Children are supposed to live carefree, imaginative lives with no threat of danger. The reality is however that in this world, that is not the case. And for some children, their fate heartbreakingly becomes one of torture, their lives drained of fairy tales, and learning how to murder their own people takes the place of playtime. This is the case for the over 300,000 child soldiers worldwide, and the 2 million that have died as a direct result of the conflict in areas in Africa. (http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_37219.html)
Greg Campbell, the author of the book Tracing the Deadly Path of the World’s Most Precious Stone, wrote an article published in the Amnesty International USA’s online magazine, Amnesty magazine. In summary, his article gave a name to one child solider who became a victim of the diamond-fueled conflict in Sierra Leone. The child’s name was 15-year-old Jusu Lahia. He lost one of his eyes and was slashed from the face down to his lower waist by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Here is the full article:
BLOOD DIAMOND ARTICLE
How someone can look at these photos, read this story, and not be crushed, enraged, and full of despair is beyond me. Children are stolen from their homes, their lives, and forced into killing, being killed, and stripped bare of their innocence all for the greed of diamonds. This is real. This is the reality for too many children. And if you think it is no longer occurring, you are sorely mistaken.
5 comments:
Your photos are so effective!
I appluad you on picking the pics that you did-not too troubling and not too many. I think the most effective blogs are ones that ask questions...this particular entry really made me think:)
Amazing photos. These pictures combined with your passion about this issue is extremely moving, and would make anyone question where they stand on this issue.
These photos are devastating, but at the same time they really help with understanding what is truly going on. I'm glad you chose to write about this topic becasue I had never heard about it before. I can see how passionate you are about this issue and it is something more people should definitely know about.
Honestly, I never really understood the severity of diamond trading until reading your blog. Seeing children holding guns and fighting over this precious stone makes diamond ads almost hard to look at. REALLY nice job!
Personally, I feel the children are the most heartbreaking part of this story. They are robbed of their childhood and forced into this battle. It's sad to know they live everyday in fear. This is a great topic, keep it up!
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