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Ishmael Beah, born in Sierra Leone in 1980, was drafted into the Sierra Leonean civil war at the age of thirteen. From tht age on, he was forced to carry out terrible acts, which at the time he believed were done in the name of his family. UNICEF’s rehabilitation program relocated Beah to New York in 1998 where he studied at the UN International School of NY and eventually went to Oberlin College where he earned a bachelor’s in political science. Since then, he has spoken before the UN, Council on Foreign Relations, CETO, Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, and several NGO panels on children affected by the war. Today, Ishmael is the president of the Ishmael Beah Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping children affected by war reintegrate into society. Beah also is part of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division, the Center for the Study of Youth and Political Violence, a Co-Founder of TheNetwork for Young People Affected by War, a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Genocide, Conflict Resolution, and Human Rights, and a UNICEF ambassador. All of these things are done in the name of helping children walking the same road he walked all those years ago during the war.

http://www.beahfound.org/

http://www.alongwaygone.com/

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Personal Response to A Long Way Gone - Lanna Read

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Personal Response to A Long Way Gone - Lanna Read

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A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is an inspiring novel that I genuinely enjoyed reading, even though it was a school assigned book. This heart-wrenching story of a child my age being made to do things I could only imagine in my worst nightmares drove me close to tears on a several occasions. Just picturing the terrible scenes depicted in the novel hurt me; I can hardly imagine what actually living through these events would be like. This memoir really made me consider the privileges of being born in America and not having to look death and torture in the face each and every day. We live a privileged life, being able to read about the terrible acts going on all over the world as a mere source of entertainment. Novels like this need to serve not only as ways to educate us on world events but also to inspire us to do something about them. Simple things like donating money to good causes and spreading the word about what you’ve learned can go a long way. This book has great changed my perspective on child soldiers. I no longer see them as violent kids taking advantage of the situation around them but as poor children dragged into the problems of others and forced to commit heinous crimes against themselves, their families, their communities, and everything they used to believe in. I’m very grateful to have had my eyes opened by Ishmael Beah’s story and plan to read many more like it.

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Malaria, “one of the leading causes of death among children in sub-Saharan Africa,” is addressed in the article Malaria vaccine RTS,S can have significant health impact, says study by Narayani Anand. The effects of a new malaria vaccine, RTS,S, are being studied in Africa and the numbers are looking good. The implementation of this vaccine alongside other malaria control interventions in places that show 10 to 65 percent prevalence of malaria could result in 6 to 29 percent of malaria deaths in children five years of age and under being averted. On top of that, its cost-effectiveness aligns with other recently introduced childhood vaccines. These countries, which account for “80 percent of malaria cases and 78 percent malaria deaths, globally” could greatly benefit from the use of this vaccine and vaccines like it.

http://www.ibtimes.com.au/malaria-vaccine-rtss-can-have-significant-health-impact-says-study-1481709

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Memoirs are a very important style of writing because they provide a reader with more than just the facts of a situation. They show a reader the personal emotions that go along with experiencing something terrible and provide a window into how that situation would affect them. In other forms of writing, there is no personal connection between the author and reader. In books like Night, by Elie Wiesel, the author is able to answer questions he knows the readers will have. Many memoirs, such as A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, have had some controversy over the facts of the story and whether or not they are true or false. The article The Fog of Memoir by Gabriel Sherman addresses the topic of Beah being criticized for having possibly embellished the facts of his story to make more money or draw more attention to himself. I believe that an author deserves the poetic license to embellish their story only if in the name of pushing more people to care about the topic being addressed. The line must be drawn at doing this in the name of money, an act that only belittles the author’s struggles by turning them into schemes. If adding a few details that make the story more of a page-turner influences more awareness in readers, why not? Certainly, Ishmael Beah, evident in his activeness in organizations like UNICEF, continues to work toward the reintegration of children displaced by war and if his novel drove more people to do the same, where is the harm?

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2008/03/the_fog_of_memoir.html

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In the article, Life after death: Helping former child soldiers become whole again, written by the Harvard School of Public Health in Fall of 2011, the problem of reintegrating former child soldiers into society is addressed. Today, between 300,000 and 500,000 children are involved with fighting forces. For these children, the sorrow doesn’t end with the war. Former child soldiers suffer from “nightmares, intense sadness, intrusive thoughts, and recurring violent images” among other mental health problems. They are labeled as outsiders that can’t be trusted and are blamed for their actions, forcing feelings of guilt and shame and isolation from their communities. These children should not be blamed for the crimes they committed during the war. They were forced into it under punishment of death and in most cases drugged to “curb their inhibitions against committing violence.” The actions of child soldiers are anything but their own fault.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/child-soldiers-betancourt/

