Rock musician Wolfgang Niedecken talks about support for former child soldiers

Wolfgang Niedecken is one of the co-founders of a development aid project called Rebound. It aims to give young war victims a second chance and currently supports boys and girls at two locations in Eastern Congo. Niedecken has been honoured with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his work.

Mr Niedecken, for many years now you have supported the relief operation called Gemeinsam für Afrika. What made you decide to campaign especially on behalf of former child soldiers with the Rebound project?

In 2004, my first trip with Gemeinsam für Afrika took me to the northern part of Uganda, which was then a civil war zone. What I saw there gave me sleepless nights. It was like a nightmare. I repeatedly heard how children had been abducted and drilled to act as child soldiers. They were then sent back to their villages and forced to kill relatives. Afterwards the path back to their families was closed for ever. It was unbelievable. We visited a reception centre that had been set up by the World Vision relief organisation. It took in children who had survived the fighting. But everything was very basic – for example, there were no trained psychologists. Friends and I then said we had to do something for these children – after all, they are innocent children who have experienced terrible things. That’s how we came to found the Rebound project, which is administered by World Vision.

In concrete terms, how does Rebound work?

The primary goal is to help children in civil-war countries – the correct term is “war-affected youth”. They are offered psychological support and instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic. They receive the opportunity to learn a trade so that they can become reintegrated in society. That is difficult enough. Nevertheless, what we do is meaningful.

Is there more public awareness of the issue of child soldiers in Germany today than there was ten years ago?

The subject keeps attracting interest every now and again, but it doesn’t really receive constant media attention. It’s a topic that makes people reach for the remote control or turn the page. But we need support – also financial support.

How is Rebound financed?

Initially, Jack Wolfskin, the German outdoor and sports equipment company, donated the lion’s share of funding. But Manfred Hell is no longer Jack Wolfskin CEO and the new people didn’t extend the contract – which they were entitled to do. That’s why as a band we are now doing a lot with our fans. BAP has become a world champion in auction sales for Rebound. On our tours we always have a stand focusing on this subject. Our fans are very active and support us in this. We also have a song, “Noh Gulu”, about child soldiers. We are also fortunate that RTL, the German TV station, collected money for Rebound as part of a telethon, and for the time being it is enough for the next project. But I’m constantly on the lookout for other sponsors.

After beginning in Uganda, the main emphasis of your work has now shifted to Eastern Congo. Why?

There is no longer a civil war in Uganda, and it makes no sense to do the work of the education ministry there. The situation in Eastern Congo, on the other hand, is very different – anarchy reigns there. Our involvement always has to be very carefully considered and adapted to local developments. Corruption is often a problem, even in emergency situations. But that cannot be accepted as an excuse. We can’t say: children, you first have to get corruption under control and then we’ll help you. That would be quixotic.

As an artist you have always been involved...

You have to do what you believe is right. I can’t look inside people’s heads and know why one colleague will take part in a charity campaign and another won’t. I know what goes on in my head and there are simply issues on which I consider it a privilege to be able to change something, to make something better. And even if that is only for a few people. I do not imagine that I can eliminate the problem of child soldiers. But I can make a future possible for up to 100 children with our nine-month courses. They also include girls who were separated from their families in the chaos of war and were forced into prostitution because they had no other way of feeding themselves. I have two daughters myself; I see my own children before me in all these children.

What are the future plans for Rebound?

That depends on the money. A centre like this, which we keep open for three years, costs between 200,000 and 300,000 euros. You can’t pay that out of the petty cash, however many auctions BAP performs. I would like to see the coltan-processing industry make a substantial contribution. After all, they make a tidy profit by extracting raw materials from the rare metallic ore mined in Eastern Congo. But I can talk about that until I’m blue in the face.

International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers on 12 February

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