"In Colombia there is more than a million children refugees due to the violence." "This film has been created and drawn for them" "I don't like Bogotà, because... in the neighborhood I live in with my mother, for example... there are always fights for no reason, they fight even for a beer." "They stab eachothers over nothing." "I don't think I even have any friends left." "I don't have my best friend anymore." "Those who used to be my friends have now been sent to fight." "We are happy at home, but not in the neighborhood,... because there are some men... who kill children." "Mom would like to leave, but what do we do with the house?" "My dad sometimes works in the fields." "Sometimes he doesn't find work, sometimes he comes back at 9 PM,... because if he works until late he gets more money." "But often he doesn't get enough money to go to the market... and to be able to eat." "We sold off our house, ...almost gifted, in fact." "The money was not what we were expecting, it was a beautiful farm." "And now we are left almost on the road." "LITTLE VOICES" "My dad used to wake up at 5." "He went to milk the cows, and then... called our mom so that she would prepare breakfast for us." "Our mom used to call us at 7 or at 8 to eat breakfast." "Sometimes mom used to yell at us... but dad used to tell her not to do so... because it was just kids' games." "After breakfast we did showers." "Then dad used to go take care of the livestock." "He said: "go on play while mom prepares lunch and I work"." "Dad contracted workers and he too harvested coffee." "The coffee is on the plants and it must be harvested." "They put the coffee in the "caserba", they peeled it... and left it to dry to the sun and air." "Then my sister and I picked it up." "Then we put it all in bags that we loaded onto the truck." "On saturdays and sundays we went to sell it to the village." "The village is called San Bidral." "There the army kill people... almost every sunday." "There were some pool tables, where they constantly played." "They always had their uniform and their military cap,..." "They put it on my head... telling me that I would have been a beautiful girl... with the uniform and the cap." "They asked me to go with them, they said I would've been well." "They offered me about anything." "Fortunately nothing ever happened to me, and I never showed them that..." "I was afraid, because people told me not to show fear." "During mass at the church dad called us." "He said: "let's go out and play;" "this preaching is boring!"" "The nuns were referred to as"sisters"." "One time when we were exiting we encountered the nuns." "We told them we needed to go to the bathroom urgently,... and so we went to play with our dad." "Dad hid behind the trees and put us on the branches." "We ate the fruits of the trees, the guayabos, and he kept hiding." "Mom came looking for us and dad" "Dad, still hidden, sneaked up on her." "We jumped off the tree, and started tickling her... and she yelled because... she didn't want us to tickle her." "Dad used to own a farm;" "we really weren't missing anything... not for dinner, not for breakfast, and not for lunch." "My little brother was growing up... in my mom's belly." "I was the oldest, as my other brother was 8 years old." "One day while I was distracted I saw a horse... who was called Wuazhu." "The dogs had a hard time keeping up, as the horse was going very fast." "I made it in time for the school's start." "The two little dogs were very loyal." "It was the commander." "He entered the house, calm and respectful." "They show you all the weapons that they possess." "You enter their group, and go through training." "You earn more there than anywhere else." "He gave me 50 pesos, and then he left." "I was to convince other kids." "Then they would've come to pick us up." "I was running on the grass, still with my dogs, towards the river." "A jeep arrived with two kids on board." "It was a military jeep." "We started our journey" "At the encampment they welcomed us very well, with a lot of food." "My grandmother was at home alone." "When we arrived home, the dogs shook the water off... and poured it on grandma." "The dogs were happily playing." "My uncle asked me if I wanted some water." "I said, yes I do." "And then he threw a bucket of water at me... and we all started to laugh." "A militia trooper showed up and told us for the first time... that we had to leave... otherwise they would have come and take me away." "My father was not at the farm, I was alone." "My father washed the pigs and cleaned the stable." "One day I entered the pig pen and started chasing them." "At that point the pigs started running away... while I was after them." "Then I pushed them around so that they all ended up... in a quagmire so they would get dirty all over again." "So that my dad would have to wash them again." "I liked seeing him do that... because the pigs squealed and jumped." "I liked seeing them while they were being washed" "In the end I led them back to the pen" "When my dad came back and saw me, at first he started laughing." "My dad got angry because I behaved badly... with the animals." "He wanted to punish me." "And so I pushed him towards the mud where the pigs were!" "He didn't like bathing with hot water, which was the only thing that could rinse off the mud." "Io asked him why.." "and he told me... that hot water was not good for him." "But then he said that hot water was fine." "There were a lot of kids, about 36, 37." "They were younger than me, the oldest must've been at most 15." "They made us practice with the weapons, with the shooting range." "They forced us to cross a swamp... by walking across a log." "Whoever didn't succeed and fell off... or got himself wounded, was punished:... he would be forced to eat running." "not sitting down like the others." "They woke us up before dawn, at three or at four." "We threw hand grenades." "They wanted us to be prepared... to always be ready for combat." "As training they made us jump off... a height of three meters and roll in the sand." "Those who survived carried on forward,...those who didn't..." "It was the law of the strongest." "One day I saw something green moving..." "And I thought they were fronds, but in reality... they were five soldiers that ran towards my house." "We were in the middle." "The army was in the lowest area." "And so the militia shot towards the bottom." "And the army responded by shooting towards the top." "The militia started... to use cannons." "I was in the middle of a battle." "I was very scared to toggle the safety lock... and pull the trigger." "And so I hid behind a tree." "Everyone was fighting, except me." "Then my commander showed up and threaten threatened to kill me if I didn't fight." "He ordered me to go to the front line." "so I grabbed the rifle,... pointed it, and began shooting." "I went through two entire magazines." "And then I started running." "The helicopter landed on top of our land... where our crop