Shine A Light Team

Aida Ramos, Charles Essie Okoko, Christian Farin, Irena Kotarska, Khalid Ahmad, Liora Engel-Smith, Molombe Sammah Mbua, Nicolas López, Rania Zabaneh, Sabine Juli, Sara Gomes, Sathish Kumar, Snezana Andric, Yomna Yasse
 

"Life’s Roulette" is a motion picture written, acted and filmed by Colombian ex-child soldiers in collaboration with the NGO Shine A Light. A team of thirteen online volunteers translated the film into nine languages, including Pashto, Tamil, Serbian, Arabic and Hebrew. Today, hundreds of NGOs worldwide are using the film in their peace building work.

In addition to subtitling the film, trailer and a documentary in which the young filmmakers describe the film’s production and impact on their lives, the volunteers translated online instructions on its use. The film was shown at almost a dozen film festivals around the globe and 1,000 copies were sent to organizations working with former child soldiers in several conflict zones of the world. This enabled them to use the film in their work, but also to learn about Shine A Light’s approach of teaching these children on the use of video to fictionalize their stories, helping them to reflect on their past and project themselves into a new future. “Without the volunteers, we might have reached child soldiers in Colombia, but with the help of these volunteers, we could also reach programs in Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq, Francophone Africa and Sri Lanka, amongst others. Shine A Light exists to transform local innovations into global solutions, something we could do thanks to these volunteers,” says Kurt Shaw, the organization’s director.

Khalid Ahmad, native of Afghanistan / living in U.K.: "For more than 10 years, I had worked for UNICEF and other international aid organizations in Afghanistan to educate children. I personally saw young kids of 15 to 17 years carrying guns, without even knowing the purpose of carrying a gun. From that point, I committed to seizing every opportunity and doing something against violence and keeping children away from it. I believe as a result of our collaboration, this project will have a great impact on the lives of street children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and will prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists."

Irena Kotarska, Serbia: "I had previously been involved in various projects that had the goal of furthering reconciliation of youth in post-conflict society, and I was happy to be a part of this project that will have a positive impact on many young lives and future decisions they will make."

Liora Engel-Smith, native of Israel / living in U.S.A.: "I was determined to make a difference in the world. Being Israeli, I had my share of wars, and as a pacifist, I hope the movie will help the peace movement in Israel."