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KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - At 12, Lucy Aol was clutching an assault rifle and preparing to ambush government soldiers. At 13, a rebel commander a decade older made her his wife. At 16, she was a mother.
At 21, fresh-faced and beaming in a clean T-shirt and neatly braided hair, Aol is studying environmental health at college in Uganda's capital, and planning to use her knowledge to improve the health of her war-battered nation.
Aol has made a remarkable journey from child soldier to young woman with a future, but millions of children across Africa continue to be victims of war — orphaned, forced from their homes, denied education and, like Aol, forced to fight in the conflicts waged by their elders.
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