Ishmael Beah tells of his story as a child soldier....His is a first hand account of a childhood lost due to the conflict in Sierra Leone. One cannot but be moved by a situation that one cannot wish upon the children of their worst enemy. It is a scenario that is difficult to comprehend unless one has walked the same paths that Ishmael trod. Having finished the book, I came about the IsiXhosa saying "Vana Nabantwana" - translated to mean "The interest of the child is paramount". It took me longer than usual to finish "A Long Way Gone": Not because the book was dull but because in between I took time to watch "Blood Diamond" in order to provide a back drop to the story. Ishmael's book is not a political book....It does not seek to provide a reason for the war (or explain why it was unnecessary) nor to glamorise it....It simply recalls the time when he lived with his family & friends, the period & experiences when he was conscripted to fight in a war for which he knew nothing about and the period after.
Many a time, I was drawn to the cover page that shows a sad child carry arms. Whilst reading the book, I googled Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov the maker of the AK47s. Although not a pacifist; I cannot but be amazed by Mr Kalashnikov's comment as a visitor to Germany in 2002 that he got nervous when he saw Bin Laden with his AK-47. If that was all he worried about, he has not seen children (he has four of his own) being kitted with AK47's and enjoined in wars that bring them only trauma and early death.
It is indeed poignant that I completed the book when BBC reported that polls had closed in Sierra Leone in its third general election since the 1991-2002 civil war, which killed more than 50,000 people. This will always be a black spot on an otherwise peaceful nation....the Lioness Mountains..the land of the Temne, Mende & other indigenous peoples. I have met many Sierra Leonean Folk and befriended some of them. Although I can never bring myself to ask...I have nonetheless wondered what their own take is of the war and whether perhaps some of them benefited or lost from the conflict that ravaged the nation. What is their story?
Having watched "Blood Diamond", read Aminatta Forna's books and finishing Ishmael Beah's "A Long Way Gone", I am non the wiser about the Sierra Leone Conflict that has earned Charles Taylor a cell at the famous International Criminal Court. I must digress to indicate that African Leaders have complained that the ICC seems to have been created only for Africans given that other perpetrators of injustices are tried at special tribunals set for them. Be that as it may...upon reading "A Long Way Gone" one must wonder whether something is really the matter with us as a people or whether there are other powers that we can do nothing about at play. Was the conflict simply about Diamonds that adorn many a celebrity? Was it about Corruption? Was it because the different peoples could not live together as a Nation? Was it because someone had to sell arms and thought nothing about the impact it would have on the country and the region? Maybe the underlying reason is not as important as the fact that many a child lost their childhood rather prematurely.
The book makes one wonder why child soldiers are recruited to resolve a conflict that they know nothing about and from which they benefit very little. The storyline made me ponder child issues more broadly to encompass other things that children must grapple with...child prostitution, child marriages, child headed households, child labour, child abuse, child health care rights (or lack thereof) and child welfare. Now, it is disingenuous for me to ponder these things as I recall my own childhood with nostalgia. Like many other childhoods - it was fraught with 'challenges' that shaped my future but in the night, I dream about the Doulous Ship that docked on the port of Mombasa where my mum took us to buy books; I recall the sibling rivalry; I remember the Grimm Fairy Tales; I ponder the trips upcountry to visit my grandparents; I thank God for three daily meals & tea with a feast at Christmas; I reminisce with friends on FB about the boarding school where the worst was being tutored by a faculty that had no idea that "all work and no play made jack a dull boy"...;When all is said and done, I think that to take away one's childhood is an unforgivable sin even for a loving God to forgive.
I am saddened that Ishmael lost a childhood. (Even though he does not engage in a pity party). Whatever the reason or cause for the conflict, I would wager that this was an "adult only" affair and children should have been left out of it. Policy Makers should advocate that the "age of consent" should be defined and applied strictly to situations such as these with no exceptions.
Ishmael Beah is brave and he is lucky he made it. I would never have had the courage to talk about these things. Perhaps in so doing he needed to exorcise the demons that plagued him and which still plague so many like him - children and adults. Whether the "conflict" is, the Wars for Independence, the Indian Wars, The Civil War, the World Wars, the Vietnam War, The Afghanistan War or the Sierra Leone War...It does not matter the perpetrator or the reason behind the conflict...The impact on the survivors is the same.
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