- Read the prompt carefully noticing all requirements for the entry.
- Plan your response in your journal first. Blog-only answers may not receive credit.
- Read existing posts before creating your own to avoid posting the same idea. If someone has already taken your idea, don't simply post it again. Instead, respond to the previous post, adding information, giving new examples, or expanding upon the idea.
PERSONAL RESPONSE: Beah is required to interview, conference or talk with people throughout these chapters – many who have no idea what he has been through. Imagine that you are Beah during one of these times. Identify the situation and your purpose for speaking. Then create a speech for Beah in this situation, imitating his style of speech and diction. Then, post the opening or all of your speech on the school’s Summer Assignment BLOG: http://crhs-summerreading.blogspot.com/. While blogs may seem informal, they require that you edit and revise before you PUBLISH. In your Journal, write the blog entry and revise it. Then, post the entry on the website on the English 10-Honors page.
Situation: The Interview for the U.N. Conference
ReplyDeleteIntroduction
I have lost many things because of this war: my home, my family, and my childhood. Though I tried to run from the war, it captured me and changed my way of thinking. I was taken from an innocent, yet troublesome boy to a monster. Now that I have been rehabilitated I hate this war more than ever before. Almost every night I am unwillingly subjected to horrific nightmares concerning my past; I do not trust many people; and I still wonder why I am the only surviver of my family and those that I knew when I was younger. Each of these burdens comes directly from fighting in the war.
- Gabby Gerlach
It’s the day of the interview and Beah is about to be interviewed. Beah has just been asked why he should go to United Nations to present the situation.
ReplyDelete“I feel I should go to the United Nations because I know more about the war than any other boy who has or will be interviewed. Not only have I had to run from the war but I also participated in it to survive. At one point in my life I was happy. That was before the war, which took my childhood memories and family from me. The struggle to survive and loneliness I endured while running from the war led me to the army. The army taught me to trust and pity no one. It was all about revenge, so killing became an everyday thing. The only way out of the army was rehabilitation for boys in the army that were my age. I was sent to rehabilitation and at first I was angry. After being in the army for so long they became my family. Being sent to rehabilitation was like losing my family all over again. After being in being rehabilitation for a long time I learned that it was the best thing for me. It taught me that everything I went through wasn’t my fault. This is why, based on the things I’ve experienced, I feel I have a better understanding of the war than the other boys here who could only tell you about the war from what they have heard. I lived it.”
Hello, my name is Ishmael. I was once a child soldier, I am not anymore. I have been rehabilitated. I am here talking to you today because I think that making children soldiers is unexceptable. Many kids join the army because they need food and it is the only way to be safe during such a time. The childhood is basically snatched from these children.They take drugs, use dangerous guns, and kill unsympathetically. I was very lucky to escape the war and survive. I did a lot of things that I regret, but I did them out of revenge for my family's lives. Thank you.
ReplyDelete"Hi my name is Ishmael Beah and I was a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Since I was a young boy I had heard about the war but these past few years I have lived it. Being a soldier is not fun and it teaches you how to kill without mercy. I lost my family and watched some of my friends get murdered by the people that had changed my life forever. Fear,Pain,and violence took my innocence from me but I don't want that to happen to other children in my country."
ReplyDeleteSituation: Speech for the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
ReplyDeletePurpose: To speak about Sierra Leone and Beah's experiences in the war.
