‘I Was A Child Soldier’ Spoken Word Performance by Rachel Shannon | HART Prize for Human Rights

I Was A Child Soldier

You may have heard that pity weeps and turns away, compassion sees and stretches out a hand.
Today –
let me take you by the hand to show you, though I’m banned in every land – the brand on my shoulder and the 2000 dollars required for the 24 months of rehab tucked into my folder should be enough to tell you:
I was a child soldier.
As I search for closure,

I feel the room just got colder

Despite fury’s beginning to smoulder,

This brutality

Still a reality.

A global tragedy,

An act of total depravity –
A crime against humanity.
Value in every human life means this practice cuts like a knife, to know a child- made-soldier is more familiar with a machine gun than make-believe and having fun.
6 year old taken from family in a village raid

7 year old carrying a gun of the same height

8 year old beaten with a bicycle chain for hesitating to push another child down a well

9 year old carrying a tortured soul that had been forced to kill a child that tried to escape 10 year old beaten with metal poles after a raid on a village

11 year old: Effective Killing Machine.
You may still have one hand in mine.
What will you do with your free hand?​

You can visit Rachel’s YouTube channel here.