Damara, Central African Republic. Clara Degoto, 18 (baby: Ketura Yaouba, 1) – When Seleka attacked Damara, she fled into the bush with her mother. Her father died. When she came out of the bush to find food, the Seleka forced her to join the group. Initially she wasn’t too upset about it because she saw that they were eating chickens and goats and thought she would be able to get food. For nine months she cleaned their weapons and did whatever the leaders told her. She worried about her mother, who didn’t know where she was. She never killed anyone but the boys who joined did. The reason she escaped was because she couldn’t deal with the horrors she was seeing each day. She escaped and around the same time Damara was stabilized and became secure. She still lives in fear that they will come back. Since then she has had a baby girl and joined the WV Peace Club. At the Peace Club she met Lionel Jeun (17), who was also a child soldier, but for the opposition – anti-Balaka. They said it took about a year for them to accept each other and realize that they weren’t really opponents, because they both wanted the same thing – peace. In 2013 rebel armed groups attacked Damara (a sub-prefecture 75 kilometres from the capital, Bangui) and recruited children to serve in their ‘forces’. In 2014, World Vision assisted nearly 8,000 children in Damara, a sub-prefecture, -where it carries out child protection activities. Through the support of World Vision and the community members led by their leaders, the children were rescued, rehabilitated and enrolled in peace clubs. Some returned to school while those who were beyond schooling years, were enrolled in vocational training. World Vision’s primary goal in doing this was to empower the children and young people to become agents of peace and promote peace-building initiatives in their own communities. A total of 4,944 children comprising 2,604 boys and 2,340 girls were trained on the culture of peace and social cohesion. 302 of these children comprising of 204 boys and 98 girls rescued from the armed forces and armed groups (ESFGA). Besides the children, their parents and members of the community including their community leaders were trained on ways to ensure children are protected from harm. These included, referrals of abuses committed against children such as rape. In total, 30 men and 15 women participated in the training.

Written by Deborah Wolfe on Jul 04, 2025

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