A Long Way Gone Essay

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In the memoir A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier written by author and activist Ishmael Beah, Ishmael tell his story about his gruesome and regretful time as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Ishmael was born in Sierra Leone where he lived his childhood along with his family. His family had consisted of his mom, dad, and two brothers. Growing up Ishmael had a normal childhood surrounded by family traditions, hearing stories told by his grandmother, and playing soccer almost daily with his friends. Unfortunately, when the war had hit his hometown, a village called Mogbwemo, he was separated from his family. Before the series of attacks had reached his hometown he was living with his dad due to the fact that his parents were divorced. He …show more content…

He is doing this by working with UNICEF, doing talks on awareness for children soldiers, and he has created the Ishmael Beah foundation. This foundation he created has helped many children soldiers with regenerating back into society. The same way that UNICEF helped him get back to the accustoms of a normal life. Currently he is a father of 4 year old daughter and lives in Nigeria, where he spends a lot of time writing. He graduated from Oberlin College where he spent the time writing this book. He acknowledged the professors and people who were involved who help him write A Long Way Gone. He has written and published a book called A Radiance of Tomorrow which is a novel. He is currently working on getting two other books published that he has written. “Beah tells EW. ‘And each time I embark on a new project, I write as if it is the first and last thing that I will ever write’...we also have another memoir in the works with Beah”(Biedenharn). Ishmael continues to inspire many as they read his troubling yet inspiring books as they realize what many children go through as they fight for their lives as child soldiers. Although Ishmael had to live as a child soldier for 2 years, has managed to turn a traumatic life experience to bring

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