• Children can be easily manipulated, and are dependent on the armed group for protection.
• Children can be easily satisfy with whatever being giving to them, unlike the adult fighters.
• Children are normally in a dilemma for the well trained army, because it is forbidden to harm or shoot a child, therefore, they take advantage of their situation to take part in a war.
• Children are easy to escape than the adult fighters, meaning it is easy for then to hide.
• Children are not responsible, therefore, they are not afraid of dying or losing anything.
• In some countries, especially underdeveloped and developing countries, children are not protected by any law, because there is no national legislation on the use of children for economic purposes. Therefore in war, they can be also use as a soldier.
• Children can be use as child soldier for survival.
• Children can be also use as a soldier based on admiration from their contemporary. For example, if a child is a commander and has a lot of power as a child can be easily admired by his or her age group to do the same.
• Death of family members or guidance. If a child lost his or her parent or guidance would be vulnerable to take part in a war.
• Abject poverty is also another reason for children to take part in war.

INTRO

O…….freedom fighters
The land of our forefathers—Africa
We are still seeking for peace— love and education
A plan to make this land a better nation, it’s about time to make this change
This is time to change
Hey…..

CHORUS
Never mind what has happened let’s forget the past, face the future
ANS—Time to change
Some of us were used, forced to fight during the war, but for sure
ANS—Time to change
The only way you can help us please just educate us, so we need help …
ANS—Time to change
It’s only Africa child is treated unfair so we are crying
ANS—Time to change——mind to change
That’s the way you can help us, time to change enye- mind to change enye
that’s the only way to face the future

VERSE

Africa is my mother land- is my fatherland, but why we live in this way, I can’t understand
WHY YA HI YA HI YA——AH
The young children them are crying every day that’s why I sing say
Instead of suffering I prefer death and go away
Jah see Jah know what go on inna di land—me a wonder why di children them a crying
each and every day—children them a dying- poverty-destruction across inna di land
what really what go on I can’t overstand hey, we can’t overstand

(ENGLISH- God sees, God knows what is going on in this land-I wonder why the children are crying each and every day- children are dying- poverty-destruction across in this land what really is going on I can’t overstand hey, we can’t overstand)

CHORUS
Never mind what has happened let’s forget the past, face the future
ANS—Time to change
Some of us were used, forced to fight during the war, but for sure
ANS—Time to change
The only way you can help us please just educate us, so we need help …
ANS—Time to change
It’s only Africa child is treated unfair so we are crying
ANS—Time to change——mind to change
That’s the way you can help us, time to change enye- mind to change enye
that’s the only way to face the future

RAP
Say this na time for change
( ENGLISH- say this is time for change)
Now turn to a new page
Ask you neba wetin i don make na layf at dis ej?
(ENGLISH-ask your neighbor what he or she has achieved in life at this age)
Boku don los coverej ol de lap na ghetto
(ENGLISH-most of them has lost zeal, are sitting in a ghetto)
U luk many discorej- jus after di war up till naw wi stil de manej
(ENGLISH-you look many are discouraged- just after the war, up till now we are still managing)
Wi don drop di gun dem—bot we non den nor encorej
(ENGLISH-we have dropped our guns, but none of us were encouraged)
Ask wetin den gi wi eh na chicken chenj
(ENGLISH- ask what was given to us, ah just a chicken change)
Nor get nor sai for get am—so a de go fen am
(ENGLISH- Nowhere to get it- so I have to go all out to find it)
Catch mi six o clock na monin a don komot
(ENGLISH- At six ‘o’ clock in the morning I go out)
De hussle hard jus for get mi han to mot
(ENGLISH- I have to hustle hard just to get my hand to mouth)
Nor wan day hut n komot — go broke domot
(ENGLISH- I have not ever been eager to go out to break a house)

Eh no dis na tem for chenj
(ENGLISH- ah no this is time to change)
Now let bygons bi bygons
(ENGLISH-now let bygones be bygones)

