbed of their childhood.
And right now, he's much more interested how he can get his life back on track as a young adolescent.
For Martine, for staying critical.
This photograph is part of my theme "Portraits by Dennis". |
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