My Childhood Had Gone By

This Is One Of The Consequences Of The Civil War. People Stop Trusting Each Other, And Every Stranger Becomes An Enemy.

In Early 1993, When I Was 12, I Was Separated From My Family As The Sierra Leone Civil War, Which Began Two Years Earlier, Came Into My Life.

Whenever I Speak At The United Nations, Unicef Or Elsewhere To Raise Awareness Of The Continual And Rampant Recruitment Of Children In Wars Around The World, I Come To Realize That I Still Do Not Fully Understand How I Could Have Possibly Survived The Civil War In My Country, Sierra Leone.

My Teeth Became Sour As I Listened To His Story. It Was Then That I Understood Why He Was Quiet All The Time.

I Believe That There Is A God, And Coming From An African Tradition, I Believe Also That There Are Gods.