War Child: A Child Soldier's Story
SynopsisPlot
In the mid-1980s, Emmanuel Jal was a seven year old Sudanese boy, living in a small village with his parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings. But as Sudan’s civil war moved closer—with the Islamic government seizing tribal lands for water, oil, and other resources—Jal’s family moved again and again, seeking peace. Then, on one terrible day, Jal was separated from his mother, and later learned she had been killed; his father Simon rose to become a powerful commander in the Christian Sudanese Liberation Army, fighting for the freedom of Sudan. Soon, Jal was conscripted into that army, one of 10,000 child soldiers, and fought through two separate civil wars over nearly a decade.
Story
About this book
Emmanuel Jal's memoir begins in a small Sudanese village in the mid-1980s, where he lived as a seven-year-old with his parents, aunts, uncles and siblings. Sudan's civil war gradually closed in as the Islamic government pushed to control tribal lands holding water, oil and other resources. His family moved again and again in search of safety, but the conflict overtook them.
During that upheaval Jal was parted from his mother; word reached him afterwards that she had been killed. His father, Simon, rose through the Christian Sudanese Liberation Army to become a powerful commander in its fight for Sudan's freedom. Jal himself was then conscripted into the same force, one of about 10,000 child soldiers, and he spent close to ten years inside two separate civil wars.
He survived, and was later adopted by a British aid worker, a change that moved him away from armed conflict and toward music. He recorded and released his own album, which included a hip-hop single that reached number one in Kenya, and has since performed with international musicians and used that visibility to support children whose lives were shaped by war.
