Child soldiers and capoeira

儿童兵和卡波耶拉

The Documentary Podcast

社会与文化

2025-01-08

22 分钟
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单集简介 ...

In the city of Goma, former child soldiers are being rehabilitated using capoeira, the Brazilian martial art. Since the start of the conflict in 1996 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, child soldiers have been recruited to fight. After they are demobilised from armed groups, many suffer from mental health disorders like anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The demobilised child soldiers are housed in transit centres while they wait to be reunited with their families. While they wait, Social Capoeira is one of the therapies offered to them. It is a form of capoeira where the fighting is non-contact and dialogue, and wellbeing are prioritised. Congolese journalist Ruth Omar explores the impact of this unique approach.
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  • This is the documentary from the BBC World Service with me, Ruth Omar and this is Child Soldiers and Capoeira.

  • I'm in the playground of a school in Dosho in the northwest part of Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

  • The classrooms have been long abandoned and the playground is empty.

  • It no longer has swings and slides and looks and feels lonely and neglected.

  • But three times a week, disadvantaged children from all over Goma come here to practice the Brazilian martial art capoeira, and they bring some life to this forgotten place.

  • Many of the children have been practicing together for years, and for some of those years they played capoeira with former child soldiers.

  • A soldier is going home from war, a trained killer promoted to the rank of sergeant, and he's just 15.

  • Since 1996, the Democratic Republic of Congo, or the DRC, has been battered by several civil wars and fighting between rebel groups.

  • From the start of the conflict, vulnerable children have been used to fight causes that began before many of them were even born.

  • In 2006, the BBC spoke to a 17 year old child soldier in Goma.

  • He told us he's killed around eight enemy fighters.

  • He says they would have killed him if they saw him first.

  • But when he looks back on all this, he has nightmares.

  • Almost 20 years later, the conflict in some regions in the DRC has continued and children are still being pulled into the fighting.

  • Some join the fighting voluntarily, many more are kidnapped and forcibly recruited.