I went to hear Ishmael Beah speak last night, and when he uttered those famous words; “call me Ishmael” (when someone referred to him as Mr. Beah) a lady in the crowd thought it was metaphoric, but I’m not going to get into that.

I wasn’t sure what to expect; I imagined it’d be dark and horrifying. I know evil abound in this world and although I believe we all have it in us; I’ve never deliberately been in a presence of someone who has (albeit involuntarily) committed such atrocities before.

It was a packed auditorium. When he walked on stage the woman behind me muttered “he’s just a kid” he looks very young and the evening wasn’t at all what I expected.

He’s a very affable young man, precocious and very well spoken. He spoke of his life before the war – I’m not sure how many times he’s had to tell these stories but you could still hear the happiness in his voice. He then talked about the sad and ghastly parts of his life thereafter; on the run and as a child soldier.

He’s seen, endured, and has been forced to do some very atrocious things; yet manages to keep his wits about him and most importantly he survived and is hopefully a better person for that.

He echoed a sentiment I’ve lived with for years – you don’t have to suffer pain to learn, you can easily learn from others, this makes his book even more significant.

Another thing is the emotions I felt; I know for most of the people in the audience this was a horrific tale of far away lands as told by a survivor, for me it was very real. These were people I once lived among and the places like Bo, Makeni and Kenema… he mentions are places I know.

His story gives me a twinge of hope for all those faceless and nameless children out there but it also breaks my heart into little pieces, knowing they’re still out there, in danger, hurt, scared, alone and ignored while we go about our pitiful little existences.

If he’s going to be in your town – you have to go see him! You’ll be inspired.

On a personal note, I couldn’t help but notice he has such perfect teeth.

Technorati tags: Ishmael Beah, Sierra Leone, A Long Way Gone

At independence, Nkrumah envisioned an industrialized and prosperous nation that would be free of deprivation. Back then, Ghana boasted a $400 per capita income, putting it on par with Korea or Malaysia; today, the two Asian economies are nearly five (Malaysia) to almost ten (South Korea) times the size of their West African counterpart. And Ghana is now dependent on foreigners, a donor favorite receiving more than $1 billion annually in aid…(read whole article)

Though I hardly read the site; World Politics Watch is one of the podcasts I’m subscribed to. The posts are infrequent but always entertaining and insightful.

Blake Lambert talks to three Ghanaians about their views on Ghana fifty years after independence.

Technorati tags: World Politics Watch, Ghana@50

This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

John Oliver Secondary School, 530 East 41 Ave., Vancouver

Link

Happy Belated International Women’s Day!

A very long time (hopefully centuries) ago, among my people, when a woman gave birth, the question was asked: “what did she have?” and the response if it’s a boy was “כwoo nipa” (she had a human / person) and “כwoo obaa” (she had a girl).

Don’t ever forget how far we’ve come.

Technorati tags: International Women’s Day

I’ve been using Windows Live Writer for a while now (I’ll save that review for another day) and I couldn’t seem to come up with an excuse to use maps until today!

Every once in a while I like to get away, otherwise I feel a little trapped, then I start feeling sorry for myself, then I loose interest in everything and ponder moving away to start my life over.

A day away normally gets me rejuvenated, an overnight or weekend trip involving a boat or plane really does the trick.

This weekend is just a road trip to Seattle, but spending the night should help.

I’m going to a Ghana independence celebration in Seattle; which should be interesting – I don’t think I’ve ever met a Ghanaian on all my trips to Seattle.

We’ll leave early Saturday morning and make a weekend out of it. I’m even prepared for the crazy long waits at the boarder; I’ve six long video podcasts to get me through.

On one long weekend we waited in line for close to three hours! I didn’t want to go to the States that bad yet I couldn’t easily turn back at the point since I’d already left Canada and hadn’t officially entered the States yet, I guess it’s limbo.

I’m determined to have fun… the fact that I’m getting away is fun enough, too bad the weather remains the same.

Anyway, so here’s where I’m going to be just in case you want to stalk me! (Kidding, I just want to use the “insert map” feature in Live Writer. Please don’t stalk me)

Technorati tags: Seattle, Ghana@50