October 15, 2008 a man named Ishmael Beah, of Sierra Leone, came to Potsdam to speak and do some “Q & A” at Crane’s Hosmer Hall. Ishmael Beah spoke of his time as a war child in Sierra Leone, a country that won it’s independence from England. He said that he was born to a family consisting of a mother, father, an older brother, and later a younger brother. They were all killed accept for him during a civil war going on in Sierra Leone, that he now believes started because of corruption in his countries government. He was then forced to carry a gun and kill. Those who forced him to war put him under the impression that the people whom he was warring against were responsible for the death of his immediate family. By killing them, he was told that it would decrease the number of children that would end up with misfortunes like his family had. He said that when he was put to war to join a likes of other s like him, without family and forced into violence, he knew nothing of the political stances in Sierra Leone. His main focus was to survive the moment. Now, after England intervened and in fact ended the civil war, he along with others asks why it took England so long to do so.
Ishmael Beah wrote the book A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. He said it had to with his life as he slowly grew away form the war with the help of UNICEF and some others. After a trip with UNICEF to a conference in the USA, Ishmael Beah received an American passport, and found a family to fund his education and adopt him. He said that he then went back to Sierra Leone to live with his Uncle and to go to school. He said that living with his Uncle, whom he had heard of yet never met before, was uncomfortable, and that eventually some old comrades from war tried to force him back to war. Then he realized he had two decisions: to go back to war; or to find a way out of Africa and get hold of the family that had adopted him. So, a majority of the book was said to be a memoir of dangerous travels in Africa that lead him to an American Embassy where one man set him off in the more peaceful direction, back to the USA.
During the “Q&A” portion of the talk someone from the audience asked of him, if he would be writing the rest of his story down. His reply was that, because of all the time and effort sacrificed to tour with the book he was not intent on writing any more memoirs in the near future. But, that he was intent on writing some fiction. He was asked if he saw himself getting into politics. He replied that even though he had studied political sciences he would not become a politician in the near future, because there are many other ways to help in this world, and he’s content raising money of his own to in turn build schools in his home country.
At the start of his presentation at Hosmer Hall, Ishmael spoke of being young in a tightly knit community. He spoke of elders telling stories at gatherings, and in later public gatherings the youth would be asked upon to repeat the stories from before. The point of their recitals was to prove that they could actively listen and show respect for the morals and meanings of stories. And, if they could not recite a story they would be smacked on spot. I must say that in his speech, Ishmael Beah, was proud of his observant ability and recitation. So now, I am just as proud to tell you my short story.
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