Child soldier to discuss experience

Wed, March 4, 2009 |

A best-selling author forced to fight in Sierra Leone's army as a teenager will recount his experiences during March 30 and 31 talks at Valparaiso University.

Ishmael Beah, author of "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier," will speak at 7 p.m. each day in Harre Union on campus. Tickets to Beah's talk go on sale at 9 a.m. March 17 and are free for VU students, faculty and staff. Purchase tickets online at valpo.edu/union/tickets, by calling (219) 464-5415 or in person at the Harre Union Welcome Desk.

Beah's memoir recounts how at age 12 he fled his home in the midst of a civil war wracking Sierra Leone and within a year was forced into the government army. Trained to fire an AK-47 and given as many drugs as he could consume, Beah discovered he was capable of truly horrible acts before he was eventually released and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center.

"A Long Way Gone" describes how Beah struggled to regain his humanity and return to a regular life with his countrymen, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. With approximately 300,000 boy soldiers estimated to be fighting in dozens of conflicts around the world, Beah's narrative shows what war looks like through the eyes of a child.

Now 28, Beah is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Division Advisory Committee and has spoken before the United Nations, Council on Foreign Relations, Marine Corps' Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities, and many other panels on children affected by the war.

Freshmen each of the past two years have read "A Long Way Gone" during the fall semester as part of Valparaiso's Core program, and program director Dr. John Ruff said the book is highly rated by students. Beah will have lunch with Core faculty on March 30.

"A Long Way Gone" also is this year's selection for Valpo Reads A Book, an annual civic event of reading and conversation.

Beah's appearance on campus is supported by Harris Bank, Harre Union, Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources, Christ College, Office of the Provost, Union Board, Valpo Reads A Book, Department of History, Valparaiso Project on Civic Reflection, Lilly Project on Theological Exploration of Vocation and the Cultural Arts Committee.