Existing comment:
A Lost Childhood:
Mary, now 17 years old, was one of thousands of children whose lives were incalculably damaged by the civil war in her country. As is the case with almost every Liberian of her generation, her education was interrupted and her childhood snatched from here. She remembers the central event of her life:
"I was on my father's back when we came across the fighters. They told him to take me off of his back. Then they killed him and my mother in front of me. After that they took me with them and raped me. I was 10 years old. Later, they let me go with my aunt, but only after she gave them money."
Mary is now a student at a child rehabilitation center run by the Liberian Red Cross, which offers young people counseling, skills training, recreational activities and learning programs. |