...Child Soldiers in Africa Starting around the 1980s, a horrible new source of warfare was introduced to Africa. This method is using children for warfare, or in other words, children soldiers. A child soldier is any boy or girl, under the age of 18, who is forced to join and operate within an armed force or armed group in any capacity. It does not only refer to a child who is carrying, or has carried, weapons. The method of using children in combat was first introduced in Africa in the lowlands of Mozambique, where rebel commanders used children for war. Almost half of the numbers of child soldiers in the world come from Africa. They thought that this was a great method because they were easily manipulated, very loyal, and there was an abundance of them. Also the rebel forces found it difficult to convince adults to join them, which initially drove them to the idea of using children instead. Do not be mistaken though, for Africa did not create the child soldier. In fact it was the Nazis who drafted children after they got desperate. Other countries also used children soldiers such as Iran, Iraq, and countries in religion-driven or nationalistic wars such as in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and the Palestinian territories. But in Africa the situation is at the lowest level. The children were used for the sole reason of greed and power and with no recognition of them whatsoever. The children were fooled by using many different schemes. The way they will try to keep the children was...
Words: 1050 - Pages: 5
...WHAT DO THE ARMED CHILDREN DO? It's about 300.000 child soldiers around the world, we can't find a exact number, cause they who kidnapp or tricks the children into being one doesn't really want us to know, so there can be more children that needs help from us than we know about. The definition of a child soldier is "People under 18 who join in any form of legal or illegal armed group. You do not have to wear uniforms or weapons to be a child soldier, cause you can also be given the task to stand for the cooking. So I don't think that people really know what being a child soldier is, cause it's much more than only shooting. 40% of the child soldiers are girls. Girls are a forgotten group among child soldiers. They do many of the same duties as boys, but they also get forced to be sex slaves, maids and can be married against their will. WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM WHO GET SAVED? After the conflict is over earlier child soldiers need help to deal with the cruel actions and their experiences. This is called rehabilitation. Common responses of child soldiers are nightmares, anxiety attacks and guilt. Many child soldiers have also been addicted to alcohol or drugs which they have received from their leaders. They need help to get rid of the addiction. Education is also an important part of rehabilitation. Girls rarely get access to rehabilitation because many of those responsible for rehabilitation not counting them as child soldiers. Girls are also more difficult to remove...
Words: 432 - Pages: 2
...The book “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah is a book that has many themes and lessons. It is a true story about a boy soldier. One of the themes in this book is survival. When war hit Ishmael Beah, it was all about survival until the end. From the moment Ishmael fled the violence at Mattru Jong, the focus of his life became surviving. For months, Beah had to survive by overcoming hunger and violence. Survival was the most important theme in the book. Ishmael had to survive the war and in the forest all alone. He lost his family and friends. To stay alive during war, he had to join the army. He had to overcome his hunger, the violation, and the isolation. The book states “Things changed rapidly in a matter of seconds and no one had any control...
Words: 807 - Pages: 4
...In A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, many events change his life and he has to choose to live with them or die. Ishmael has changed because of several major events that he lived through and has adapted and that has helped him survive in his war ravaged country. He has changed from young, innocent boy to mindless child solider to a proper adult but he still survives and that makes him very resilient. Though it was hard he found himself amongst war. One of the first major events was that he lost his parents. He was in Mattru Jong when rebels attacked his home in Mogbwemo. Slowly by surely wounded people started trickling in and he found out that way that he had lost his parents. His parents weren’t dead, just lost in the country. That changed him because it was the first of many wounds on his body and soul. Throughout the book he searches for them but they remain elusive and not inflicting wounds on the mortal body but instead ripping a large hole in his heart. “The sun peacefully sailed through the white clouds, birds sang from tree tops, the trees danced to the quiet wind. I still couldn’t believe the war had actually reached our home. It was impossible, I thought. We had left home the day before, there had been no indication the rebels were near.” (Beah, 10)He couldn’t believe it. It was just not possible. Your home is a fortress until it shatters. The second major event was becoming a boy solider at a young age. “The idea of death didn’t cross...
