John Hulme, http://flickr.com/photos/jphulme/

Many things that happen in our world make me shudder, but few disturb me as much as the use of child soldiers.  Every few months, I see a major news organization run a story on child militias, but for the most part, the terrible things being done to these children are ignored by the media.  For those who don’t know, children are used as soldiers across the world in conflicts.  Amnesty International estimates there are a quarter of a million child soldiers in the world today.  Typically, the children are abducted or purchased on the black market and then are forced to become soldiers.  Some military leaders like to use children because they require less food and can move quietly.  They are also typically not suspected of trying to infiltrate an area.  Most of all, children are easily manipulated by adults, and they are often coerced into perpetrating all sorts of atrocities.

Not all the news is bad, however.  UNICEF reports that for the first time, over 200 children were voluntarily returned to their families.  This is wonderful news for those families, and hopefully it is a sign that the armies in that area will cease to use children to do their fighting.  But even for these children who have been returned, their ordeal is not over.  As you can imagine, these children bear horrible psychological scars to match any physical scars they may have endured as a soldier.  The post-traumatic stress that they will feel for the rest of their lives will leave many of them a shell of the person they could have been.  Their childhood can never be returned to them.  UNICEF and other organizations will need to devote resources to helping these children for many years after they have been recovered.  Otherwise, these children will simply have moved from one level of hell to another.

UNICEF does wonderful work in this area, and they are large enough to make a difference.  There are, of course, many other organizations that also work on behalf of these horribly exploited children.  War Child International is an international organization that is focused solely on this issue.  As many of us begin to focus on holidays, family and thoughts of peace, let’s all remember the children who will receive nothing this season but ammunition and scars.

edited to add picture, 23-Dec-2008

Part of this campaign includes the Gimme Shelter film, produced by Affleck and cinematographer John Toll, which portrays daily life for the victims of the conflict in the North Kivu region. The Rolling Stones donated the Gimme Shelter song to the cause as well.

Renewed violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has triggered a humanitarian crisis forcing more than 250,000 people, many of them already displaced, to flee their homes, bringing a forgotten crisis to the world’s attention.

In the last three months alone, hundreds of thousands of innocent children, women and men displaced by the conflict have lost their homes, their belongings, their family, their friends and their hope.
-UNHCR

The following photos were taken at the Nakivale refugee settlement, some 300km away from the Congolese boarder, hosting refugees mainly from the DRC, Rwanda, Somalia, Burundi, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Nakivale is the settlement that is receiving all newly arrived Congolese refugees in Uganda, the Kabazana Reception Center being located inside the settlement, where refugees receive hot meals and basic health care.

UNHCR hopes the Gimme Shelter campaign will help raise US$23 million in 2009 to pay for clean water supplies and emergency humanitarian assistance kits for tens of thousands of internally displaced Congolese.

©ZALMAÏ 2008 for UNHCR

©ZALMAÏ 2008 for UNHCR

©ZALMAÏ 2008 for UNHCR

©ZALMAÏ 2008 for UNHCR

©ZALMAÏ 2008 for UNHCR

Finally, the UNHCR is encouraging everyone to spread the word by sharing the short film and photos that we’ve displayed here.

Help us and Ben Affleck bring attention to the plight of North Kivu’s displaced civilians. All you have to do is post UNHCR photos of this humanitarian crisis on your blogs, websites and social media platforms. This will help raise public awareness about the suffering and needs of the displaced as well as giving hope to those whose lives have been affected.
-UNCHR

For more information, check out unhcrshelter.org, unhcr.org, or the UNHCR Gimme Shelter photo collection on Flickr.

Published in 2007, David Johnson’s Voices of Sudan portrays the daily life of the victims of the ongoing Genocide in Darfur. While visiting the Darfur region, Johnson took a large number of photos, and when he returned home to the United States he was motivated to help the situation. “I told myself, ‘I must do something with these photographs,’ and that something turned into this book. I pray that this book helps to restore a voice to the Sudanese by causing two things to happen: people will be informed and hearts will be provoked to reach out and help the Sudanese.”

100% of the profits of the book go directly to support the Sudanese people, including the construction of wells and purchase of medicine. After the initial publishing of the book in mid-2007, enough money was raised by the end of that year to build three wells in an IDP village of refugees. About 60,000 people came to this village to escape the violence with only what they could carry. They are starting their lives over with only the most basic provisions for life.

You can purchase Voices of Sudan at Amazon, Borders.com, or Barnes & Noble.com. Or for more information, see SilentImages.org.

I have photographed and documented some of the most tragic places in our world. I have walked the beaches of Normandy, served in the worst slum areas of Brazil and Kenya, roamed the killing fields of Cambodia, crept through the jungles of Vietnam, and participated in tsunami relief in Thailand. All of these places carry with them a reminder of a tragic human condition. However, the Sudanese live in the worst human condition I have ever photographed.
-David Johnson

The interview is fairly extensive and worth listening to. Zoriah is an amazing photographer who has had some incredible experiences. You can listen to it here on PhotoNetCast.

On a similar note, Boston.com’s The Big Picture has just posted a photo essay of scenes from Iraq.

I truly labored with the decision to post these images and I still do. But in my heart of hearts I know that people need to see and feel the reality of this horrible situation. How can things change if all that comes out of Iraq are sanitized, white-washed images of war designed for mainstream media outlets who focus on making money, not on the quality and truth in what they report?

Zoriah states that he has a background in humanitarian aid and disaster management, and as such he often photographs war, conflicts, crisis, and disasters. He finances most of his work himself, relying on donations.

The important events and issues I cover aren’t always the subjects that sell to corporate media. These human stories need your support and funding to be told.

©zoriah/www.zoriah.com

His blog showcases his recent photos and personal stories in Iraq. More of his photos can also be found on his Flickr photostream.