Students gathered in Upper Convo last Thursday to listen to former child soldier George Latio share his experiences with war, life and his commitment to conflict resolution. The event was hosted by the Ashland Center for Nonviolence and was followed by a Q & A session.

There are approximately 250,000 child soldiers in the world today and Africa has the most, according to Latio. The Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) in Southern Sudan contributes to this number and is the rebel group Latio fought for. Latio fought for the SPLA due to all of the schools in Sudan being closed during the war.

“I went and joined the movement when I was 14 voluntarily,” Latio said. “At the age of 15, I was going through the worst part of my life. I fought, saw bad things, lost my friends and was injured. The reality comes when you see the first bullet – it’s not funny.”

Latio said that just because he went voluntarily doesn’t mean other children did or could. Many young children are forced into the rebel movement because they want to protect their families. If they are in a rebel group, other groups won’t harm their family for fear that there will be retaliation.

Latio said that fighting in a war is not something kids are suppose to do and all he wanted was to finish school; so he did, underneath mango trees.

“As long as you’re committed, you can do it,” Latio said of putting his mind toward finishing school.

After Latio finished high school in Uganda, he worked in a political office where an opportunity arose to apply to Bluffton University.

“The door is open for me, I don’t want to let it go,” Latio said.

Latio came to the United States in 2003 and earned his bachelor’s in communications in 2007 from Bluffton. He is now a graduate student at Ohio State and is looking to earn his master’s in communication and development. Latio said that this was all supposed to happen.

“I survived for a reason,” he said, “to make my experiences change the world.”

Latio wants to encourage people to take steps to help child soldiers.

“Out of the 250,000 [child soldiers], some of them might be world leaders,” Latio said. “How do we help them? If we look to conflict and violence, the world will never be what it’s supposed to be.”

Latio went on to say that every continent’s problem is the world’s problem and we all need to react to these problems before they happen by being proactive. Latio also said hope is key.

“I got myself out with hope,” he said.

Latio hopes to use his master’s degree to study the effects of media on conflict resolution and to help bring peace to Sudan and the world. Latio said that the over two million people and children who have died in the Sudanese wars deserved life and peace.

Media can be bad and good, Latio said, and he wants to see if he can use the media to benefit conflict resolution. Until then, Latio will continue to speak out and conduct conferences, bringing awareness about child soldiers to people all over the country. Latio can only hope that the more he speaks, the more he helps.

“I see myself as hope for the voiceless,” he said. “It’s not a crime to be born – so why are [children] being used like this?”