In 1991, the Sierra Leone Civil War started. Rebels invaded Beah's hometown, Mogbwemo, located in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, and he was forced to flee. Separated from his family, he spent months wandering south with a group of other boys. At the age of 12, he was forced to become a child soldier. According to Beah's account, he fought for almost three years before being rescued by UNICEF.[1] Beah fought for the government army against the rebels. In 1997, he fled Freetown by the help
there are over 250,000 child soldiers fighting for their lives (Goodwin).During the Sierra Leonean civil war in 1991-2002, the United Nations estimated that there were over 7,000 child soldiers being used on both sides (Maclay). The conditions during the war were terrible and in 2002 over 50,000 people were dead, however nobody came to help and put troops on the ground. There were over 2.5 million citizens in Sierra Leone forced to leave their homes which is almost half of the entire population. No one
generation, one must understand any difficulties that lie in differentiating the youth of that generation. In assessing the Cuban and Sierra Leone cultures, perhaps assimilation in some areas are needed. Although Cuban and Sierra Leone youth may seem similar, they certainly have numerous dissimilarities too. Specifically looking at boys from Cuba and Sierra Leone, we
Since the establishment of states and republics, there has always been conflict between groups inhabiting said states, which is a layman’s definition of civil war. The scholarly definition of a Civil war is a war between organized groups within a state. Since the end of WWII, there has been a total of 122 Civil wars ranging from the Greek Civil war in 1946 to the Syrian civil war that is happening as of today. A civil war is not an entity seen only in the underdeveloped countries of the world, and
Sierra Leone is a country most notoriously known for its humanitarian problems associated with conflict diamonds. These luxury items have caused numerous individuals residing in the third world country to lose their lives or lose the ability to live a fruitful life. In addition to their humanitarian issues, they are also plagued by issues of bad governance. Their recent civil war that took place during most of the 1990s had tainted the citizens’ views on what an effective government could do. To
Sierra Leone is a small country on the west coast of Africa, whose level of development has been greatly impacted on by internal and external factors. Sierra Leone has a very low level of development with a HDI of 0.374 giving it a rank of 183/187. They currently have a population of 6 million people and a GDP of $2 100. The adult literacy rates vary from male to female, at 58.7% to 37.7% respectively. A recent civil war lasting from 1991-2001, stemming from a colonial history with the occupation
history and specifically in Sierra Leone They had originally been exploited for their abundance of diamonds Though this period of imperialism has ended, the british has still left a mark in Sierra Leone As a result of the period of imperialism, Sierra Leone now participate in the use of child soldiers In Sierra Leone, these kids were recruited through the Revolutionary United Front or otherwise known as the RUF This guerrilla unit was shaped in 1991 in Sierra Leone whose activities
The Effect of Civil War on the economic developmental of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, a country that lies on the west coast of Africa, faced a gruesome war that occurred from 1991 to 2002. The civil war generated consequences that the people of Sierra Leone and its economy are paying for. Sierra Leone’s economic development and progress after the post-civil war became an interest to me because Sierra Leone is where my family originated from. I personally can relate to the war and the consequences it
In 1991, a struggle for political control of Sierra Leone broke out that would change the face of the country in ways that could never be anticipated. Due to several factors, including colonialism, inequities and greed caused by the presence of diamonds, and structural inadequacies there was a sense of discontent among many people (“War-Related Sexual Violence” 15-9). As a result, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) invaded after training in Liberia, in an attempt to overthrow the incumbent government
This journal article examines the important personal experiences of boys who became child soldiers in the Sierra Leone civil war. Through, the lens of the structuration theory, the authors of the article examined how these boys were transformed into the armed forces. In addition, the authors discuss some of the challenges that child soldiers encounter during rehabilitation. The first author’s main point introduces the structuralist theory. Incorporating the ideas of Anthony Giddens the authors