Make better plans for dem pikin we bin hol gun
(ENGLISH- make better plans for all the children that used to carry guns)
Think about den future—pull dem na di street gi dem love – en education—protection cos den na di leaders of tomorrow
(ENGLISH-think about their future-take them out of the street, give them love and education-protection, because they are the leaders of tomorrow)

Too mos strogul di pikin den de fes
(ENGLISH- too much struggle the children are facing)
No help for dem—strit pikin evri de de waka op N dong—sovayf by hard labour—no mo favour
(ENGLISH -no help for them-street children every day moving up and down-survive on hard labor-no more favour)

Wi di pikin den de cray wi de beg wi nid ep—wi taya wit di strit layf – wi nid a ples col home en liv a good layf, that’s why we say…
(ENGLISH- we the children are crying, we are begging we need help- we are tired of the street life- we need a place called home and live a good life, that’s why we say……….)

CHORUS
Never mind what has happened let’s forget the past, face the future
ANS—Time to change
Some of us were used, forced to fight during the war, but for sure
ANS—Time to change
The only way you can help us please just educate us, so we need help …
ANS—Time to change
It’s only Africa child is treated unfair so we are crying
ANS—Time to change——mind to change
That’s the way you can help us, time to change enye- mind to change enye
that’s the only way to face the future

OUTRO

Yeh, yeh you know my people? This a message right here for the world as a whole, is about time to make a change, let change the way we live, we can only make it if we believe and then we can achieve, so let say no to violent, corruption, selfishness, greed this about time to take a lead this is time to change, you know what I mean negga? Mind to change, that one na (is) inspiration Snazzy braaa my nigga rap star wo rop SU Unit, a gat you my hommies we coming simple instrumentals

This song is based on the present situation surrounding the former fighters including former child soldiers in Sierra Leone, where dozens of charity organizations are present with the slogans of giving help especially to the child soldiers. The boys that composed this song are staying in one of the slums  in Freetown, and are engage in selling marijuana for their living, because there is no other option.
They decided to do this song for Mind to Change to let the world know the problems they are facing in a post-war country like Sierra Leone, because Mind to Change as an organization working with former child soldiers is creating positive changes in their lives.

Since the war came to an end in 2002, some ex-child soldiers find themselves in rural communities like Tongo Field, Hangha, Kono, Blama, Segwema, Daru and Potoru. These are all diamond furious rural areas in Sierra Leone where ex-child soldiers and other vulnerable youths have resolved to settle to engage in elicit diamond mining and cheap labor to earn their living. Their presence in these areas has both advantage and disadvantages which need to be monitor, because most of them are under age to handle the diamond mining, and are serving as a threat to the post-conflict development.
The communities where ex-child soldiers and vulnerable youths are dominant have cheap man power labor, because most of them can only survive by providing that kind of service for the people they are staying with.
The most unfortunate situation is that not all of the ex-child soldiers went through the National Commission Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) process or were caters for by any organization or agency. The bias implementation of the NCDDR made a good number of the ex-child soldiers stayed in their villages, slums area in the bigger towns and cities without any training that will give them better future. My question here is that how will those who do not benefited from any disarmament package are coping with life? The answer to this question is through providing cheap labor, crime, drugs addiction, prostitution, arm rubbery etc.
In the rural areas today, you will see that ex-child soldiers are more engaged in bike (okada) ridding, subsistence farming, fishing, mining, and early marriages on both sides. All that is attributed to the lack of proper training during the reintegration process and a good number of them did not go through the process.
There is urgent need to address this menace in post-war Sierra Leone, in order to change the mind set of these ex-child soldiers to a brighter future. We need to do more to take them out of trauma, and give them better future by providing useful training for them. Trauma in Africa especially Sierra Leone is not as the same as developed country. I will elaborate on the issue of trauma in my next article.
The work of Mind to Change by giving formal education to the ex-child soldiers and vulnerable youths is a welcome and timely idea in Sierra Leone, because if these people get access to formal education, adult education, or skill training would be an added advantage for sustainable peace in the country. For those who have decided to do farming is good because that will help to give them job, and reduce hunger in the country, but they too need help like provision of working tools and food for work. Some may want to do skill training from their village, but they lack the opportunity.
It is necessary to help these ex-child soldiers and vulnerable youths, because if not, there would be possibility that they would be easily carried away by politicians during election to involve in election violent since they are helpless, and those were one of the causes for the past civil war. Without good security, ex-child soldiers are vulnerable to be influence by politicians with the hope that they will help them after winning election.
This was typically manifested in the 2007 presidential and parliamentary election, where a group of ex-child soldiers and vulnerable youths were involved in violent campaign nationwide.
In the case of female ex-child soldiers, we can see that they are mainly involved in cheap prostitution, drugs addiction and street trading. Most of them are without husband, because they are hostile and brutal to men; hardly listen to other from the