Hi, my name is Ishmael Beah and I am from Sierra Leone. When I was just a child, I lost my family and found myself wandering alone through forests and burnt villages in the middle of a raging war. I needed food and shelter, but more importantly, I needed love. Finally, I had no other choice but to join the army. Many children face a similar problem; they join one side of the war simply because it is the only way to get food and be safe. But the army tore me apart and created a monster with the leftover pieces. I could only think about one thing: getting revenge on those who killed my family and my entire childhood. I have been rehabilitated now, and I am finally able to accept what happened to me and once again be a child. Unfortunately, most children are not as lucky as I was and do not make it to the end of this journey. I regret many things that I did to others during my time in the war, but I learned from my experiences and hope to help other children in the same situation. Please help me end this terrible future facing these children; please help give these children their innocence back. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Ishmael Beah from Sierra Leon and I’m here to talk about how the war has affected us children. Due to the war we have lost our homes, families, and have had to manage to survive on our own. I was eventually led to believe that is was my duty to avenge my family’s death, which was why I ended up joining the army. Joining the army was also the only way to survive because they provided us with food and shelter. I still remember my first fight. At first I was terrified but that changed once I lost two of my friends to the rebels. Before I knew it I was killing everyone I saw. That was the day my innocence as a child was stripped away from me and when I found out that I was capable of truly terrible acts. There is no reason to fear me now though. You can thank the UNICEF for that. They took me out of the war and placed me in a rehabilitation center. Like many other children, I was finally able to realize I had become a monster and eventually was able to forgive my self and heal. Despite this my past crimes will forever haunt me and images of death will remain etched into my mind for, the war has taken the joys of being a child away from me.
ReplyDeleteSituation: Beah is speaking in front of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
ReplyDeletePurpose: To speak about Beah’s experiences in he war.
Hello, my name is Ishmael Beah and I was a child soldier for more than two years during the Sierra Leone civil war. I was twelve when the RUF attacked and destroyed my village. I was in a neighboring town when the attack happened so I was separated from my family. Over the next several months I ran from the Rebels while I searched for my mother, father, and two brothers. I finally found the village that my family was in, but it was burnt to the ground minutes before I got there. Eventually I had to join the army because I wanted revenge against the Rebels that killed my family, and I would have starved if I didn’t. By the time I was taken out of the war by UNICEF, I was a drug-addicted killer who would give a high five to someone when they killed many people in a battle. But I have been rehabilitated, and I am speaking in front of you now so that we can raise awareness about child soldiers so that no more children will have to go through what I have. I have been robbed of my childhood, and I do not want that to happen any more.
Hello, my name is Ishmael Beah. When I was 14 years old, I came to find that my whole family, but me, was murdered. After this devastating event my heart sunk like a rock. So to avenge my family, I joined the army that was against the people who killed my family. i killed many men, women, and children, and i took many different drugs, and i was influenced by many war movies. I was very high ranked in my squad. Then one day, I was taken away from the war, and I relearned how to be a kid again. However, if i could do it all over again, i would never join the army , because the war has scarred me for life mentally and physically...
ReplyDeleteSituation-Speech in New York City for the UN(Introduction)
ReplyDeletePurpose-To teach others that children should not fight through the overwhelming situations in which Ishmael faced
Hello. My name is Ishmael. I am from Sierra Leone. I am here today to tell you exactly why children should not have to fight. I am personally able to tell you this because I was directly involved in the war in Sierra Leone. My family was killed by rebels, and I became a child soldier in the army. I killed many rebels who were trying to live just the same as I was, and all of my morals and values were lost. My childhood was ripped away from me. Memories used to constantly haunt me throughout the days after I was taken out of the war. Now, I have been rehabilitated, and I hope to teach everyone about the horrors that children like me have faced. I hope this speech will cause people to join me in stopping what destroyed my childhood and what may affect the lives of many others in the future. Thank you for your time.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSituation: Speech for the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
ReplyDeletePurpose: To speak about the war in Sierra Leone
The only way to know how war feels is to have experienced it firsthand, and that is why I was chosen to speak in front of you today. My name is Ishmael Beah and when I was 12 years old, the civil war infested my town in Sierra Leone and I was separated from my family. I traveled with a group of boys, who had lost their families as well, through deathly terrain with one hope, and that was to reunite with our families again someday. We began to realize that we couldn't go on living like this, so we joined the army. This was no better life. Although they provided shelter and food, we were exposed to marijuana, cocaine, death, and this time, we were the killers. After almost three years of fighting in a traumatizing war, a foundation called UNICEF brought me away from the war to a rehabilitation center where, after eight months, I was cured. Now I stand in front of you today, not for you to feel sorry for my childhood, but for you to take into account what is happening around the world, and to try to make a change. Thank you.
