And then you realize, as you unlock your gaze from the boyās, that heās wearing a pink teddy bear backpack ā the kind of backpack that kids in Halifax use to carry their granola bars and juice packs for daycare or play dates.
āIt is the most stark contrast that youāll ever see: the tough kid with the weapon in his hands with the pink teddy bear on his back,ā says Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire (retired). āItās the two extremes, the paradox of children forced into being warriors.ā
Renowned for speaking out about the Rwanda genocideāand the failure of the international community to stop the carnageāLt. Gen. Dallaire wrote about what happened when the killing spree was unleashed in 1994 and 800,000 people were murdered in 100 days. He has referred to the writing of Shake Hands with the Devil as therapy, even though the devils nearly wrestled him down. He continues to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.
If Shake Hands with the Devil was therapy, Lt. Gen. Dallaire regards the writing of They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children as his duty. After retiring from the armed forces, with whom he served 37 years, he says he was in need of a new vocation. In 2004-2005, he spent the academic year as a fellow at Harvard Universityās Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and directed research into the problem of child soldiers. With child soldiers, he found his calling.
āWhen you havenāt experienced it yourself, you can say, āOh jeez, thatās a problem,āā Lt. Gen. Dallaire says, speaking by phone in the back of a cab on his way to the airport. The book launch for They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children takes place at pilipiliĀž», home of the Child Soldiers Initiative which he founded.
āBut when youāve met these kids and when youāve locked eyes across the barrel of a gun and theyāre drugged up and confused and sometimes hysterical, you canāt forget. It is impossible to be neutral and unengaged.ā
In the book, Lt. Gen. Dallaire chronicles how children are routinely abducted from their families and are subjected to forcible confinement, torture, threats, rape, brainwashing, slavery starvation and drug addiction. It is estimated that 250,000 boys and girls are being used as soldiers in conflicts worldwide.
With the launch of his book, Lt. Gov. Dallaire is also initiating a new initiative called Zero Force. The idea is to make young peopleāhigh school students and undergraduatesāaware of the global tragedy of child soldiers and get them to bring pressure to eradicate their use.
āThese are their peers,ā he says. āSo we want them to be aware of whatās happening, to get them engaged and wield their influence. I believe these young people are a dynamic force who are underutilized in this country.ā
Home in Halifax
Started at Harvard University and maintained āin a sort of virtual formatā through the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Ottawa, the Child Soldiers Initiative (CSI) now finds its home at pilipiliĀž». The director of CSI is Shelly Whitman, also the deputy director of Dalhousieās Centre for Foreign Policy Studies. āHaving (CSI) at pilipiliĀž» gives it its intellectual rigor and access to research,ā says Lt. Gen. Dallaire. āWhen I first talked about it to Shelly, and she raised it with Professor (David) Black, well, we were welcomed with extraordinary warmth ... there was such great accommodation for us that we hadnāt found at other places.ā |
Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire (retired) will be at pilipiliĀž» for the launch of his new book, They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children. The event takes place Tuesday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m. in Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building.