Hookie Day with Ishmael Beah

Last week, I was given two great privileges in one day. One, I got to hear Ishmael Beah speak and two, I was allowed to miss school for the opportunity. Woo Hoo! 

 

Who is Ishmael Beah, you ask?

Let me tell you his story and why I believe it’s important for you to know what happened to him. 

Ishmael Beah is a former child soldier from Sierra Leone who wrote an autobiography about his life in war and how he escaped.

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Gone-Memoirs-Soldier/dp/0374531269/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336956871&sr=1-1

            Ishmael Beah was just an ordinary child in the country of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is located in West Africa, south of Senegal. Ishmael had a regular life with friends, family, school (he even learned some Shakespeare), and he loved American hip-hop. Ishmael even said "My life before the war was very simple but very happy, very peaceful, beautiful, and the people were incredibly kind and nice. I didn't fear anything, anything, nothing at all".

West Africa; Senegal (where I visited last Summer) is North of Sierra Leone

            When Ishmael was just twelve years old, the civil war was brought to the small town in which he lived. Both of his parents were killed as well as his only two brothers. He escaped with a group of boys, forced to survive and hide from the rebels in the country. When Ishmael and his young friends went to seek help in neighboring villages, people didn’t want to help them because children were not trusted; children could be brutal soldiers.  

A Child Soldier

Adults no longer saw these young children as innocent little faces, but monsters hired by the government to kill. Looking for shelter and protection, Ishmael found and army base.  Once there, he was forced to fight for the government against the rebels in return for food and safety.

            The army used drugs to brainwash these children so they would follow orders to kill. The drugs fueled the children’s rage and hatred against the rebels who murdered their families, and gave them energy to keep fighting. The commanders of the army became father figures to the children who had lost everything.

Courageous field workers from UNICEF risked their lives to negotiate with the warlords and request children be freed. Sometimes the commanders would comply, BUT only to boys, girls were kept for sexual exploitation, and to help cook and clean.

Former Child Soldier studying at a UNICEF Relief Camp

            Ishmael was freed by UNICEF at fifteen years old. He went through 8 months of rehabilitation, psychotherapy and schooling. When he was sixteen he was lucky enough to travel to NY to speak at the UN about child soldiers. There, he met a woman who eventually became his “new mother” and he ended up fleeing Sierra Leone and moving in with her.

Laura Simms, Beah's Adopted Mother

I’m telling this story because I think people should pay more attention to the problem of child soldiers in the world. Hundreds of thousands of child soldiers exist around the world today and we can help make a difference. The children of the world are the future leaders and citizens of tomorrow. Please share this story and support organizations, like Ishmaels, who are helping children in war torn countries. : http://www.beahfound.org/Beah_Foundation/Donate.html )

or

https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=8060&8060.donation=form1

Ishmael Beah and I

If you have any questions, ask me in the comments area and I will get back to you as soon as I can. 

And, If you would like a chance to win a signed copy of Ishmael's memoirs, leave a comment about this post and I will randomly choose one lucky winner by Friday May 18th.




Thanks everyone.
Emmanuel