situation: Beah is speaking to diplomats during the Conference
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ishmael Beah. I am from Sierra Leone. The war in Sierra Leone affects children more than anyone else. When they lose their families they have nowhere to go and nothing to eat. I was one of these children. I found others like me and we wandered around in the forest for weeks with no real destination. We were found by the army into which we joined in order to have food and to be a part of something strong in those chaotic times. I wanted revenge on those who had killed my family and friends, and I got that chance in the army. I am not a soldier anymore, I have been rehabilitated, and now I am just a child with a dark past. I have learned that revenge spreads easily. If you take it, someone else wants it.
I am from the distraught Sierra Leon: My name is Ishmael Beah. I have come to you today to inform you about the atrocities happening in my home land, so that they may be recognized. I have seen horrors that no children or adults should see in their lifetime. I have gone through experiences in my life that have changed me; some good, mostly bad. The circumstances I have been given in my life have molded me to the person that I am today. However, I am not glad that these things have happened to me. I have learned to come to peace with my experiences, for they have built my strong character. Being a child soldier was the most difficult thing that I have ever had to go through in my life. I was forced to be ruthless and kill innocent people, who we were taught to believe were the enemy. My life is unique just like anyone else, I just hope that no one ever has to go through the pain I once did.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ismael Beah and as a child soldier in Sierra Leone I learned that innocent people are capable of doing terrible things. Although I have been rehabilitated and have learned to forgive myself, I will never forget the atrocities I committed. I joined the army because I had nowhere else to go and needed to avenge my family’s deaths. Because of this I was blind to the fact that I was accomplishing nothing- just destroying pointlessly. I cannot change my past actions but I have promised myself that I will try to better myself, and my country. I do not want the next generation of children in Sierra Leone to have to go through the same hardships I did.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Situation- Interviewing to speak at the UN Conference
ReplyDeletePurpose- To prove that Ishmael is a prime candidate to speak about the war in Sierra Leone
Hello. I was a child soldier in Sierra Leone. I deserve to speak at the UN Conference because unlike these city boys, I have endured and experienced war firsthand. As a soldier I committed barbaric acts that children should not be responsible for. Their day should consist of playing and chores, not brutality and guns. I know that this wasn’t my fault, but I know what I was robbed of as a result of the war. Children shouldn’t have to be in my place, and I would like to be a part of an organization that has the power to change their status as child soldiers. A chance to share my story would allow me to do this. Thank you for your time.
Hi, I am Ishmael Beah. I think I should speak at the UN Conference because I have lived the war. I was a child solider and I have under gone rehabilitation. I have lost many things because of the war my childhood, my family, and my village. I better understand the war then any of these civilian boys because I have felt and I have seen what it can do. As a child I was given a gun, drugs, and told to kill to get revenge on those who have killed my family. I know that by sharing my story, I am sharing many stories of many other children of Sierra Leone that have been sucked into this barbaric war and told do inhuman things that will scar them for the rest of there lives. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon everyone. My name is Ishmael Beah and I am 14 years old. I'm here today to talk to ya'll about how children have been effected by the war. Most kids lost everything because of it:their homes, families, friends, everything. I was found by soldiers who told me I could fight with them or leave, but if I left I'd be shot. So my friends and I joined, knowing we'd get a place to stay and food. I was terified at first, but they gave us drugs to make us less scared and stronger. They told us that the rebels killed our families, and that made it easier to kill them. The first day of war, I realized all the horrible things I could do. The civilans were terrified of me, even if I didn't have a gun. One day, UNICEF came and took me and a bunch of other boys to a rehab center. I met kids who had been rebels and some who had been soldiers, like I'd been. We all ended up being friends and our only enemies were the nurses. I met one,Esther, and we became good friends. I told her everything and i trusted her. She helped me heal and learn to forgive myself. I won't ever forget them memories of the war. I'm just thankful I healed. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteU.N. Conference Speech, New York
