Former child soldier launches memoirs in UN effort to curb use of children in war
The first-hand account of a Sierra Leonean child soldiers odyssey from three years of vicious fighting, via a UN-supported rehabilitation centre, to a prestigious United States university has joined the arsenal of weapons the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is mustering to fight a scourge (svøbe) that at present entraps some 250.000 youngsters.
“A Long Way Gone”, a memoir by Ishmael Beah, was launched at UNICEF headquarters in New York Friday just days after the agency sponsored an international meeting in Paris at which 59 countries committed themselves to putting an end to the unlawful recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts wherever they occur.
In his book Mr. Beah, now 26, recounts the tortuous (snoede) and torturous (pinefulde) journey that took him from the searing (brændende/tørre) and brutal battlefields of civil war in his homeland, where fighters, even child soldiers, cut off the hands or feet of their foes, through a UNICEF-backed rehabilitation centre, to the calm and serene halls of academe at Oberlin College, Ohio, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2004. He currently lives in New York.
He tells how children, traumatized, hopped-up (gejlet op) on drugs and wielding AK-47s have become the soldiers of choice, how as a 12-year-old he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence, how at age 13 he had been picked up by the government army and found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.
At age 16, he was removed from fighting by UNICEF, and through the help of the staff at his rehabilitation centre he learned how to forgive himself, to regain his humanity and, finally, to heal in a story of redemption (udfrielse) and hope.
– Terrible things happen to children, but children are also resilient (robuste), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict said at the book launch, adding: – They need encouragement, guidance and support; and with the proper care they can become outstanding members of society.
Radhika Coomaraswamy called Mr. Beah a “perfect example” of this, adding:
– His moving piece (værk), painful in parts, is full of wisdom and understanding, pointing to the fact that children can heal, and when they do they can become a beacon of light for all of us. It is our duty to assist them and learn from them.
Kilde: FNs nyhedstjeneste
