Child soldiers in africa by alcinda honwana books on. Child soldiers are, first and foremost, victims of circumstance. At the age of five, while celebrating a goal in an afterschool game of soccer, michel chikwanine was kidnapped by rebel fighters in the democratic republic of. Brutalised, warravaged and druggedup, the child soldiers of sierra leone and sudan have become a shocking symbol of todays violent world. Unicef hosts book launch for ishmael beah, former child soldier. Beahs autobiography is almost unique, as far as i can determine perhaps the first time that a child soldier has been able to give literary voice. In the 1990s, liberia was torn apart by a civil war in which child soldiers fought for the guerrilla leader charles taylor. This book deals with child soldiers involvement in crimes under international law.
Child soldiers in africa ebook written by alcinda honwana. Blahyi was known for his violence and atrocities during the first liberian civil war in the early 1990s. Alcinda manuel honwana a major concern today is how to reverse the damage done to the thousands of children who have come to be victims but also agents of wartime atrocities. List of books and articles about child soldiers online. Child soldiers are often thought of as robotic killing machines. Science fiction comic books, strips, etc comic books, strips, etc.
Child soldiers are often victims of grave human rights abuses, and yet. Former child soldier michel chikwanine tells his story for. Unlike chuas children who are forced to play an instrument while rigorously maintaining their studies, her kids, waldman wrote, were allowed to, quit the piano and the violin, especially if their defeatist attitude coincided with a recital, thus saving me from the torture of listening to other peoples precious children soldier through. There is a notion that comic books are a realm only for fictional characters with superhuman powers, bedecked with cape and colourful costume. It is interesting to try to comprehend what act of remembering is going on here. Much can happen that will touch the rest of their lives for good or for ill. No wonder that it later became an inspirational, bestselling book. The children s very vulnerability makes them attractive to the men leading militias, according to jo becker, who has interviewed former child soldiers in. The book is very graphic, and jal offers apologies for his atrocities only in hindsight. Ishmael beah killed his first man when he was years old. Memoirs of a boy soldier by ishmael beah, war brothers. Brownbrown is reportedly given to child soldiers in west african armed conflicts. Memoirs of a boy soldier has been published in over thirty languages and was nominated for a quill award in 2007. I spent seven years in the bush in uganda, a child soldier, held captive by an armed group and forced to become the wife of a rebel commander.
The conventional image of the child soldier is a teen or preteen abducted by adult fighters, brainwashed, brutalised, and turned into a killer. A must read for anyone interested in the quagmires that are the struggles in africa today, and for anyone wanting to know more about child soldiers and how they are used and abused. The book is a memoir of ishmael beah who was forced to become a child soldier and participate in the sierra leone civil war 19912002. But the humanity he exhibits in the telling, along with claudia davilas illustrations, which evoke rather than depict the violent elements of the story, makes the book. Ishmael beah is a graduate of oberlin college with a. Today, as we mark the international day against the use of child soldiers, which is also the 15th anniversary of the entry into force of a treaty to ban the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, we also celebrate a remarkable achievement by the global community and the united nations. Tales from ugandas female former child soldiers uganda. The true story of a child soldier by beah, ishmael from amazons fiction books store. Michel was encouraged by a teacher to share what happened to him in order to raise awareness about child soldiers around the world, and this book is part of. As a teenager in warravaged sierra leone, ishmael beah was brainwashed, drugged and forced to kill. Child soldiers are children defined under international law as individuals under the age of 18 who are used for any military purpose.