ReplyDeleteGood morning to all of you. My name is Ishmael Beah, and as you all know, I am from Sierra Leone. As many of you know, there is a horrible, brutal civil war going on in my country. When the war reached me, I was only a child...only 12 years of age, about 3 year ago. My family and I had heard of the war before then, but we did not believe the horrors that were told to us by the refugees who passed through our village. If only we had. soon after the refugees started arriving, our village was attacked. Families were separated, slaughtered, tortured... no one escaped unharmed. Many did not escape at all. My family and I did, however; unfortunately, in the confusion we were separated. They escaped to a village many miles away, and we almost reached them, but the rebels were just ahead of us. They executed my family, and the families of several of the boys I was traveling with. These events led me to commit even worse atrocities against the rebels, in the name of my dead family, to avenge their deaths. I tell you all this not seeking pity, but to make all of you who have no clue what war is begin to understand how horrifying this war is. How horrifying all war is. There is no justification for this, no reason; only hatred, hurt, sorrow...and a lust for revenge. In this sense, war is a vicious cycle; even after it is over, there is hate. And where there is hate, there is the spark and the fuel for conflict. If there is ever to be an end to war, we must stop hating, prevent it from ever driving decisions, from affecting our minds. For where there is hate, there will be conflict, and that is the way it has always been, and will always be.
Hello, I am Ishmael. I am from Sierra Leone. You look at children, such as myself, and see innocents, but what you don't see is our sadness, hardships, and loss. In Sierra Leone, people are often afraid of children, because many of us are indeed murderous monsters. My family was killed. I was forced to aimlessly raom the forest and wonder "Why did I live?" The army then captured me, trained me, fed me, and controled me until I completely lost myself. I have done so many things that I now regret. I feel the pain and hear the screams of all the men, woman, and children I witnessed being murdered everyday. I am afraid; even though, I know I am now safe. I was blessed to be choosen to have the chance to be rehabilatated and restart my life. Through UNICEF, I have been saved and I hope that you will support this foundation to save other children. Please save those children and grant them their childhood they rightfully deserve. Thank you for listening and thank you for the chance to have this once in a lifetime experince.
ReplyDelete-mary gregory
My name is Ishmael Beah and I am from Sierra Leone. I have come here to the United Nations Headquarters to talk about the war problem in Sierra Leone. I was a child soldier because I was the only one left in my family that was alive and I was almost dead from starvation. I wanted revenge on the people that killed my family. I said I would kill all the rebels but I knew way back in my head I wouldn’t. All of the drugs, anger and adrenalin that were built up in my body from the constant fighting let my childhood fly by without me knowing. Now that I have gone through rehabilitation I have tried to gain back what I have lost from my childhood without very much success. I try to remember all of the happy things that happened before the war reached my village to cheer me up, but it sometimes brings up memories I would rather not relive. So please help my country come to peace again so children like me don’t have to go through the same horror that I did.
ReplyDeleteSituation: ECOSOC chamber speech
ReplyDeletePurpose: To share with others an inside perspective of the war and life of a child soldier.
Ever since the war in Sierra Leone began, death has affected my life more and more. Not only have the lives of my loved ones been taken by others, but I have taken many lives too. Looking back, I notice that my childhood is yet another death that I mourn. There are many things that I wish I could change. I must live with haunting memories and aches due to my life as a child soldier. The pleasant memories that I once had are now replaced with ones full of anger and hate. I used to laugh, dance, and fill up on the food handed to me. Once the war entered my life, I feared for my life. I was always fretting being captured by rebels, being shot or killed, and dying of starvation. My life and many others have largely suffered, and I know that it is my duty to let you be aware of those that are where I once war and are in need of help.
