WATCH ABOVE: A local school’s human rights conference hosted an activist and musician who knows first-hand the terror child soldiers experience. Lisa Wolansky reports.
EDMONTON — Students at a local high school’s human rights conference, which is focused on helping child soldiers in war-torn countries, got a first-hand account Thursday of the terror experienced by child soldiers.
At seven years old, Emmanuel Jal was a child soldier in Sudan.
“Walking hundreds of miles, carrying an AK-47, being in the battlefield – that’s not the place. I wanted to go to school,” said Jal.
Jal now lives in Canada and travels around the world to share his story. On Thursday, he spoke to students at McNally High School.
“There’s something about students, because the way they receive it, some of them don’t know. And the way you inspire them, you are planting a seed,” said Jal.
The school and the John Humphrey Centre for Peace hosted Jal for their human rights conference.
“Emmanuel talks about building peace, about solving solutions – simple solutions to everyday problems. And it’s about a state of mind and a state of being, and that is what building peace is all about,” said Renee Vaugeois, the executive director of the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights.
“This is real life. The world is not a perfect place and … I think people want to know and learn how to make the world a better place,” said Robert Gardner, department head of the Global Opportunities program at McNally High School. The program allows students to work outside the school to experience things around the world.
Students at the assembly Thursday said they felt inspired by Jal’s words.
“I think it’s definitely important for people to realize that there are other things going on in the world and we’re not the centre of the universe. Especially living in a country like Canada, we can actually do a lot to help other people,” said Grade 12 student Gillian Hebert.
Jal is also a Juno-nominated recording artist. Last year he co-starred in the Reese Witherspoon movie ‘The Good Life.’
With files from Lisa Wolansky, Global News.
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