Ishmael Beah - Excerpt from "A Long Way Gone"

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/fora/showthread.php?t=728

Author and Sierra Leone war refugee Ishmael Beah reads an excerpt from his book, "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier."

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Ishmael Beah introduces "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier."

You will never forget Ishmael Beah and his heart-breaking, gripping story of a child's journey through hell. There may be as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped up on drugs and wielding AK-47s, in more than fifty conflicts around the world. Beah used to be one of them. He is the first to tell his story in his own words. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does he become a killer? How does he stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have imagined their lives. Until now, there hasn't been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived to tell the tale. In A LONG WAY GONE, Beah relates fleeing attacking rebels, wandering a land rendered unrecognizable by violence, being picked up by the government army, and finding that he was capable of truly terrible acts. After three years as a soldier, a truck pulled into the army base and Ishmael and other young soldiers were released by their commander to UNICEF workers. Sent to a rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to convince the world of civilians who viewed him with fear and suspicion. It is, at last, a story of redemption. Beah, now 25, came to the US when he was seventeen, and graduated from Oberlin College in 2004. He is a member of Human Rights Watch Children's Division Advisory Committee and has spoken before the United Nations on several occasions. He lives in New York City. - Cody's Books

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[Sadek360]

i am in the process of reading this book right now and it is very sad, i cant believe this is happening in the world now, but this is an amazing book

[kasakee]

what the hell beah speaks the truth u havent experienced shit in your life so you wouldntt know

[Bbq776]

This is a story that truly touched my heart and made me to rethink about my life. We should never take life for granted which most people do. Do something for your life that you believe it could make a difference to the world. I am very respectful to this man and his experience in his early life.

[bouncybrat109]

I am reading this book now for my project and its soo very sad, like i even get teary.

[TheDigiDestined16]

this book is awesome

[MiniGolfRocks]

@curryelephant me too

[curryelephant]

@tollie123321 I'm reading it for 9th grade World Geography.

[adfvssl011]

wat gets me about this book is that its so recent, and he was around my lil cousin's age when it happened too, smh this world we live in is brutal.

[Ufaluv]

this book made me cry

[8PRIINCE8]

best book i read so far

[quoz11]

just read the book for the 3rd time to let it sink in

[snogs11]

why must a man take up sticks against another man? could he not use those sticks to prop a man up? As time wore on man only became better and more efficient at ending his fellow man, yet at its core "war, war never changes". what's worse the fact that man continues to preform progressively more sadistic acts of hate or that I have come to expect it? (a personal question)