Introduction

In July 2003, I was in Liberia covering the final throes of the country’s civil war, a fierce conflict that had started more than a decade earlier. The government of President Charles Taylor was about to be toppled, and as the rebels kept advancing and reached the limits of the capital city, Monrovia, mortars and gunfire shook the city every day. I witnessed dozens of deaths and injuries. Many were children.

Thousands of “child soldiers” were recruited by both the government and rebel forces in the conflict, often drugged up and armed with assault rifles nearly their own height as they were sent off to the front lines. It shocked me to see these young soldiers, who barely looked to be in their teens; some looked as young as 10.

In Aug 2004, a year after a peace agreement brought an end to the conflict, I returned to Monrovia to look for the children I’d photographed during the battles, wondering whether they were still alive. Through word-of-mouth and radio adverts, I was eventually able to find most of the children I was looking for.

This is my ongoing, long-term project to follow the lives of four children - Momo, Fayay, Gift and Musu - all victims of the war striving to open new chapters in their lives.

Child Solder "MOMO"

Lone survivor "GIFT"

Lost arm "MUSU"

Child soldier "FAYAH"

Liberia "Civil war" 2003

Story at Kuni Journal (Japanese only)