The Chapters of Childhood

There are some books that you don’t just read, they graft onto you.

That’s what happens with Ishmael Beah’s personal story, “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.”

Childhood is supposed to have many chapters to it. But some children, including Ishmael, have pages torn from their childhood and rewritten into unimaginable circumstances.
 

It’s a book you can’t put down. It rattles every part of you in its deeply honest account of the horrors of war and conflict – in such vulnerable form, in firsthand account. 

But it also inspires you. Resilience is redefined. Joy exists. And humanity is revealed in its beautiful layers; small gestures of kindness, and larger moments of support and intervention where life’s trajectory literally bends and redirects in real time.

At 12, Ishmael fled attacking rebels in Sierra Leone and was forced to manage through a country absorbed by violence. 

By 13, he was forcibly recruited by the government army as a child soldier.

At 16, he was removed from fighting by UNICEF, and through compassionate support by staff at a rehabilitation centre in Freetown, Sierra Leone, began building a new life including healing from the traumas he was forced to incur as a child. 

Today, a successful author and powerful storyteller, he also serves as a global Goodwill UNICEF Ambassador. Taking his personal experiences and wrapping them in messages of hope for what’s possible. And resolve that it gets more than just imagined. 

This is needed. Because we know that thousands of children are recruited and used in armed conflicts around the world today. Warring parties use children not only as fighters, but as scouts, cooks, guards, messengers – and many, especially girls, are also subjected to unconscionable gender-based violence and abuse.

UNICEF partners with governments, community groups and others to address the drivers of child recruitment and stop violations before they occur. And for children who are pulled into war, UNICEF supports the release and reintegration of thousands of children who exit armed forces and groups each year: A safe place to live. Psychosocial support. Community-based case management care. Family tracking and reunification. Physical health services. Education and catch-up classes. Vocational opportunities. 

No child should need these supports, but in 2022 alone, UNICEF responded to the needs of more than 12,500 child survivors.

Ishmael’s childhood is behind him, but his commitment to shaping the childhoods of others continues through his gifted voice and advocacy.

We’re fortunate to have Ishmael as our keynote speaker for the Halifax Chefs for UNICEF Canada Water for Life Gala tonight. An event powered for 32 years (!) with incredible volunteers led by Jeannine Bakeeff and including Daisy Cobden (with Ishmael and myself below.)

Thank you to everyone in the extended UNICEF family here in Halifax and our UNICEF Canada team for helping make tonight’s possible. And for all you do for every child.