Former child soldier coming to campus

By Andrew Barbero

Former child soldier and award-winning author Ishmael Beah will speak at the University of Calgary Sun., Mar. 16.

Beah’s book, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Child Soldier, chronicles his youth in Sierra Leone, where he lost his entire family to civil war and was forced into military service at the age of 13. The book documents the atrocities of the war, the acts Beah was coerced into committing, as well as his eventual rescue and rehabilitation at the hands of UNICEF. Receiving an abundance of praise for both the literary quality and horrifying truths contained in his book, many would recognize Beah from his numerous television appearances, including the gamut of networks news programs and high-profile interviews with George Stroumboulopoulos and Jon Stewart.

Now living in New York and working with the Human Rights Watch Children’s Division Advisory Committee, Beah continues to advocate for the estimated 300,000 child soldiers still deployed today.