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The novel A Long Way Gone is a very touching and an inspiring book. While reading this book I felt very attached to the main character, Ishmael Beah. He was a young boy who had become a child soldier after losing his family. I assume the reason I had become so fascinated by his story was because he was my age. Most adults reading this book definitely would feel bad for him, but I think I felt a sense of shock; I couldn't believe that someone at the age of 14 or 15 had become, basically, a mass murderer. It made think about how different these countries, America and Africa, are. Here I was reading this book thinking "Wow. That's terrible" and on the other side of the world children the same age as me were actually living this "story". Granted this specific occurrence took place about 20 years before I had read it, but the events are still happening to this very day. Reading this book has changed my perspective on many things. It makes me realize how very fortunate we are, as Americans, to be able to live in a place where becoming a child soldier is not an option. In the book Beah says he had to learn to shoot a gun in one day and used it to kill people the next. After reading this, I had a newfound respect for the children in Africa. All the things these children have seen and done before the age of 12 is more courageous and heartbreaking than anything I could every do.

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(SW)

Memoirs are an important, if not the most important, types of writing. It gives the reader insight on things happening in the world and first-hand accounts of the events taking place. In memoirs, unlike in other stories, the reader can almost be put into place of the characters. Memoirs are first person, so when the audience reads the words "I" or "we" they become attached to the story. Some argue that memoirs are not a plausible explanation of history. Critics say that events are dramatized and give exaggerated versions of the past. Examples in the novel A Long Way Gone are the dates Beah claims to remember. The journalists who wrote "The Fog of Memoir" claim that rebels took over Sierra Leone in 1995 not in 1993 like Beah accounts in his novel. In my opinion, getting dates wrong is not a valuable reason to distrust an author. In time of war and distress there is no possible way that anyone is expected to remember events exactly the way they happened. Some argue that authors specifically tell fake stories to make their writings sound better, or more interesting. Even if this was true, and in some cases it is, authors have a story to tell. If that story is modified slightly to change the perspective of the reader than I think it was well worth it. People usually don't realize what's happening in the world and if an adapted depiction of a serious event gets them to at least worry about the chaos in other countries the author has done his job.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34776109/thirty-years-of-talking-about-famine-in-ethiopia---whys-nothing-changed

In this article they discuss the facts of the famine in Ethiopia over the last 30 years. It starts with a quote from an Ethiopian official saying "There will not be famine of any sort, let alone anything remotely like the magnitude of that of 1984." This gave hope to the people of Ethiopia and to the people around the world. In 1984 many famous musicians, like Bob Geldof, joined together and formed Band Aid. As Band Aid they wrote a song called "Do They Know It's Christmas?”-the single raised over millions of dollars and billions of supporters. In only a couple of weeks aid started to reach Ethiopia. Overall a million people have died of famine and the area has dealt with famine in years since, but overall the country is healthier than it was 30 years ago.

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Just months ago, the signing of a U.S.-backed peace deal provided a road map to end South Sudan's brutal civil war. But the conflict has raged on - and aid agencies say even more child soldiers are being drawn into the fighting.

About 16,000 children have been recruited by government and rebel forces since the war here began in 2013, according to the United Nations. They are foot soldiers and cooks and cleaners, boys and girls as young as 9. Many were taken from their homes and schools and forced onto the battlefield.

"We've seen huge increases in these violations throughout the entire year," said Ettie Higgins, the UNICEF deputy representative in South Sudan.

In the rare instances when children have been released, UNICEF officials report treating boys with bullet wounds and deep psychological scars. Scores have lost track of their families.

When leaders of the South Sudanese government and the rebels signed the peace agreement in August, both sides claimed they had stopped using child soldiers. But the cease-fire was immediately and repeatedly violated. Thousands of children were still on the battlefield, Western officials said.

[Leaders sign deal to end South Sudan's civil war, but challenges loom]

The United States this year named South Sudan as one of eight countries that violated the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008. That would normally cause U.S. military aid to be blocked. But President Obama issued a partial waiver.

"The way the United States government has ignored the intent of the Child Soldier Prevention Act throws into question our commitment as a country to keep children safe," said Jessica Bousquette, the policy adviser for child protection at World Vision International, a U.S.-based Christian humanitarian organization. "The administration says it does not condone the use of children as soldiers, yet it continues to provide military assistance to countries, like South Sudan, who we know are recruiting or using child soldiers."

U.S. officials counter that the bulk of the approved funding goes toward monitoring the cease-fire through a regional force that includes South Sudanese military officials. The U.S. government helped shepherd South Sudan through its independence from Sudan in 2011 and has spent billions on the country's development.

The civil war began primarily over a split between President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and former vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer, but devolved into a conflict between the ethnic groups.

