1. Ishmael Beah’s Story

2. Sierra Leone size: 27,699 sq miles
languages: English, Krio (Creole language),
and a range of African languages
religions: Islam, indigenous beliefs, Christianity
life expectancy: 39 yrs (M), 42 yrs (F)
exports: diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish

3. Political Background Sierra Leone, West Africa 1787 British Colony
Freetown, capital
refuge for freed slaves
1961 independence
1968 Conflict
corruption & unrest
fraudulent elections
1996 Election
President A.T. Kabbah
Revolutionary United Front (RUF)
did not acknowledge
1997 Military Coup
to restore Kabbah
1998 United Nations Security Council
UN involvement
peace keeping role
,500 UN Military Personnel

4. Factors Leading to Civil War in Sierra Leone
Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire)
civil war to oust dictator
bloodbath over resources
timber
copper
gold
diamonds
RUF (Revolutionary United Front)
liberation army
former corporal, Foday Sankoh
Sierra Leone diamond mines
to capital, Freetown
Civil War

5. Child Soldier at War Age 12 Age 13
rebels to Beah’s small town
separated from parents
fled with a group of boys
wandered village to village
barely surviving
reached Atlantic Ocean
recruited into Sierra Leone Army
Age 13
received his first AK-47
trained to kill
“We walked around the village and killed everyone who came out of the houses and huts.”
— Beah

6. A New Life Age 15 US immigrant 2004 rescued by UNICEF fieldworkers
rehabilitation center in Freetown
psychological counseling
health care
recovery from addiction & trauma
US immigrant
UN International School N.Y.
UN address: plight of child soldiers
2004
graduated from Oberlin College, OH

7. Beah Today advocate for former child soldiers author: A Long Way Gone
New York City resident
26 years old

8. Beah at Oberlin College, OH
“After having survived that war, I know what it feels like to suffer, to lose family,
to lose my humanity and regain it… [R]emembering, however difficult, is a small
price to pay to expose the continuous and rampant use of children in war.”
— Phillyist.com interview, 8 Mar 2007)

9. The End

10. Play Video Clip Visit Website Film Synopsis
Refugee All-Stars
Play Video Clip Visit Website Film Synopsis