Day 1

When I heard the heavy trucks roll into the village square, I had a bad feeling. I looked outside and my feeling was correct. Around the heavy trucks, there were many people-soldiers. They were holding weapons, wearing a military uniform. And then, I realized why the soldiers had come. I was taken away from my house to train to be a soldier. Suddenly, I felt terrified, wanted to go back and hide under the blanket. But it was too late. The trainings are very strict that I haven't been able to keep up with the others. I hope I'll get better on these kind of trainings. They taught us how to hold our gun, clean, reload the gun, etc... The training took place in the middle of the jungle, and it was terrible. Honestly, if I was alone, I would have been frustrated. Luckly, my best friend Lolo and my cousin Ignacio were next to me. Lolo and I had grown up and had been together so long that we almost could read each other's mind, which is a good thing. Lolo learned how to tell the soldiers of the revolution from the loyalist soldiers of the presidente. Lolo figured out that the soldiers of the revolution had better guns - from China or the USSR - but shabbier uniforms than the loyalists. My cousin Ignacio is educated and always ask questions or search something to read. Captain Mendoza is the person who brought us here. He explained about the situation that our nation suffers from poverty, disease, illiteracy, and oppression. I want to go back to my lovely home, though, I'm stuck in this prison and training to be a soldier.

Image from: http://www.ikonrtv.nl/uploadedImgs/Burma_Child_soldier2.jpeg