Former child soldier speaks at South Campus
Best-selling author Ishmael Beah shares his inspirational story with hundreds
Leah Arnold
Issue date: 3/10/09 Section: News
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On March 4, a crowd gathered at the South Campus Wilson Center to hear Beah speak about his experiences. Overflow seating was needed outside the auditorium to accommodate the hundreds of people who attended the event.
Beah recounted his heart-wrenching journey from horror to hope with both humor and insight.
Growing up in Sierra Leone, Beah was involved in his community, attended school, and developed an affinity for Shakespeare. He recalled hearing about war in distant lands, but never believed it would affect his community. After the war reached his home when he was 12 years old, he said that "everything I knew changed tremendously."
In his best-selling book, A Long Way Gone, Beah recounts the details of the indescribable violence, forced drug addictions, and brainwashing that he endured during his two-and-a-half year experience as a child soldier. During his presentation at FCCJ, he talked about some of these evils and how deeply they impacted him.
"It became kill or be killed," he said of his time as a child soldier. "We learned not to cry."
Fortunately, Beah was rescued by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and placed in a rehabilitation center in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He spoke of the enormous struggle he went through while trying to regain his humanity. He credits the rehabilitation workers with being "very persistent," saying that most of them kept coming back to help the former child soldiers despite the trouble they went through.
Afterwards, Beah went to live with his uncle. A stroke of good fortune put him on a plane to New York City, where he spoke to the UN on behalf of the children in Sierra Leone. The audience laughed as he talked about his first time seeing snow and his fascination with hot running water in the hotel shower.
While in New York, Beah became friends with Laura Simms, a professional storyteller he met at the UN conference. He kept in touch with her after his return to Sierra Leone, and after more violent incidents and the death of his uncle, he called her and asked if he could stay with her.