Hello. I am Ishmael Beah, one of the delagates from Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone war and death are common right now. The soldiers and rebels trample and kill anyone whom stands in their way; what is even more unsettling is that most of the soldiers aren’t even 18 years old yet. I have experienced the horrors firsthand, have been rehabilitated, and am here now to stop children from being used as war tools. However, this can only happen if the war ends, as children that are soldiers are the greatest strength for any militant formation. But something that would weaken soldier morale is to try to intercept drugs being shipped in; the drugs are the medicine, the entertainment, the sleep. The drugs are a soldier’s life, and without them, the soldiers become weak and agitated. I can attest for this; when pumped full of drugs, you don’t fear anything, you just keep fighting, for days at a time, you don’t feel anything; we become gears of war.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ishmael. I was recruited by the army and fought with them for two years. I understand that this conference's purpose is to give a voice to the children of many countries, including Sierra Leone. As a former child soldier, I can give a face to the suffering and strife of all the children in Sierra Leone, not just the rich ones. The war has affected everyone in this country, but no group more than the children who aren't children anymore.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ismael Beah. I come to you today from Sierra Leone. I have been through some rough times. The war didn't help at all with my situation. I wanted to get revenge, but I soon realized that this was not the way to solve things. I became a monster, but some people dont understand what it's like because they didn't live it. I wanted to take revenge on the people who seperated me from my family, but in the process, I killed innocent people. I know it was inhumane how we made them suffer. I am now rehabilatated. I know that those days would always be a part of me, but i don't want it for other kids. Young pure and innocent children don't deserve to go through what I went through. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSituation: UN Conference
ReplyDeletePurpose: Alert the world to the sufferings of a child soldier
My name is Ishmeal Beah and I am from Sierra Leone, a war torn country. I have seen many things in the last few years of my life. Horrific things, that haunt me every time I close my eyes. I was manipulated into the war, just as so many other young boys were. They told me the rebels were my enemy, brainwashed me, and I believed them. Now, looking back, I can see that the boys on both sides of the war were fighting for the same thing. Revenge. It consumed our actions and made them feel okay. I now know that every person that I killed set off another chain of people thirsting for revenge. There is no way for me to take back my actions or repay the lives that I took, but I can hope and pray that other children in Sierra Leone, and around the world, will never feel the sharp claws of revenge.
I am from Sierra Leone. I have come here to speak about the troubles that children in my country face. As our homes are destroyed and our families are lost we are forced to wander the forests until the war reaches us again. We join the army because it is the only way to avoid starvation, and because we believe we can avenge our families' deaths.
ReplyDeleteThe army is a tough life, we kill or be killed. We are so drugged and sleep deprived that we do not feel pain. We lose our humanity.
I am one of the lucky ones. I was able to survive and be rehabilitated. Many, however, were not as lucky,still forced to fight or die.
Living and entire life without a childhood or emotion is a fate I would wish on no one. That is why we must end this violence for good.
- Coleman Churchill
Beah speaking interview to go to the UN:
ReplyDeleteYou see, I have a lot to say. I have more to say than any of these rich city kids.I have been in the war, part of it, experienced it firsthand from the front lines. I have a reason to go, I want to share something that the world needs to hear...the terror and pain of war. Unlike all these phonies who want a vacation, I have a mission.
I am from Sierra Leone, where a civil war has taken place since 1991. Using children in the war is very common. Both sides use children to fight. I think it is one of the worst crimes you can commit; You are robbing someone of their childhood if you do that. I was a child soldier. But now I am a child. We can be rehabilitated, but we need something to go back to. If children can't go back to families, or go back to school, they will go back to the war.
ReplyDeleteStopping the war is very important. You can rehabilitate the children, but if there still is a war, children will be recruited to fight. You need to stop this problem at the root.
