19/11/2013 – Charlie is 14, and he likes to go to school.
It sounds like a simple story, but it isn’t. For one thing, his real name isn’t “Charlie.” In his own language, his real name means “war.” Charlie was born in a war. Where he lives, in a camp for people displaced from their homes by the conflict, he is surrounded by war still. According to Charlie:
“It all started when my dad was killed by an armed group. This is when my mum became a widow. Soon after that, the armed group came to our village and so we had to flee quickly in the fighting. I got lost from my mum as we ran, and that’s when the armed group took me. They took me and one other boy, and they took us deep into the forest and made us cook, wash clothes and carry loads for them. I was six or seven years old, I’m not sure. I had to stay with them for three years and they made me suffer so much, and they used to punish me. Then one of the officials gave authorization for me and the other boy to go free – there were two of us, they took us together and then after three years they released us together.
“So we ran from them and we came to the centre [for child soldiers]. But I only stayed in the centre for one week because I wanted to go and be with my mum. I went to my village but they said she wasn’t there, and then I found her here. She was so happy to see me because she thought that I was already dead. I was so happy to be with her.”
Charlie is a child of war, but he is also a 14-year-old boy who likes to go to school:
“For me, if you can’t go to school you feel sad and angry – especially when you see that others are going and you cannot. I started going back to school, but then they would ask for some fees and I couldn’t pay so I had to leave – my mum didn’t have any means of paying. So although I started third year I couldn’t finish the year. For fourth year I had to go to lots of different schools because I could only stay till they asked for fees. I’d do one until they threw me out for not paying, and then I’d go to another one until they kicked me out.”
I have a photo of Charlie, but I can’t show it here, because publicly identifying Charlie could put him at risk. Where he lives is still a conflict zone, and children like him who have been with the armed groups can face retaliation. In the picture, he is standing next to one of the people who is supporting the rehabilitation of a school that will allow kids like Charlie, who have been displaced by the conflict, to return to class. Standing next to a smiling aid worker, Charlie looks wary, like he’s not quite sure what the people behind the camera might want from him – but he also looks hopeful. Maybe they want something good.
Charlie explains how he got back into school: “After some time my big brother came, and he paid for me to go back to school for a bit, to start fifth year. He only had money for one term. But then the NRC programme came and I can now go to school for free. I’m really happy because without this programme I couldn’t afford to be in school.
“Studies are important because when you study you can start to live again. When I was with the armed group I couldn’t go to school, but now I can and it makes me feel more like the other children. For me, education is the most important thing in life, because if you don’t have education you can’t succeed.”
Charlie says he worries about what will happen if the programme stops, if school isn’t free anymore and he isn’t able to complete the school year. He knows the dangers for children who are out of school – he’s already experienced many of them himself. But right now he is looking past the uncertainty, and past the war – looking warily, but hopefully, to the future: “In the future I want to study more. Then I would like to become a teacher, because when I teach I will be able to give my little brothers an education.”
NRC is an implementing partner for the EU’s Children of Peace Initiative, the legacy of the EU’s Nobel Peace Prize, which is supporting education in emergencies for 28,000 children around the world.
By Sara Tesorieri,
NRC Europe
Via Euractiv