Table Of ContentWHEN ELEPHANTS FIGHT
Adrian and Jimmy catch up, talking family, football and the future.
WHEN ELEPHANTS FIGHT
THE LIVES OF CHILDREN IN CONFLICT IN AFGHANISTAN,
BOSNIA, SRI LANK A, SUDAN AND UGANDA
ERIC WALTERS & ADRIAN BRADBURY
This book is dedicated to those most innocent victims of war: children.
—EW
For Isaac and Owen. You are why I am changed and why today, I remain the
same.
—AB
Text copyright © 2008 Eric Walters and Adrian Bradbury
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to
be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Walters, Eric, 1957-
When elephants fight / written by Eric Walters and Adrian Bradbury.
ISBN 978-1-55143-900-6
1. Children and war. I. Bradbury, Adrian, 1970-II. Title.
HQ784.W3W35 2008 305.23086’949 C2008-903027-3
First published in the United States, 2008
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008928576
Summary: The lives of children in conflict in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Sri Lanka,
Sudan and Uganda. Portaits of five child victims of conflict, including regional
history, maps and the causes and results of the conflict.
Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing
programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada
through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and the Canada
Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts
Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
Cover photo and all photos in the Uganda section courtesy of Colin O’Connor.
Photos from My Childhood Under Fire: A Sarajevo Diary written by Nadja
Halilbegovich used by permission of Kids Can Press Ltd., Toronto; photos ©
Halilbegovich and Morrison families. Kim Phuc photo courtesy of Kim Phuc.
Photos on pages 37, 41, 50 and 55 © Getty Images; photos on pages 33 and 67 ©
Dreamstime.com.
All other photos courtesy of GuluWalk.
Cover design and interior maps by Allen Ford
Interior design by Teresa Bubela
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS
PO BOX 5626, STN. B PO BOX 468
VICTORIA, BC CANADA CUSTER, WA USA
V8R 6S4 98240-0468
www.orcabook.com
Printed and bound in Hong Kong.
11 10 09 08 • 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION
UGANDA
JIMMY: WALKING AWAY FROM DANGER
FOLLOW-UP JIMMY
REPUBLIC OF UGANDA
HISTORY
THE CONFLICT
CHILD SOLDIERS
SRI LANKA
ANNU: BORN IN A WAR ZONE
FOLLOW-UP ANNU
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA
HISTORY
THE CONFLICT
TAMIL TIGERS—TERRORISTS OR FREEDOM FIGHTERS?
INDIAN CONNECTION
RELIGION
AFGHANISTAN
FAROOQ: HOME UNDER FIRE
FOLLOW-UP FAROOQ
AFGHANISTAN
HISTORY
SOVIET INVOLVEMENT 1979–1989
AFTER THE SOVIET WITHDRAWAL 1989–1992
THE TALIBAN
THE TALIBAN IN POWER 1998–2001
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
NATO
ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS AND LANGUAGE DIVISIONS
POVERTY
BOSNIA
NAJDA: LIFE IN SNIPER ALLEY
FOLLOW-UP NADJA
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
HISTORY OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
1945-1981
1991–2007
RELIGION
DIFFERENCES/SIMILARITIES
CLEAN THE FIELD
THE SUDAN
TOMA: HOW COULD SO MUCH BE LOST SO QUICKLY?
FOLLOW-UP TOMA
REPUBLIC OF THE SUDAN
GEOGRAPHY
HISTORY
RECENT HISTORY
THE CRISIS IN DARFUR
ANIMISM
COLONIALISM AND ITS ONGOING INFLUENCE IN AFRICA
AFTERWORD
FOREWORD
by Kim Phuc
There can be no doubt that in any war the most innocent, those who have had no
part in the creation of the conflict, are the children. It is equally clear that there
has been no war fought in which children were not those who suffered the most.
Unable to flee, unable to defend themselves, unable to even understand, they
have been the ones who have felt the effects of war the most. I know this
because I was one of those children.
I grew up in Vietnam at a time when the country had been at war much longer
than I had even been alive. The violence and conflict were always a part of our
lives, even in the times of complete calm and quiet. You tried to live a normal
life—going to school, working the fields, playing with your friends, eating with
your family—but knew that life could instantly be altered or ended. You could
only hope and pray that you and your family would be spared.
For me that veneer of normalcy was shattered forever when I was nine years
old. Our village was at the centre of a pitched battle. As we were seeking shelter
from the fighting, we were accidentally hit with a type of bomb that contained
napalm— chemicals that cause things to break into flames. My clothes, and then
my body, caught fire. All I remember clearly is the pain. Over 65 percent of my
body was burned, and I was supposed to die. I was hospitalized for fourteen
months, undergoing seventeen surgical procedures and extensive and painful
therapy and rehabilitation before finally leaving the hospital behind.
My plight, my personal tragedy, was captured by photographer Nick Ut. This
picture, which won the Pulitzer Prize, became a visual image of the horror of
war and the effects on the most innocent, children.
When Elephants Fight is dedicated to allowing the reader to look into the eyes
of five children who have experienced war and to hear their personal stories.
Jimmy, Nadja, Annu, Farooq and Toma have lived through the trauma and
tragedy of war. Their stories are taken from five different places around the
world—Uganda, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Sudan. They are all
different, but they are the same in that they are the stories of individual children.
War affects millions of people, but each of those people is an individual, and the
most vulnerable are the children.
Along with the personal accounts of these children, the authors have provided
Along with the personal accounts of these children, the authors have provided
the background to these five conflicts—the history of the country and the
conflict—that led to the unfortunate circumstances that altered the lives of the
children. By understanding what causes conflict, we are better equipped to
understand how future conflicts may be avoided.
It is human nature to want to turn away from tragedy, but we must remember
the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, who said, “Darkness cannot drive out
darkness; only light can do that.” I ask you not to look away. Look into the eyes
of these five children—hear their stories and appreciate that these children could
be your children, could be you. Let in the light.
I still bear the scars of what happened to me. I still feel the physical pain
daily. The past remains part of me. I feel it is important not to pretend that
terrible things don’t take place. We should not forget, but we must also learn to
forgive, and take an active role in helping those who have suffered and try to
ease their pain.
With love,
Kim Phuc
Kim Phuc Bio
Kim was born and raised in Trang Bang, a small community north of Saigon,
during the Vietnam war. In 1972, at the age of nine, while fleeing for safety, she