Situation: Interview for the chance to speak at the UN Conference
ReplyDeletePurpose: So Ishmael can speak of his experiences of the war in Sierra Leone, and what can be done to stop the same thing from happening to many other boys.
Hello, my name is Ishmael Beah. When I was 12 years old, my village was attacked and I was separated from my family. For about a year, I hid in forests, avoiding the war and searching for safety. I was later found by the government’s army and was forced to join being promised revenge for the death of my family. During those times, I had completely lost all emotions other than hatred towards the rebels. There are many other boys like me who have lost their homes and think the only way to be happy is avenge their families and kill the rebels. I believe the world needs to know about these children so they can be helped. I am the only one who can do this because of my experiences, and I also know how those boys are feeling and what they are going through, so I am able to relate. Plus, I am living proof that they can be helped.
Situation: Speech for the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
ReplyDeletePurpose: To put an end to children being abducted into war
In a blink of an eye I lost my family. In a blink of an eye I saw my friends die. In a blink of an eye I became concealed within the bush, watching my life burn to ashes right in front of me. The death, the noise, the blood…I was still a kid, one of the few kids that was granted survival. My name is Ishmael Beah and I am from Sierra Leone. I am here in front of you all with a journey of three lifetimes under my belt. It wasn’t an easy journey to get to where I am today, I have been through more than you could imagine, but my reason for being here in front of all of you is; as a kid I was in the army fighting against the rebels that began a civil war within my country, and forever my life will be scarred by the men whose eyes glared into mine as I ended their lives. I now have to live with these memories for the rest of my life; a child should not have to join an army just to obtain food and a home. Starvation led me to the army, and the army led me to doing things that I will never forget. As a child, entering a war bigger than I could have imagined, I have been exposed to drugs, weaponry, and the blood of my foes, things I should not have seen at my age. I went from a soldier addicted to drugs with a mind that only retained information on how to kill to a public speaker for the ECOSOC. I was chosen for rehabilitation, and that has changed my life; however, as I speak there are children still fighting for their lives back home. They need your help. Thank You.
Matthew Cappello
Hi, I am Ishmael Beah. I have come here to speak to you about how children in Sierra Leone have been chased away from their homes and been turned into the killers who chased them out of their homes in the first place. When I was twelve the rebels in the country attacked my hometown and i was forever separated from my family. My brother Junior and I were traveling through the woods with some other boys but soon i was separated from them too. I wandered through the woods by myself for months with no food or human contact. By the time I was 13 I came into an army town and was more or less forced to join. On the first fight the war really hit me. Everyone was shooting and killing including me. Over the next two years my life consisted of doing drugs, watching war movies, and killing rebels. We all became monsters. Thankfully UNICEF came and took many of the young boys in the army into rehabilitation centers and after 8 months I was fixed. I now live with my uncle and his family, but not everyone was as fortunate as me. Today I am speaking for everyone who still in the war because they are stuck in a terrible situation and cannot do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is Ishmael Beah and I was once a child soldier in Sierra Leone. I had always heard about war and played war with my friends in the backyard using sticks as our guns. We had no idea what war was like until it came and changed our lives tremendously. I lost my family and friends in the war. My friends who stayed by my side had the same problem I was having. After wandering through burning villages and never ending forests my friends and I joined the army. We had been waiting in getting revenge on the rebels who had killed our families. In the army, I changed, as did everyone. I was addicted to drugs, became fearless and heartless. I saw many deaths of people i knew and that only motivated me more to kill the rebels. I did not care about any of the rebels. Why would I? Finally I was taken out of the army by UNICEF and got put into Rehab to become a better person. This Rehab center taught me that everything that went on wasn't my fault. No one knows what war is like until they have lived it. Well now I know because I have lived it. Thank You
ReplyDeleteSituation: Beah is discussing his past experiences with Laura during the conference in New York.
ReplyDeletePurpose: Laura had wanted to know more about Beah.