Even though drugs are illegal substance depending on the purpose, yet still most people use it to give them pleasant or exiting feelings. Most of the child soldiers and vulnerable youths in Sierra Leone take drugs almost always, because it gives them good feeling to do whatever assignment given to them for a day. In war children are vulnerable to circumstances, such as forceful conscription in to the fighting force, child labor, unwanted sex, and slavery. Drugs usually make them to feel happy, hard hearted, strong and willing to carry on with any duty assign to them. Even if the tax given to them is difficult or their enemies are around, with the use of drugs, they will not get panic, or fell dejected and weak it will give them more power (mind to…) to move on.
There are different reasons for taking drugs by young people in Sierra Leone, and if not control will soon lead to total breakdown of the society.

Since there are useful and harmful drugs, there are certain advantages and more disadvantages in the use of drugs by youths in post-conflict countries, Sierra Leone in particular. As mentioned above, these people used drugs to give them power to kill, rape, burned and even cut limbs of people with good feelings, and these people have absolutely nothing to do for their own development. Most of them are now idle will prefer to emback on the use of drugs, because it can give them excitement in their idleness, theft, gamble, violent to name but few… Also, some people will find pleasant in taking drugs especially when they are engage in work, sport, reading, business…., to keep them ongoing.
The entire above situation is now common in Sierra Leone. Since the eleven years civil war came to an end in 2002, the country is going through so many difficulties related to drugs related problems, such as drugs abuse and excess, petty crime, low level of education, lack of respect for elders, prostitution and violent..
Presently in Sierra Leone, there are so many idle youths around, and are only engage in taking drugs, and most of these people are now hanging around ghettos, car-wash spot, bus station, central business district in all the big towns in Sierra Leone causing problem for tourist, business people and ordinary citizen to keep them on the drugs. Drug is the common motivator they believed in for their daily activities, and it is creating difficulties for the socio-economic and political development of the country.

Young people are very gullible and vulnerable to influences of society and friends. Hence, a young person find out that all his or her friends have experimented with drugs and now he or she feels left out will find ways to be part of the deal. Furthermore, if he or she does not have money to buy the drugs, will end up committing crime, violent, and prostitute to be able to purchase it, and all of the above are now common in Sierra Leone. Once a person becomes addicted (‘’hooked’’) he or she will be a customer for life as it has happened in the case of the young people in Sierra Leone who were forced to take drugs during the war and still doing it. The addicted person will then beg, borrow, steal, prostitute themselves, just to make sure that they have money to buy drugs for their next fix. It is a vicious cycle of crime, prostitution, family breakdown, social breakdown, community breakdown. It is for this reason that Mind to Change is finding ways to start to educate the young people in post-conflict Sierra Leone.

Many children were abducted from their villages and towns where they were press-ganged in to fighting, because of their poor social background and lack of proper parental care. This is a clear manifestation by the Special Delivery (SD) Unit in their song Time to Change trying to speak on behalf of the former child soldiers and vulnerable youths in Sierra Leone. Most of these children were given drugs, such as cocaine, marijuana…. To dull their senses and in return give them courage to fight, kill and rape. These child soldiers committed a lot atrocity on the civilian population through the influence of drugs where they themselves faced mines, and constantly faced injury and death.

