Seventy-five years ago, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry crashed his plane in the Sahara desert, where he was stranded for days, suffering from unimaginable thirst, hunger, heat and hallucinations. It was ten years before he told his story, and when he did, he told it through the soul of the child he once was, about the child that is in all of us. Le Petit Prince was published in the midst of the Second World War. A book of sweet innocence, for an era of harsh experience.
That natural human transformation from innocence to experience often comes too fast, too soon, too cruelly. Such is the transformation from child to child soldier.
Since my return from Rwanda, the horrors that I witnessed have not left me. I carry them with me always, though I tried my best to release some of the demons in my account of that time, Shake Hands with the Devil. But there was one horror that I was not ready to release, one horror so terrible it was unimaginable, inconceivable, even though it was also a constant, tangible reality. A horror that exists to this day, around the globe, and which must simply be eradicated: the use of children as soldiers.
For their support to me in producing this book, I am grateful to the following:
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, for creating a fictional child who exemplified the true meaning of childhood, reminding his readers that there are important things that only the young can understand, that only the young can express, and that only the young can accomplish.
Anne Collins of Random House Canada, my editor, my champion, my friend, for her encouragement and patience, plus her dedication to this project and the urgency of this cause.
My research team: Brent Beardsley, for his deep knowledge and strength; Jessica Humphreys, for her enduring empathy and gift for writing; Tanya Zayed, for her expertise and dedication to this book, to children affected by war and the Child Soldiers Initiative.
For leading by brave example: Ishmael Beah.
For sharing their personal stories, insights, expertise and support: BGen Greg Mitchell (Ret’d), David Hyman, Imran Ahmad, Col Joseph Culligan (Ret’d), Linda Dale, Scott Davies, Dickson Eyoh, Caroline Fahmy, Nigel Fisher, Dr. Phil Lancaster, Marion Laurence, Sandra Melone, Maria Minna, Michael Montgomery, Jacqueline O’Neil, Ajmal Pashtoonyar, Diana Rivington, Michael Shipler, Sarah Spencer, Zeph Gahamanyi, Leo Kabalisa, Ruth Kambali, Muhammad Kayihura, Franko Ntazinda, Solange Umwali and John Ruku-Rwabyoma.
Also for providing invaluable stories, insights, and expertise, the following organizations: the Canadian Forces (Col. Jake Bell); Dalhousie University Centre for Foreign Policy Studies (Shelly Whitman); Halifax Regional Police Department (Sgt. Penny Hart); Invisible Children; McGill University—Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (Dr Kirsten Johnson); The Network of Young People Affected by War (NYPAW); The Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (Ken Nette, Ann Livingstone); Public Inc. (Adrian Bradbury); University of Victoria School of Child and Youth Care (Sibylle Artz and Marie Hoskins); University of Winnipeg—Global College (Tom Faulkner); and Search for Common Ground.
And for their contributions, support, and thousand kindnesses: Victor Amissi Sulubika, Kimberly Davis, Helga Holland, David Humphreys, David Hyman, Alana Kapell, Hélène Ladouceur, Casimir and Imogene Legrand, Findley Shepherd-Humphreys and Brock Shepherd, Alison Syme, my agent, Bruce Westwood, and the staff of Westwood Creative Artists, and the team at Random House Canada, especially the book’s designer, Scott Richardson; the insightful artist, Ben Weeks, who illustrated the world of my fictional child soldier; copy editor Stacey Cameron; my publicist, Scott Sellers, managing editor Deirdre Molina; and production head Carla Kean.