Emmanuel Jal - Former Child Soldier Turned Rapper

From Reuters:

Sudanese child soldier turned global hip hop star Emmanuel Jal has both embraced rap as a way to reach a global audience and distanced himself from what he says is a tendency to glorify violence. Jal, who fought with the Sudan People's Liberation Army for five years as a child and guesses he is 28 years old, tells his story in detail in the documentary "War Child."

For Jal, who now lives in London, music is a form of therapy that allows him to sort through feelings of guilt while serving as a role model for child victims of war.

He has set up the Gua Africa charity and is planning to build a school in Leer, his village in southern Sudan.