Once I was a Child Soldier

A Boy, a Kidnapping and a Flight from Sudan to the Netherlands

For the readers of The Naked Don’t Fear the Water by Matthieu Aikins

A gripping true story

Omdurman, Sudan, 1998. Fifteen-year-old Abu Hamdan has only one dream: to work in television, just like his brother. While he is studying theater, an invisible war is raging in the southern and western regions of the country. One day, Abu is dragged into an army truck by jihadist fighters and begins his training as a child soldier. For seven months, he is forced to fight and endures the most horrific events.

One night, Abu and a group of other children embark on a perilous journey through the desert, evading jihadist fighters, until they finally reach a refugee camp on the Kenyan border. Abu is sent, all alone, to the Netherlands, a foreign country with a language he has never heard before. There he must build a new life, while his sole desire is to let his family know that he is still alive.

Praise: 

‘A very engaging portrait of a child who is kidnapped and never returns home. It brings the war very close.’ – Koert Lindijer, Africa Correspondent NRC

‘Deep despair and indestructible hope. Abu proves how close the two are with his heartbreaking story.’ – Tineke Ceelen, author of Vlucht