Other children who were not part of the fighting forces suffered violence and witnessed horrific events, including the murder of their parents, friends and family members. The mutilation of other people, friends and maiming of community members changed their feeling and thinking from being normal. In 2002, the war in Sierra Leone was declared over and the children that were involved in various categories began to come home, but they were and even now not always received a warm welcome from the communities they found themselves and are facing an array of problems in every aspect of their lives. Even eight (8) years after the war, many children are growing up with a future of limited opportunities which if not correct would lead to vicious circle of social problem.

SD Unit is the name of the group that has decided to send out a strong message about the lives of post-conflict youth in Sierra Leone through the song Time to Change. Based on the different ways children are being subjected to suffering during conflict as mentioned above it is difficult to measure the difference between former child soldiers and non former child soldiers .These two boys are staying in the ghettoes, selling marijuana for their daily living where Mind to Change, a charity organization based in Sierra Leone working with former child soldiers and vulnerable youths contacted them to know why they are engaged in such activities explained in the above song.

The video and the full version of Time to Change is coming soon. Here is a short acapella by the SD Unit to give you a first impression of the song.

Time to Change by the SD Unit from Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Rapstar & Inspirational Snazzy (SD Unit)

Coming soon: the musicvideo of Time to Change, a projectsong for Mind to Change by the SD Unit from Freetown, Sierra Leone. Check back soon for the premiere.

Author: Lansana Juana

Since the war in Sierra Leone came to an end in 2002, some ex-child combatants find themselves in rural communities like Tongo Field, Hangha, Blama, Segbwema, Daru and Potoru. These are all diamond furious rural areas in Sierra Leone where ex-child combatants have resolved to settle to engage in illicit diamond mining. Their presence in these areas has both advantages and disadvantages which need to be monitored, because most of them are underage to handle the duress of diamond mining, and their frustrations can serve as a threat to post-conflict development.

The communities where ex-child combatants are dominant has cheap manpower labor, because most of them can only survive by providing that kind of service for people. The most unfortunate situation is that not all of the ex-child combatants went through the National Commission Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) process or were catered for by any organization or agency. The bias implementation of the NCDDR made a good number of the ex-child combatants to stay in their villages, slum areas in the bigger towns without any training to give them a better future. How will those who did not benefit from any disarmament package cope with their lives? They can only resort to selling their labor cheap, crime, drugs addiction, prostitution, armed robbery etc.

In the rural areas today, you will see that ex-child combatants are mostly engaged in riding motorbikes as a taxi service, subsistence farming, fishing, mining, and early marriages on both sides. All that can be attributed to the lack of proper training during the reintegration process and a good number of them did not go through the process. There is urgent need to address this menace in post-war Sierra Leone, in order to change the mindset of these ex-child combatants to a brighter future. We need to do more to take them out of trauma, and give them better future. Trauma in Africa especially Sierra Leone is not the same as in developed countries.

The work of Mind to Change by giving formal education to the ex-child combatants is a welcome and timely idea in Sierra Leone, because if these people get access to formal education, adult education, or skill training it will serve as boost to build sustainable peace in the country. For those who decided to do farming, they have made the right choice since it will help to get work, but they too need help like provision of working tools and food for work. Some may want to do skills training from their village, but they lack the opportunity. In the case of female ex-child combatants, we can see that they are mainly involved in cheap prostitution and street trading. Most of them are without husband, because they are hostile and brutal to men.

It is necessary to help these ex-combatants, because if not, there is a possibility that they would easily get carried away by politicians during election to involve in election violent since they are helpless, and those were one of the causes for the past civil war. Without good security, ex-child combatants are vulnerable to be influence by politicians with the hope that they will help them after winning election. This was typically manifested in the 2007 presidential and parliamentary election, where a group of ex-combatants were involved in violent campaign nationwide.

By: Lansana Juana

Children can be seen as major victim of every conflict in Africa. In this regard, the children in Sierra Leone have been victims of political manipulation and used as an instrument of social violence and destruction. Consequently, the many illiterate youths in the country have turned out to be social miscreants or misfits. They are hooked on drugs, commit robberies, petty thefts, have a lack of respect for elders’, are subject to sexual promiscuity and lots of other social vices. This has become pervasive and therefore a major cause of concern in Sierra Leone and the international community.