Words: 578 - Pages: 3
...They are forced to kill and mutilate people, sometimes their own families. In the memoir A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah recalls his experiences as a boy soldier, and the impact it had on his life. Ishmael met many people along the way that helped him in his race to find safety. These people were very brave and took many risks for his safety. The people Ishmael show along the way show bravery many times. Early in the memoir, Ishmael and his friends showed bravery when they decided to sneak back to Mattru Jong in order to get the money that had left behind. At this point in the memoir, Mattru Jong had been overtaken by rebels, so returning to this particular village meant that ishmael and friends risked being shot, mutilated, or forced to become boy soldiers. However, without that money they would not be able to buy food and would face starvation. Fortunately, Ishmael and friends were able to secure the money, but faced life-threatening at every turn of the journey. Recalling the danger of crawling through an open clearing to avoid rebel gunfire, Ishmael states, “We started to crawl across the clearing at the signal of the first group that had it across...There were dead bodies everywhere and flies were feasting on the congealed blood on them” (Beah 28). Ishmael had the inner strength to remain calm and make it through this horrifying situation. Throughout the memoir, Ishmael demonstrates bravery countless more times. The imam showed courage when he refused to tell the rebels...
Words: 681 - Pages: 3
...The piece of literature that grabbed my attention and had a great effect on me is A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, which was written by Ishmael Beah. The book is about Ishmael and his older brother and how they survived during the war in Sierra Leone. The boys live in horrific conditions and under a constant risk for their lives. The only thing that keeps them going is their hope, faith, love and memories about their family since they were told that there family was alive. However, due to the heartbreaking circumstances, the boys do not meet their family. As a consequence of such a cruel surviving, Ishmael and his friends are forced to become fearless child soldiers. However, Ishmael is eventually rescued by the United nations where he undergoes complete rehabilitation in the United States. Ishmael’s book inspires me to fight against injustice and crimes. I was born in Nepal, where we moved from, to the current residence in the US. Nepal is also under great political instability and social differences. Hence this book inspired me to fight against injustice and crimes. As a consequence, I am trying to make people aware by encouraging my friends and family to educate the Nepalese citizens. The book also provides a unique perspective of the dark sides of civil wars. I have learnt not to judge people instantly because their upbringing may have been completely different. Here, at the community college, I have met friends from different cultures and backgrounds. I have...
Words: 499 - Pages: 2
...A Long Way Gone Essay Matthew Morgan Prof. Carey “On Democracy” Due: 02/27/08 For the “Everybody Reads” assignment I choose to attend the Central library book group discussion. When I first got there I was really surprised because I thought it was going to be a bigger event than what it was. There was only about 10 people total, and 5 of us were students who were there for this exact assignment. It was a really interesting discussion because half of the people that attended were my age and the other half was about two generations older, so there was a very diverse pool of perspectives and opinions. But because there was a large generation gap it was a bit more difficult for me to share my views, so I mainly listened and observed other people’s thoughts. The discussion itself was very helpful because of the different views people had about the memoir. One of the themes of A Long Way Gone that we discussed was the importance of hope. We mainly talked about how this theme was not constant throughout the memoir and that it changed with time. For example one person brought up how at first Ishmael’s only motivator was the hope of his parents being alive, then when he realized that he would never be reunited with them he had lost his hope. It was only when he remembered what his father had said about a person only lives if they have something to live for which gave him his hope back. As far as themes that’s really the only one that we discussed, but we did discuss a lot...
Words: 1027 - Pages: 5
...Sentence Outline Thesis: In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah shows how his hopes and dreams were brought to an abrupt halt. Violence, family and survival caused this child to become a bloodthirsty killer. I. An individual can watch their life change for the worse because of their environment surrounding them. II. Violence was the cause and effect of Beah downfall A. The people of Beah’s village were murdered by the rebels and he is devastated by the gruesome violence B. He joins the army to help protect the rest of his country but he quickly turned into a ruthless killer III. Beah loses his family and he feels like he has no one else to love A. Beah’s family is killed during one of the attacks and he feels like it is him against the world B. He meets a very caring woman, Laura, who eventually adopts Beah and gives him a new start in a new place IV. Beah must learn to survive on his own during dark times in Sierra Leone A. Beah has no family and no one to look over him so he must find a way to survive. That is part of the reason he joins the army. B. He often steals food and clothes and spends long periods of time in the forest hiding from everyone. Conclusion: No one know what life has in store for them, everything can change in a matter of minutes. If a person allows adversity surrounding them to control their life there is a slim chance they will reach...
Words: 263 - Pages: 2
...these human behaviours come from our human nature trying to reason with our unfavourable circumstance. Similar circumstances lead to corresponding reactions within individuals due to our human nature: this is demonstrated in Ishmael Beah’s ‘Radiance of Tomorrow` and the realities of sex trafficking within our global community. It proves that actions taken by individuals are affixed with human nature tendencies. It is human nature to have greed manifest within...
Words: 1681 - Pages: 7
