Lane Hartill, CRS’ regional information officer in West and Central Africa, sent this dispatch from the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At first, Jean Pierre didn’t want to meet me. He thought I was going to make him go back to the military. And he’d had enough of that.

A rebel group in eastern Congo captured Jean Pierre when he was 15 years old. For three months, he slept in the forest, waiting out the fighting that tore through his once-tranquil village. When word spread that it was safe to return to the village, Jean Pierre ventured back. But he’d gotten bad info. The rebels were waiting.
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