Here you can read the English transcripts of the lost children's stories which are featured in Children of Conflict

Ricardo's story
"There we stayed the night and after three days my grandmother left us there on the plot and she went to see if she could get some food to for us to eat, and while she was away the Guards came and found us, and took us away, and we never saw our grandmother again. In my imagination I thought they had killed her, that they had found her and killed her, but no, she went away, I suppose she came back and couldn't find us. She went away. So the day when the Guards found us we were alone, thanks to God they didn't kill us. But they took us to where I had seen the guards before and they said 'who wants a child?', and so as there were three of us, three Guards came forward saying they wanted a child, and we were handed out to them. They took us down to Gotera. And after all that time, all that time thinking we didn't have a mother...to come round and find my family! I think it has all come round, I feel as if I've gone back to the beginning, I feel as if I'm beginning to grow up again, it is something that I can't really explain. I feel OK with my sister, with all my family, and with my other family, because I have their support."

The Afghan children's song
We are children, we are children
We are the children of this land
We are rosebuds, we are rosebuds
The rosebuds of this garden

The love for the homeland is our belief
Peace is our goal
In this land of great fame
In the world of existence
We are the messengers of reconciliation
We are the white doves of peace

We are children, we are children
We are the children of this land
We are rosebuds, we are rosebuds
The rosebuds of this garden

Riland's story
"I want to stay in Kosovo. I want to go back to my birthplace and live in my village forever. I have seen many, many people who have been expelled from villages and from Prishtina. When I fled my home, I also saw Serb paramilitaries (police), masked, breaking shop windows".

The Somali ballad
'First of all, let me thank you for your great help to me. Let me explain to you what happened to me. In the beginning, we were a family of 6 children with a mother and a father. At the beginning of the Somali civil war, we lost our father. We could not find any trace of him - dead or alive. And then, I had to take my mother to the maternity hospital, when she went into labour. The nurse told me that the labour would take some time, and mama asked me to go home to take care of the other children.

When I reached home, I found that all my little brothers had died after one of them took an F1 bomb and without realising what it was, hit it with a rock. The bomb exploded and killed all of them along with three other children. All their bodies were collected together and buried in one grave.

After that, shocked and panicked, I ran back to my mother in the hospital. I was told that my mother had given birth to a son, but that unluckily, a bomb had hit the room where she was and that my mother and all the other mothers and babies in the room had all died. That was a terrible shock to me and my second tragedy. After that I tried to find my uncle and I hitched a ride to try and reach him.

He was in a town which I didn't know, but before we even reached the town, bandits stopped us on the road and took the vehicle and all our possessions. Luckily they spared our lives.

It took us a day and a night walking bare foot to reach our destination. I was exhausted with hunger and tiredness. And that is the way in which I lost both my mother and my father. I am an orphan twice over and I am unable to do anything for myself.

We are all children, we are human beings, we are the light of life, we are the flowers of the Horn of Africa, we are the Somali children.

We are lost and astray, we cannot read or write, the civil wars have damaged us, we are hungary and thirsty, we are surrounded by disasters, victims of unkind treatment.
We appeal to the International community, who look after and advocate human rights. Look and see the aggression, acknowledge all the disasters.
If you do not help us, our future will be lost and our existence will be at an end.'


Odetta's story
'We use to live in Kikondo-Nyenyeri. My father, mother and younger sister were all killed during the war. I was taken to Zaire by the people who killed my parents. I was with one of the children whom I did not know, but I was told that she was found near my mother when she died. We were on our way to Kyangugu when soldiers of the former Rwandan Army arrested us at Bukavu and attacked us with machetes leaving me with severe head injuries and wounding my feet.

We stayed there for a while then went to Gitarama trying to locate my relatives but found they were all dead. So we ended up here. I don't know if I will ever get out of this place. Whether I will die here I don't know. This place is not bad. There are some girls here who have suffered just like me. We used to talk and they would try to console me, telling me I was not the only one. They would tell me to persevere because it was the will of God.

Interviewer: 'How long will she stay here?
Sister: 'We don't know, because she has no brothers or sisters. It is very difficult. She suffers from recurring nightmares of the trauma she went through. What she witnessed. It's very difficult. Everytime they recall those events they just break down'

Interviewer: 'What do you think will be able to help you?'
'The Sisters are not bad, but the other girls tell me horror stories.'
Sister: 'You know there are those who are affected psychologically. They keep on reminding the others about the trauma they went through. It is not easy. Some of them are undergoing treatment. We take them to hospital. It is not easy because what they experienced is something that they can never forget.

Another problem is they know they have no brothers or sisters. So even if they leave this place where will they go? They have nobody to turn to. They can't say out there is our home, we can go back after recovery. It is not there!'

Interviewer: 'Are you absolutely sure you don't have any brothers or sisters left behind?'
'No. Not at all. I asked one of the kids who was with my Mum during the war. He told me all my relations have died. They were burnt to death, when they (the killers) set our house on fire. When we went back we found the house demolished. Nothing was there. No house! Nothing.'

Mapendano, foster mother, Rwanda
'It is six months since these children arrived from Masisi. They told me how they suffered, how they were attacked. They are scared of the bombings and do not want to go on travelling.'

Interviewer: ' What made you take them?'
'When Save the Children completed their work here they told us to expect many orphans who would need looking after. They asked for volunteers amongst those who worked for Save the Children. So I decided to volunteer my services. I just wanted to help. It was not the question of having the means.'

Interviewer: 'When they arrived what did they you?
'They told us their parents got killed. Later on it was decided those with brothers or sisters could go and join them. But for these here, up to now, nobody has come for them. So I have to look after them until they grow up.'

Interviewer: 'Do you get any help?'
'Not much, we used to get some, but not now.'

Interviewer: 'How do you manage?'
'We share whatever we have and they will not starve. I already have six children of my own and am expecting another. Then we have these two girls, one of them is also expecting. We cope all right!'