Children Deprived of their Childhood in Uganda

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Uganda is located in East Africa and is separated into three main parts- a dessert region, a plateau, and swampy lowlands. This country is bordered by Rwanda and Tanzania from the south, on the east by Kenya, on the west by Congo, and on the north by Sudan. Ugandans military systems are run mostly by the savage Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is located in the northern part of Uganda and consists of a total estimate of 45,000 soldiers of which 15,000 of them soldiers are children aged five to sixteen. Uganda military personnel take control of children aged between five and up, and mold them into a creation of destruction to protect the people of Uganda. Many children between the ages of five and twelve have witnessed traumatic occasions that no child of that age should even imagine happening in reality.
“I’ll die happy if the first bullet kills me- I will die for the freedom of Kosova,” says sixteen year old Elinda Muriqie (Mazurana). Elinda was one of the many abducted children at a young age. LRA’s keep a three step system in order to brainwash young children into becoming part of the force in Uganda, if they refuse to go then the soldiers will kidnap the child no matter how old the child is. The first step in brainwashing the children is to abandon all hope of returning home (Mazurana). After hope is lost in the mind of the child, then the soldier must make the child be blooded by the act of a murder, which in this case is meaning the soldier must make the child be enthused by the action taken for murder (Mazurana). The last step for brainwashing the child is making the child have his/her own sense of esteem (Mazurana). In order for a child to be part of the military in Uganda, he/she must learn the ways of operations in...

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... Child Soldiers.” Military Review. 01 May 2003: 26. eLibrary. Web. 10 Apr. 2014
Stephan, Crane. “Works of Stephen Crane: Red Badge Of Courage: Chapters 3 – 5.” MacMillian General Reference, 1963. eLibrary. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Storr, Will. “Once the Killing Stops, The Nightmares Begin; The Child Soldiers Forced to Fight for Uganda’s Rebels have seen and done Terrible Things. But what Happens when they Grow up and Go Home?” Sunday Telegraph (London, England). 09 Feb. 2014: 12. eLibrary. Web.10 Apr. 2014
Uganda, Tom. “Charles was only 12 when He was Forced to Shoot a Man and Eat his Brain After Years of Killing, He just wants a Normal Life with his Mum ; Tragedy of Uganda’s Kidnapped Child Soldiers Exclusive.” Daily Mirror. 16 Sep. 2013: 30. eLibrary. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
“Use of Children as Soldiers.” Foreign Policy in Focus. 01 Nov. 2001: 1. eLibrary. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

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