When the war came, I lost everything. I never saw my family again. I had to constantly travel across Sierra Leone in order to stay alive. I am happy I at least had friends to travel with in the beginning. Later, I was on my own for a time until I found more boys to travel with and to be friends with. When we finally thought that we had found safety, we had to join the army. We were hungry and scared. We were angry with the rebels. We missed our families a lot. We thought that if we didn't join the army we would die. I saw many awful things that made me change. I become cold and mean. I'm glad to be away from that now. I'm glad that I could be helped. I wish everyone could be safe again. Everyone was happy before the war. Happiness is tricky business now.
My name is Ishmael Beah. I am here today to tell you what is happining in Sierra Leone. some of you may not believe this and some of you may say that this isn't possible but it is. You should believe me because i was in this war, I lived in this war, I killed people in this war, and I escaped this war. Children are joining the war because they had no choice or they want revenge on either the army or the rebels. Children are killing other children and everyone is dying. Kids should not have to fight in this war. They should be having fun and acting like kids; not shooting people and doing drugs.That is why I think that we should take kids out of this war. Thank you for your time.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ishmael Beah. When I was just a child I witnessed my family and friends being captured and killed by rebel soldiers in Sierra Leone. I had been robbed of my childhood. In my life I have seen firsthand the deaths of many people I was close to, I have also killed may people myself, mostly because I had become a monster who craved revenge on anyone who harmed me or my family. I could trust barely anyone. I am very lucky to say that I am one of the very few child soldiers that have been rehabilitated and I can now take ownership of my actions. I didn’t spend my childhood playing games and having fun like I should have, I spent it moving form village to village with a bayonet in my hand searching for the next people to kill. I came here today to make listeners aware that things like this do happen and it’s up to you and me to make a difference. No child should have to go through what I did. Thank You.
ReplyDelete-Erica Giffen
Hello, as you all may know my name is Ishmael Beah and I am here to speak about child soldiers. Many of you may not know that I was a child soldier. When I was much younger my village was attacked and destroyed by the rebels. I walked many miles from village to village trying to find food and water. I was seeking refuge in a village when it was decided that you had to join the army or leave. I really had no choice because if I had left I would have died. I fought in the army. This makes me more knowledgeable on the subject than any civilian. I have lived it and I have come back from it....
ReplyDeleteSituation: Speaking to the ECOSOC delegates
ReplyDeleteThe only way to truly understand war is to be in it, not just hear news about it. As a young solider in the civil war of Sierra Leone, I saw things that no child or adult should ever see. Because of seeing death firsthand, my innocence as well as my childhood was stolen from me at age 12. Because I had no other family, the army became my new one. That family taught me only hatred. Although killing was all I knew, being rehabilitated has helped me realize that being part of the army did not help me at all. During rehabilitation, the other boys and I were often violent and paranoid before we began to open up to others. This time helped me realize that the military and rebel groups use the children regardless of the damage that can follow. Although stopping the practice will be difficult, other children should be saved from the horrors that I have seen. Without the cooperation of others, this practice will continue and other children will be forced into the terror of war. I feel as if it is now my duty to share my story to save others from what I have experienced to raise awareness of this terrible problem.
Many of you may have heard of child soldiers on the news or radio, I am not here to tell facts or stories. I am here hoping to give a glimpse into a day, even an hour, of the life of a child soldier in Sierra Leone. When people think of a soldier, they usually think of a trained individual for military purposes. Not many people would expect that the support for an army would come from brainwashed children, hopped up on drugs and given guns as tall as them, running through streets and shooting innocent people to please their commander. This is what I went through every day for two years, I saw things that would make almost anyone lose faith in their religion or in humanity itself. But I do not ask for pity, I ask for help to all the young boys still in Africa who have had their innocence torn from them.
ReplyDeleteHello, my name is Ishmael Beah.I was a child soldier at the age of thirteen. I'm supposed to tell everyone what i've been through, but no matter how I tell you,you will never truely understand.You will never understand what it's like to see the fear in a man's eyes. You will never understand what it's like to kill an entire family and feel nothing. But hopefully you will understand that no child should have to go through that and no child should be a victum of war.
