Peter* holds a fragile, week-old baby pigeon in his hands. He’s been looking after it since it hatched, and he’s incredibly proud. “I am used to handling pigeons,” he says. “I can handle with care.”
This gentle, smiling 14-year-old loves school, especially maths, drama and drawing. But just a year go, Peter* was living as a child soldier with an armed group in South Sudan. “They gave us weapons for shooting,” he says. “They were teaching us skills – how to hide ourselves or run.”
It was Peter’s belief in education that gave him the strength to escape – he fled to Uganda in the hope of going back to school. Now he’s learning again, Peter has big ambitions for both himself and his country: “When I finish my studies and graduate, I want to become the President of the Republic of South Sudan.»