I dedicate this to all the children all around the world who have payed the ultimate price, their lives, and to those still suffering.
We cannot be silent any longer.
My heart and prayers go out to the families around the world that have lost children.

I was sitting all alone in a room.
I couldn't really move at all.
I was hungry, hot and scared.
I could sometimes hear noises and voices,
coming from another room.
I was sure someone would come for me.
My Mom or My Dad or someone.
I saw the sun come up and go back down many times,
but still no one came.
I felt pain but could not make it go away.
I cried myself to sleep again
And when I woke up I was here.
______
My Mom and Dad would fight alot.
I love them but they were always mad at me.
They would yell alot and hit me.
I would sit in the corner of my room and cry.
I wished they would love me like I love them,
and not be so mad anymore.
One day they were fighting again
And they just started hitting me again and again.
I cried and pleaded with them to stop,
But they just kept hitting me and kicking me,
until I went to sleep.
And then I came here.
______
I didn't have a Mom or Dad.
I was in a foster home.
They seemed nice at first,
and when other people were around,
but then they changed.
They would hit me and burn me all over with ciggarettes.
They would make me do things that made me feel sick inside.
If I would cry or ask them to stop it would be worse.
One day they came and I felt something hit me
really hard in my head, everything got dark,
And then really light, and I was here.
_______
I was walking home from school one day.
A car pulled up beside me.
A man got out, he seemed really nice,
but then he grabbed me and put me in the car.
I was crying and screaming, but no one heard me.
I begged the man to please let me go home.
I told him I wanted my Mommy and my Daddy.
He told me to shut up and then he hit me.
When I woke up I was in a house
I've never seen before.
There were other kids there.
We were tied up and had tape over our mouths.
One at a time they took them and I never saw them again.
Then they came for me.
I cried, I screamed, but no help came.
I did my best to fight and try to get away
but they were to big and to mean.
They threw me down and after a while
the pain was to much, and I guess I passed out.
Then I woke up here.
________
I was in my village and it was really hot.
I hadn't eaten in a long time.
There was very little food and
the only water we had to drink,
was dirty water that the animals would bathe in.
We had nothing really, only each other.
My mom loved me and did her best
but she was weak too.
I remember she was holding me in her arms,
and I felt a strange feeling I never felt before.
Almost like being really tired.
I fell asleep and I woke up here.
_______
I was taken from my family when I was nine.
I had to go live with soldiers in a camp.
They taught me how to fight,
how to shoot a gun and use a knife.
They would beat me severely,
and if I would cry, they would beat me even worse.
One day we were fighting,
I could hear the sound of guns firing everywhere.
I felt something hit me.
It felt hot and sharp.
I felt my chest and saw the blood on my hand.
I knew it was my own.
I fell to the ground and the sounds of the guns began to fade,
I closed my eyes and woke up here.
___
I was shot too.
Me too.
I was stabbed.
I was thrown away.
I was beaten.
I was kidnapped.
I was raped.
I was starved.
I was killed by a drunk driver.
I was drowned,
but we are all here together now.
It is beautiful here and God said that no one will ever hurt us again.
God said he'll take those bad memories away
and we can stay here forever.
We'll even get to see the people that love us again one day.
We are home now.
KEP August 1, 2008
( FOR THE CHILDREN )