ReplyDeleteSituation: U.N. Conference
ReplyDeleteHello, my name is Ishmal Beah and I was a victim of this horrific war. My nightmare started when I was at the age of twelve. Before then, I had never actually witnessed a killing. The blood, guts, and dead bodies still haunt me to this day. I was turned into a monster, something I never thought was possible. I became a killing machine, and to be honest, I didn't mind it. That's probably due to the fact that I had ample amounts of marajuana in my blood stream at the time. If I hadn't of been enrolled into a rehabilitation center, I don't believe I would be here right now. This war has changed me in ways that I cannot describe. I guess you could say I never really had an ordinary childhood...
Beah at the interview for UN invitation. He is just asked why he should be chosen.
ReplyDeleteThe war is not fought in cities like this. It's fought in the forests where blood now covers the top soil and bodies litter the ground, covered in flies. I killed and mutilated many people. There were children just like me. We became monsters from the war, and that will stay with me forever. Being rehabilitated has made me a child again, but I remember the child I was before the war. I was a dancer and rapped in competitions with my friends. We were in a competition when we had to run for our lives. We watched people die, their bodies split by mines. We stole to escape the hunger that was now ever so constant. My friends and I were eventually caught by the army. They saved us from the RUF, and united us lost boys. Our vengeful acts only left us blank inside. We fueled the war with our killings. This is not a story, it is all the lost boys' lives.
Hello, my name is Ishmael Beah and I am from Sierra Leone. I am here today to talk to you about how the war has affected everyone in Sierra Leone, including children like me. My family was killed by the rebels and I became and child soldier along with many other children, some even younger than me. I believed that by joining the army and killing rebels, I was avenging my family's death. Joining the army was also the only was to receive food and shelter. I was terrified when I first became a soldier, but by the time I had made my first kill, I was completely desensitized. After that I had no trouble killing any rebel that came my way. I truly believed that every rebel was responsible for killing my family and destroying my home. My values and childhood has been ripped away from me. However, I have now been rehabilitated and have learned to forgive myself for the things that I have done. My mission is to now teach as many people as I can about the horrors that many children have faced and are currently facing.
ReplyDeleteSpeech for the UN:
ReplyDelete"I used to live in Mattru Jong, a village in Sierra Leone. The war drove me away. I walked for many weeks fleeing the war. I had lost my family and I lost my friends during that time as well. I battled hunger and fear almost constantly. I was eventually picked up by the government army. I was trained as a soldier to commit unspeakable acts. I killed many and thought nothing of it. I raided and looted and thought nothing of it. By the time I was picked up by UNICEF that was my way of life. I was a killer. Only after months of rehabilitation was i able to act normal again. But nothing can erase the memories."
Situation: Speech for the UN Economic and Social Council.
ReplyDeletePurpose: To talk about how the war has affected children in Sierra Leone.
My name is Ishmael Beah and I am from Sierra Leone. I am here to talk about how children like me have been affected by the war in our country. I was twelve when I was first touched by the war. The war separated me from my family and took my home. The war then found me and I became a soldier. Many children ended up as soldiers like me. We were forced to because of the sense of the security that it gave us, the hunger that was constantly there, and the loss that we all felt. Children could only run from the war for so long. I had tried to run, but in the end there was nothing for me to do except for me to join the war or be die. During the war I was drugged and brainwashed, I was no longer a child, but a small killing machine for the army. I have now undergone rehabilitation and there is no need to be afraid of me anymore. My rehabilitation took a time and was not easy. I now no longer think like a soldier, but the memories I have will always plague my memory. It is my wish that children who have had to expierence the war all be rehabilitated and that no more children are forced to go through what I did. War is a not something that anyone should have to experience especially as a child.
-Nathaniel Michael