Lost boy of Sudan who was stolen to fight finds himself at top of charts

[emad]

By Meera Selva, Africa Correspondent
22 February 2005


One of the lost boys of southern Sudan ­ children stolen from their parents to fight in rebel armies ­ has released a rap album about his life as a child soldier. Emmanuel Jal, who learned how to fire an AK-47 when he was seven years old, has already had a number one hit in Kenya. Now, he has just released his first album ­ Gua.

"It's a sort of prayer for peace in my motherland," he said. "There has been war, so it's talking about if there was peace in my land, it would be good for everyone to come back home."

Jal doesn't know his actual age, but he is believed to be around 27. He started rapping when he arrived in Kenya as a disturbed and wary teenager, scarred by war.

"I found that music helped with healing my soul, and all the trauma that I've gone through," he commented.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=613491