Had Mohammed and Meshach met seven years ago, they would have tried to kill each other. Both were child soldiers in Sierra Leone's brutal civil war. Mary Fitzgeraldwrites from Freetown.
At the age of nine Mohammed was forced to join the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels at gunpoint by the same people that killed his mother and two sisters. Meshach fought for the pro-government Kamajor militia.
Now they are friends. "We both spent our childhood in the bush fighting. That creates a bond of understanding," says Meshach. "Even if we were on opposing sides, our experiences were very similar."
The two youths compare their indigo-stained fingers - proof they voted in Saturday's landmark presidential and parliamentary elections - the first since international peacekeepers left Sierra Leone two years ago. Like millions of Sierra Leoneans, Mohammed and Meshach queued for hours in the sticky heat of the rainy season to cast their votes. The issues that drove them to the polls are for the most part the ones that ensure this war-ravaged corner of West Africa remains the world's second least developed country - poverty, corruption and a chronic shortage of basic amenities.
Most people earn less than a euro a day and unemployment is rife. "There is nothing for us, no work," says Meshach, who is studying literature and linguistics. "Even with an education, there are no opportunities and no one seems to care."
Mohammed has not been so lucky. Having lost his childhood to the war, the best he hopes for is a job as a driver but says no one wants to employ him. He sleeps on the floors of friends' homes. "What kind of future do I have?" he asks.
The two parties they voted for - the opposition All People's Congress and the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party - now appear locked in a tight race for the presidency, with early results so close that observers expect a run-off to be held next month.
The votes of disaffected young Sierra Leoneans like Mohammed and Meshach will prove pivotal - more than half the country's 2.6 million registered voters are under 32. "We need a change," says Meshach. "Everyone wants a better life here but who knows how long that will take."