The newspaper claims the rebel attack that opens beahs book, which caused the deaths of his parents and two brothers and led to him becoming a child soldier, happened in. One afternoon michel and his friends are kidnapped by rebel militants and forced to become child soldiers. Memoirs of a boy soldier, published in 2007, went on to sell more than a million copies and be translated in. The use of force or compulsory recruitment of anyone under the age of 18 years to take part in armed conflict was named as one of the worst forms of child labor and also as a form of slavery by the international labor organization in 1999. The newspaper claims the rebel attack that opens beahs book, which caused the deaths of his parents and two brothers and led to him becoming a child soldier, happened in 1995, two years after he. In child soldiers in africa, alcinda honwana draws on her firsthand experience with children of angola and mozambique, as well as her study of the phenomenon for the united nations and the social science research council, to shed light on how children are recruited, what they encounter, and how they come to terms with what they have done. Once described as the most evil man in the world, blahyi said in 2008 that he killed at least. Child soldiers in africa refers to the military use of children under the age of 18 by national armed forces or other armed groups in africa. Time magazine named the book as one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2007, ranking it at number three.
Chikwanine spent weeks as a child soldier with the group before he managed to escape and find his way back home through the help of townspeople who knew his family. He wants nothing more than to viciously kill government troops, which he does. The author gives a vivid description of his life before the war, and especially during the war. Child soldiers are considered easier to brainwash and a source of cheap labor. Born in sierra leone, he was recruited by the government to fight rebels as a child soldier in. Emmanuel jal is inspiring and articulate and you gain a real insight into the terrors of war and life as a child soldier. Quotes tagged as childsoldiers showing 110 of 10 my squad is my family, my gun is my provider, and protector, and my rule is to kill or be killed. Child soldiers in sierra leone made up between 40 and 50 percent of the rufs military force and approximately 20 percent of the governments military force. Ishmael beah, 26, went through that extraordinarily horrific struggle as a child in sierra leone. They do, however, generally retain signature traits of childhood amid all the violence they experience. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read child soldiers in africa. The book is a firsthand account of beahs time as a child soldier during the civil war in sierra leone 1990s.
Jason cowley on african child soldiers books the guardian. Child rights, novels for when you wish you knew more about what you see on tv, and best on sierra leone. Memoirs from child refugees and soldiers in sudan, sierra leone, and uganda. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. Child soldiers as agents of war and peace a restorative. Beyond this, child soldiers are an incredibly diverse group. But this is a misleading and harmful representation. When boys and girls are used in war citizenkid chikwanine, michel, humphreys, jessica dee, davila, claudia on. It made me cry many a time but i couldnt put it down. African rebels are far from the first people even in modern history to use children in wartime, but this newest wave of child soldiers really started in the 1980s. Beah was 12 years old when he fled his village after it was attacked by rebels, and he wandered the warfilled country until brainwashed by an army unit that forced him to use guns and drugs. He details his story of survival in the new book, a long way gone.
Who of us in our 20s could accurately summon up our daybyday. But are africans telling their own stories, or are. Firsttime author and former child soldier ishmael beah signs copies of his book a long way gone during the launch event at unicef house. Books about child soldiers what should i read next. He has spoken before the united nations, the council on foreign relations, and many panels on the effects of war on children. The feud over ishmael beahs childsoldier memoir, a long. Memoirs of a boy soldier 2007 is a memoir written by ishmael beah, an author from sierra leone. Ending the use of child soldiers united nations office. Typically, this classification includes children serving in noncombatant roles such as cooks or messengers, as well as those serving in combatant roles. Facts about child soldiers in sierra leone borgen project.
Child soldiers in africa by alcinda honwana, 2006 online. In an extract from her book a moonless, starless sky, alexis okeowo tells the story of a child soldier and a kidnapped schoolgirl in uganda and, below, talks about changing perceptions of africa. Tiger moms dont worry about selfesteem don miller, editor. Films that explore what its like to be a child soldier. I was asked to read this book by a mother whose child was required to read it over the summer. Unicef played a critical role in transforming his life and bringing hope.
1596 1025 443 1371 1518 1405 581 131 677 1578 857 567 514 1013 1 292 1058 956 583 431 1440 710 1165 910 202 1520 1022 698 1452 1259 1198 591 477 118 895 1452 21 757 1453 532 1248 1250 975 1142