In modern times, the poor educational performance, high crime rate, and lack of human rights in the country serve as symbolic pointers to the fact that drug use among youths is a cause of concern to government, international organization and the development partners operating in Sierra Leone.

The use of drugs was the main factor that was responsible for crimes committed by the past fighting forces. All the fighting forces were using children to fight under the influence of drug and alcohol. Mind to kill is the simple word that was used by former child. When they use the word ‘mind’, they often refer to drugs as a tool to kill during the past conflict. Now in the post conflict setting, there are ghettos where you can see these young men and women hanging around looking out for trouble. Some of them still use drugs to get a ‘mind’ to do bad.

Once they are addicted to the use of drugs, and have nothing to do, they run the risk of developing evil thought and involving in petty crimes, which is presently the order of the day in all the bigger towns and cities in Sierra Leone. It is causing a threat to peace and the development process. To sustain peace and provide security for the people living in Sierra Leone, we need to do something about all the ghettos, educate the youths that are there so as to cut down on the use of drugs, and drugs related violence.

NO CIVIL EDUCATION FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE IN SIERRA LEONE; WHY…….
Lansana Juana

In my quiet moments, I sometimes try to make sense of violence perpetrated by young people in the world. Especially in countries like Sierra Leone, young people cause numerous problems. One of the most imperative problems facing youths affected by the post-war conditions in Sierra Leone is the lack of access to specific civil and political tutoring for youths to grow into their civic role and take on responsibility as a citizen. Lack of civic and political education; more importantly the allotment of information regarding duties and farm duties of citizens; prevents youths from obtaining the comprehension to control, improve and contribute meaningfully toward their communities development.

A second predicament for war affected youths is the low literacy level among the youth population. The 10 years civil war denied preponderance of the youths the prospect to grow into leaned and literate adults; most of the present day youths in Sierra Leone are without the capacity to read, write, see if and lucid their judgment about issues affecting their lives.

Lack of civic and political information/knowledge is one of the most important issues affecting Sierra Leone, 70% of the population can neither read nor write. And unfortunately, the Northern and Eastern regions are most affected. This is manifested in the present high rate of civil chaos and political violence among the youth population in that region and the type of economic activities they engage in.

It is now a matter of most; instead of a matter of necessity; to make the first move. Programs that will address the issue of civic responsiveness and political edification for the youths (who are the future leaders). And to improve the quality of life for the youth population by engaging and educating both out of school and in school youths about basic civil rights, duties and responsibilities

The exposure to such information will assist youths to learn why education is important for both themselves and their families. After the civil war, no institution has ever thought of helping the ex-combatants to learn how to take a more active role in civil and political activities in their various communities.

Youths need care and nurture like children; they should be groomed to talk amongst themselves about civic and political issues of the country and their instantaneous communities and the youths also need to be taught how to communicate to their elders about their plans and things like protection against, femininity issues, bribery, good authority, national wherewithal, elections, economy of the state etc. The women are faced with the tedious work of rebuilding their lives and the lives of their families in areas that have been devastated by the civil war. One of the most damaging results for young women and girls was interrupted and/or terminated schooling. This had a devastating effect on the already low literacy rate among women.

The Eastern Region is particularly affected by the war in the sense that the war left very few houses, government buildings, schools and healthcare facilities. Tens of thousands of women and children fled to neighboring countries seeking refuge or were constantly running from one town to the other to escape the war in their own territories.

It is well documented that by improving a youth’s level of education both the physical and psychological health will be positively affected. Furthermore, educating youths about health issues that formerly were classified as “women’s information” allows men the opportunity to become better husbands and fathers while at the same time promoting the status of women.

Perhaps a curriculum of civic responsibilities will provide an immediate campaign in areas where information facilities and their resources are limited. With a complimenting literacy curriculum reinforced learned civic and political knowledge while aiding the men and women in improving their literacy skills and thus, their status in the community.

In addition, we should provide young women and men of the community with an educational program which increases dialogue among community members and households about crucial issues affecting the lives of men, women and children. In turn, dialogue generated by such means will aid the reintegration process of the communities.