was... to transport the dead soldiers." "I heard the screams of the wounded soldiers." "I saw with my own eyes the soldiers taking... the wounded on the helicopter." "It's a tremendous terror that gets inside your head." "Terror is spread by the armed forces,... the militia, the FARC, even the military." "All the forces that possess weapons... spread terror." "Maybe it is not their intention... but they do spread terror." "At night, while we were sleeping... helicopters passed by." "It was those that the USA had sent in Colombia." "I saw and heard what looked like sparks... of the fireworks." "My uncle was hoeing the field... as my grandmother was sowing there." "Then my grandmother saw someone... and yelled "the militiamen!"" "And so we all saw them" "For the second time they told us to leave,... otherwise they would have taken me away." "And so my grandmother said we had to leave everything,... pack up our belongings and leave for Bogotà." "As I left I said goodbye to my dogs." "I felt a great sadness... because they were those I loved the most." "It was very hard." "I hugged them, but then came the moment to leave." "They were my best friends, and I would miss them greatly." "When we left they started barking loudly." "And so my grandmother told us to hurry,... before the dogs broke free." "We all were with our father." "We were all together in our farm." "Some men showed up... with pistols and scarves covering their mouths." "Everyone out!" "Dad kissed me and told me not to worry,... that we had to leave, and nothing would've happened to us." "When my mom had to iron for work,..." "I had to prepare dinner,... even though I really didn't like doing so at that moment." "I did it because it was my duty." "That day, I recall that it was a sunday,..." "I had done all the housekeeping errands." "Suddenly..." "I saw something fall from the sky and explode." "My mother heard the explosion and went out." "My mother was pregnant for three months with my brother." "Eears gave me distorted noise... because the explosion was strong, too strong." "After hearing the "BOOM", the explosion..." "I looked at my right hand and saw I no longer had it." "My mother picked me up and carried me back home." "I felt as if all my body was engulfed in flames." "It felt like hell!" "They took me to the hospital in the village,... the first thing they did was put a drip-feed." "I kept saying "water!"" "I didn't ask them to save me,..." "I just wanted "water"." "Because I felt like my entire body was burning up." "It's impossible to describe... the suffering I felt at that moment." "I felt like I was going to die." "After several hours of travel we arrived at Bogotà." "The first things I saw were... a lot of houses and cars and so many people." "We went where my aunt and my sister lived." "I stayed with them, and after a few days..." "I found out that my grandma had returned to the farm,... because there was no room for her." "Eventually I woke up." "The first thing I did was look." "I already knew I had lost my arm." "I raised it and, obviously, it wasn't there." "I was already bandaged." "The worst was when I felt my right leg itching." "When I went to raise it, my God, I realized I had lost my leg too!" "It was terrible!" "One day, returning from school,..." "I saw they had killed a boy." "I was very scared." "I never want to remember that day again!" "It reminds me of when they took my dad away... and then they found... his documents scattered in the fields." "I don't know if my dad is dead or alive." "I never saw him again." "It was three AM but we were awake." "We talked a bit... and concluded that we could no longer tolerate the mistreatment." "I thought they would have honored their promises,... but that's not what happened." "They tricked us, lied to us." "So us kids made a plan to escape." "There were adult soldiers... who were on patrol all night long." "In the end they killed 5 of us." "We spent about two months in this neighborhood." "I couldn't use the crutches,... because I had lost both my right arm... and my right leg." "I couldn't move with them, I kept losing my balance and falling." "Therefore I ended up crawling like a cat." "I even got calluses on my knees." "I was ten years old, and crawling was... the only thing I could do." "I don't know how I arrived at the hospital, but I got there." "My thoughts were not focused on being able to walk again." "That didn't even cross my mind that I would have been able to." "When I saw a leg from a distance..." "I thought "...what is that?" And when I saw a hand I couldn't even imagine that I could've used it." "I really wanted to feel it, obviously not alive,... but having it, in my body." "Someone had suggested to me... to get out of that place." "They asked me:" ""Do you have any relatives..."" "who can help you?"" "I knew that once you did the flag raising for the first time, you could no longer get out of there not until you are killed anyway." "Fortunately I found my cousin." "He got me out of there, otherwise..." "I would've had to keep killing." "It was also thanks to the fact that I had never... raised the flag." "In the end I remained at the camp for just three months,... thanks to my cousin who didn't want me... to remain there,... because I had a life in front of me,... and I should not have to kill people for a living." "I have a life still to try and become somebody... without hiding." ""My son!"" "My sisters tell me:" ""Jasmina, sleep well everything is gonna be fine"." "They often play with me." "At night I am always very scared,... but when my mom kisses me..." "I am relaxed once again" "I never thought to ask myself... who it was that hurt me." "I never wanted to hate somebody for it." "The worst thing you can do... for a person's self-esteem, to depress him, is to pity him." "Those of my friends who are also disabled... think the same as I do:" "it's bad to know that others... pity you, that they think "poor guy!"" "Because in the end we're still human." "If someone loses a limb he still has the five senses." "For now I don't think much of it." "I don't think of the fact that one day... there might not be someone to help me stand up." "I am always relaxed." "Why?" "Because I always look forward." "I try to bring to light what I have, try to make use of it." "At the beginning it is always hard." "Even with strong willpower, it's still very hard." "You have to get used to how things are." "But now that about six years have passed..." "I don't like playing football, because... well... some incidents have happened... in which I accidentally hurt other kids... because of the prothesis." "And so I started playing as the goalkeeper." "You have to have willpower, you have to be willing to go forward,... to see beyond the wall that is in front of you." "Bring down the walls, the fortresses... continue, continue to insist." "Never forget those that didn't make it, but always go forward with your life." "Translation from Italian to English By Dynamo128"