A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

A Long Way Gone is a true story about a young boy named Ishmael Beah, the author if the book, which is forced to become a boy soldier in Sierra Leon. He was twelve years of age when his village, of Mattru Jong, was attacked, and he had nowhere to go, but to survive by any means. 

The reason why Ishmael, his brother junior and their friend, survived was because the group have traveled that very day out of the village to go perform their rap skills in the city of Mobimbi. When they had no idea that they would never return to the place the called home. And they did not tell anyone or of their quick road trip to Mobimbi, because they had planned to travel back the next day. Before he became a child soldier he traveled from village to village for their basic needs of food and shelter. Sometimes stealing from the helpless just to get food. 

Now he was experiencing some of the times that refugees he had seen before pass through his village. Trying to find a place to settle, and avoiding the civil war going on, whir moving on. When Ishmael becomes a boy soldier he gets introduced to drugs. Boy soldiers become addicted to drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, and “brown brown”. This gives them the strength they need to do what they do and continue to survive. A method used to cover all their troubles of the war that affected them. Its not a good future that Ishmael faces being used as ailing machine and being under the influence of drugs.

It is until the day that Ishmael’s lieutenant turns the boys into UNICEF that he stops being a by soldier. After much suffering through his experience as a boy soldier, Ishmael starts rehabilitation in a center. Now he struggles to overcome his experience, meets people that are there to help guide him to a better future and understand what had happened. Things start to turn around for him for the better; he is received by his extended family in a town called Freeman.

Ishmael meets other children like him who are survivors of the war. He is invited to New York with other children to tell their stories to the United Nations. He is able to see that by telling his story with the public will be an important piece to preventing this cruel thing, of children soldiers from happening to other children. And hopefully no more children will have to go through what he did. Although he is no longer child soldier when he comes back to Freeman, the war once again catches up to him and he decides to make his way to the north country of Guinea which is the beginning of his journey to America and start anew life away from war.

I think that it is horrible thing to have to experience your home being taken a way from you by war, and then experiencing being the person who brings more pain and disaster to others. I liked reading the book because it isn’t something that we see daily or hear about, but we need to be informed of what is happening in our world. I am glad that there are organizations that work to help those that have experienced such things in their life and there is hope for them. I am very thankful to live in a place like the United States because there is more hope and opportunity to start a positive future than in many places in the world.