Salvar a los Niños Soldados: La Historia del Misionero Chema Caballero en Sierra Leona

by Gervasio Sánchez

El misionero Jose Maria (Chema) Caballero dirige desde abril de 1999 en Sierra Leona, el pais mas pobre de la tierra segun la ONU, un centro de acogida, rehabilitacion y reinsercion social de antiguos ninos y ninas soldados. Este programa de integracion social es pionero en su genero y modelico por los exitos que consigue. El libro describe con fuerza periodistica y rigor informativo el cruel padecimiento de estos ninos que, secuestrados por los grupos guerrilleros que asolan y saquean el pais, son utilizados por estas guerrillas para diferentes y tragicas funciones. DEsde servir de "escudos humanos" hasta espiar a facciones rivales, estos ninos tambien han participado directamente en amputaciones, castraciones, asesinatos, ciolaciones y cuantas barbaridades se cometen en tiempos de guerra. Las ninas secuestradas, casi en su totalidad, han sido utilizadas como esclavas sexuales por los oficiales y los comandantes guerrilleros.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 2004

About the author

Gervasio Sánchez was born in Córdoba in august 1959 and he is currently living in Zaragoza, since the eighties.

He was graduated in Journalism from the Universidad Autónoma of Barcelona, Department of Media Studies, in 1984.

Since then he has been working as a freelance journalist for several newspapers and magazines, becoming specialised in armed conflicts.

Since 1984 to 1992, he covered most of the armed conflict ocurred in Latin America. Since 1988 Gervasio Sánchez has been working for the newspaper "Heraldo de Aragón", and has become it's special correspondent based in diverse countries with war conflicts: Gulf War, the former Yugoslavia, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He also contributes with both radio stations Cadena SER and the spanish team of the BBC since 1994, with the magazine of "La Vanguardia" newspaper, and with the "Tiempo" magazine since 2000. In december 1994 he published his latest photographic project called "Mined Lives", showing the impact of the anti-personnel mines over the civil population in the most mined countries over the world: Afganistan, Angola and Cambodia, concluding in 1997 with a book and an exhibition of its result.

This project was carried out by the non-governmental organizations "Manos Unidas", "Médicos Sin Fronteras" and "Intermón".

In november 1999, he published his photographic book "Kosovo, chronicle of deportation" (published by Blume) and in february 2000 "Children of War", which summarice his work over more than fifteen armed coflicts, during the last decade of the XX century.

In may 2001, he published "The Caravan of Death: Pinochet's Victims" (Blume).

In december 2002 he published "Five years after: Mined Lives" (Blume)