Uganda's Children of War

Nothing upsets me more than the inhumane treatment of children. In 2001 I heard about a village in northern Uganda, Lira, where children were being abducted and forced into the rebel's army. A July 11th Reuters' poll showed that Northern Uganda ranked as the second most dangerous place for children, after Darfur, Sudan. I didn't really try pay too much attention to it, and thought, in passing, that it might be 12 and 13 year old children (the 'typical' age that children abducted for service in the army usually are). It wasn't until 2005 that I found out that the children are as young as 6 and 7 years old! I was appalled. Stories of children sneaking out of their homes every night and going into hiding in unnamed villages to keep them safe started to creep out. The young boys are forced to fight and the young (very young) girls are offered as a reward to the soldires who then rape them. Life is not easy. The young girls are used as servants and beaten regularly.