In much of the country, the war has been unrelenting, with tens of thousands killed and civilian adults and children targeted. U.N. officials reported in June that attackers in northern Unity state had castrated boys and left them to bleed to death, and raped and killed young girls. Last month, a report from the African Union said that security forces, which are dominated by the Dinkas, had forced Nuers to eat the flesh and drink the blood of dead bodies.

The use of child soldiers is made possible, experts say, by the chaos that has enveloped the country. About 1,100 schools have been shuttered, according to UNICEF. Some of the commanders have only loose ties to the central government or rebel leadership. Thousands of people are on the brink of famine.

While many children are abducted and sent to fight, others choose to join armed groups after losing their relatives or shelter.

[8 countries where children are still forced to fight wars]

"The simple fact is that if you don't have food and you don't have family, fighting becomes an option," said Perry Mansfield, World Vision's South Sudan country director.

The history of child combatants in southern Sudan goes back decades, to the region's protracted war against Sudan's central government, during which both sides used children on the front lines.

By 2005, when a peace agreement was signed by the central government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army, the bulk of southern Sudan's child soldiers, estimated at more than 10,000, had been disarmed.

Then, in late 2013, two years after independence, the world's newest country was again riven by war. And again, children were heavily recruited. By last November, there were 12,000 youths fighting on both sides, according to UNICEF. One rebel force, dubbed the White Army, is thought to have sent hundreds or even thousands of children into battle, according to reports from the United Nations and aid groups.

Some commanders say that in South Sudanese culture, boys are considered mature enough to fight. The country's child protection law, however, says that only those 18 and older can join the military.

It has been "hard for cultural leaders in the communities to transition to constitutional law," said Pete Walsh, the country director for Save the Children.

Walsh recently returned from a South Sudanese prison where he saw adults detained along with children as young as 4. Young people are often held on nebulous accusations or no charges at all, he said.

"There's an utter failure by commanders on both sides to put in any pretense of protection of civilians," said Skye Wheeler, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, which will release a report on child soldiers in South Sudan next month.

Wheeler recently interviewed children who were among a group of about 300 who had been abducted by rebels from a school in Unity state, forced into trucks, handed weapons and driven to the front line.

"It's absolutely brutal forced recruitment," Wheeler said.

In Malakal, in Upper Nile state, children were taken by force from outside a U.N. compound by recruiters working for South Sudanese government forces, Human Rights Watch reported in February.

Early this year, about 1,800 children were released from one armed faction in the eastern county of Pibor, in a series of ceremonies held by UNICEF. Many had never been to school.

The government of South Sudan has a program devoted to the disarmament of children that was involved in the release in Pibor. But officials see dim prospects for more such ceremonies, as commanders appear unmoved by their pleas to free the child fighters. Many aid workers and researchers say they worry that children who are released will be abducted by another armed faction.

"Their villages are destroyed. There is no school. Many children think it's better just to be in the army," said Oluku Andrew Holt, the head of the child disarmament program.

Although the warring parties say they want peace, the deal that many foreign observers hoped would end the war seems to be failing. The United Nations reported this month that both sides are stockpiling weapons, in violation of the cease-fire and with an eye, it would seem, to extending the conflict.

Read more

From Indiana to South Sudan: An immigrant's wrenching journey home

South Sudan report shows war's horror: People were 'forced to eat other humans'

South Sudan's president warned journalists they could be slain. Four days later, one was.

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South Sudan thought it solved its child soldier problem. It hasn't.

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Just months ago, the signing of a U.S.-backed peace deal provided a road map to end South Sudan's brutal civil war. But the conflict has raged on - and aid agencies say even more child soldiers are being drawn into the fighting.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/south-sudan-thought-it-had-solved-its-child-soldier-problem-it-hasnt/2015/11/12/dc52fe42-8488-11e5-8bd2-680fff868306_story.html

This article addresses child soldiers specifically in South Sudan. It talks about the young girls and boys who are forced to become child soldiers because they were "taken from their homes and schools and forced onto the battlefield." It is estimated that the government and rebel forces have recruited about 16,000 children since this war began in 2013. After war is over or "if in rare cases these children are released” children can be left with psychological effects. Many boys and girls have lost their families and have witnessed or contributed to murder and abuse. Because of this and because of chaos in the country, children should not be punished for war crimes. Their instinct to survive was stronger than common sense and in this case should be expected.

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Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone and at the age of only 13 was selected to fight in war. After many gruesome years of war UNICEF helped him in rehabilitation. Ishmael, being born in Sierra Leone were he was once subjected to being a child soldier, is now apart of many organizations that give refuge and relief to children who are in the same situations as he once was as a kid. He is now an ambassador for UNICEF, and is apart of many other organizations helping kids in war, including the Children Affected by War program. To this day Beah has helped over 150 kids and still continues to help children daily. Ishmael Beah is the not the same man he was forced to be years ago. He has dedicated his new life to helping others and following in the footsteps of the people who have helped him.