Box 7 What can education do for ex-child soldier nicknamed Civilian? In the second classroom on the right, a on it, I heard a sound that was like ...” – he classroom whose ceiling bears obscene makes the noise of a magazine loading – light bulb in the ceiling, children are graffiti left behind by the rebels. The story “and then they asked me to press the chanting in English:”How many days make a Civilian tells is spellbindingly awaful. First, I trigger. When I pressed it, the gun week? Seven days make one.” and Richard ask about his recruitment. exploded. It fired. The training was to do it “The rebels came into town and again and again. Fire again and again. displayed what they had. Drinks, a lot of food Then we used the gun on somebody.” they all call him Civilian. He fought in the and vehicles. Some of my friends said, ‘Let’s The victim was a man accused of war on the side of the rebels. He says he go and see what is happening.’ We went supplying arms to the government forces. killed a lot of people. How many, I ask – round to have a look and that was when we “They captured him,” Civilian explains.”They three, four? Ten? Twenty, even? Twenty-five? all got caught.” told me what he had done. They told me to asks a boy of 12 to step out and meet me. Sulaiman Kamara, his name is. But here Civilian thinks about it for a moment, 40 WE sit on a bench in an empty place with no glass in the windows nor even a He describes how he was truned into a shoot him in the legs. So I took the gun and and I guess that he is not calculating the soldier, aged nine. “When they captured shot him there. He could not scream total but wondering what the effect will be us, the rebel commander took us into the because him mouth was taped up.” when he says it out loud. The effect on me, bush by force. He asked that we be It is all so matter of fact. Civilian says the effect on him. Finally, he puts a number trained. They started training us by giving he felt nothing himself because he had been to his thoughts. “I killed fifty people. More us a gun. They pointed at a certain area of given marijuana, and had become ‘sleepy’ as than 50.” the gun that I had to pull on. When I pulled he discharged the bullet into the man’s body. Right to Education Primers No. 3