A Long Way Gone - Book Summary

Embark on a journey through a child's battlefield in Sierra Leone's civil war.

In the volatile landscape of the early 1990s, a civil upheaval in Liberia sparked a flame of rebellion in neighboring Sierra Leone. The civilians decided to resist their government, leading to over a decade of brutal warfare that resulted in the death of thousands.

A particularly horrifying aspect of this war was the use of children in the battles. Boys, some as young as seven who could barely hold a gun, were thrust into the harsh world of combat.

The author of "A Long Way Gone" was one of these young soldiers. When the conflict was at its inception, he was torn from his family and thrust into survival mode, which led to his eventual recruitment by the national army. He was manipulated, drugged, and coerced into participating in unimaginable atrocities, enduring horrors that no one, especially a child, should ever be subjected to.

This narrative is a testament to the author's personal experiences — a tale of loss, redemption, and resilience woven into the fabric of a terrifying civil war.

During this narrative journey, you will uncover:

— How the national army resorted to fear-mongering to maintain a bloodthirsty army of boys,

— The bitter truth that for rescued child soldiers, peace was just as turbulent as war, and

— The profound healing power of love and compassion in the face of the ugliest scars of war.

The onset of Sierra Leone's civil war: a peaceful world suddenly turned on its head.

While the Western view may often equate Africa with civil unrest and conflict, this is a stereotype far removed from the reality. African nations, like any others, yearn for tranquility. Sierra Leone, for instance, had experienced many peaceful years before the devastating civil war began in the 1990s.

The author fondly reminisces about his childhood memories — observing his mother making meals, dancing to hip-hop tunes with friends at local talent shows, and simply living a life quite similar to that of most children around the world.

In his early days, war seemed like an alien concept, something you'd see in a movie, read about in a book, or hear in a BBC broadcast about the ongoing conflict in neighboring Liberia. Thus, when the war actually descended upon them, it arrived as an unanticipated and dreadful surprise.

A certain January day in 1993 saw the author, his older brother Junior, and a friend named Talloi making a 16-mile journey to Mattru Jong from their home in Mogbwemo. They arrived in town to participate in a talent show, planning to lodge at a friend’s house.

But their joyful visit quickly soured when their friend shared the chilling news — their hometown, Mogbwemo, had been struck by a rebel attack.

The brothers resolved to return to Mogbwemo to seek out their family. However, on their journey, they encountered throngs of terrified people fleeing from their hometown, some injured, others carrying whatever personal belongings they could salvage. The sight of a lifeless body brought the harsh reality into focus — their family must have also evacuated Mogbwemo. Terrified, the brothers retreated towards the relative safety of Mattru Jong.

Experiencing such drastic change — from enjoying familial love and peace one day, to the panic of losing your family and home the next — was a nightmare in itself. But unfortunately, the war had even more horrific nightmares in store.

As we continue, we will explore how war impacts the most vulnerable population within any nation — its children.

Amid the civil war, children bore the brunt, struggling to survive alone or in small groups.

Regrettably, the author's ordeal was not an anomaly. As the chaos and brutality of the civil war engulfed Sierra Leone, the children found themselves in the eye of the storm.

The abrupt commencement of the conflict often led to the separation of children from their families during town and village raids, leaving them to navigate the perils of survival alone. Furthermore, communication avenues were scarce; there were no cell phone networks in the early 1990s to contact distant family members.

The abruptness of the crisis left the citizens of Sierra Leone unprepared. The author was engrossed in an ordinary daily task — preparing a meal — when the violence of war came knocking at his doorstep. Staying at a friend's house in Mattru Jong, he witnessed rebels storming into the town and wreaking havoc, shooting indiscriminately at civilians.

So, how did these children cope when they found themselves suddenly alone in a battlefield?

They were left with no choice but to wander from village to village, braving the peril of rebel groups, scavenging for food. Picture the harrowing plight of a child burdened with the overwhelming responsibilities of adult life overnight. The author's only hope for survival was in teaming up with other lone boys like himself.

During an unforeseen assault, he lost his brother and was forced to flee for his life. After some time, he chanced upon a group of six boys, with whom he formed a little band, questing for sustenance and safety.

However, he was soon to discover that even this frail camaraderie wouldn't shield him from the brutalities of war.

Young males in Sierra Leone lived in constant danger, pursued by rebels and feared by civilians.

Although war's torment plagued all children, young boys of Sierra Leone bore an additional burden of terror. They found themselves not only in the crosshairs of rebel troops but also perceived as threats by the local population.

How could innocent local boys possibly be considered dangerous by their village communities?

As the war prevailed, whispers of rebel troops deploying boy soldiers began to circulate, instilling terror in the hearts of Sierra Leoneans. Tales of boys forced into the brutality of battle, even made to annihilate their friends and families echoed through the populous.

One ghastly strategy employed by rebels to conscript boys into their cohort involved branding the group's emblem — the initials RUF standing for Revolutionary United Front — onto children's skin using a heated bayonet.

Once marked with the cursory RUF brand, the boys were subject to the rebels' whim. Sierra Leonean soldiers and civilians alike viewed anyone bearing the RUF insignia as an enemy, showing no mercy.

As fears around boy soldiers grew, civilians became increasingly suspicious of all young males. The author, along with his six companions, found this out the hard way when a band of civilians resorted to capturing and torturing them.

The group's desperate search for safety led them to a seemingly deserted village. Suddenly, they were ambushed by villagers, stripped of their shoes, and driven across scorching sand.

With severely blistered and burnt feet, the healing of their wounds marked the passage of painful days. The author was only 12 at the time, with some in the group even younger.

However, the suspicion and occasional violence exhibited by villagers was but a shadow of the cruelty inflicted by the Sierra Leone national army. Let's delve deeper into the distressing reality of a child soldier's life.

Boys were forced into the firing line by the Sierra Leone national army during the civil war.

Imagine the horrors the child soldiers had to endure in rebel forces. Sadly, not even the national army, supposedly fighting for the people's protection, abstained from inhumane conduct. They too compelled young boys into their ranks and the war.

After spending considerable time on the run, the author and his companions were seized by the national army and transported to a military base in Yele. Their initial days were surprisingly peaceful, offering semblances of normalcy, such as regular meals and rest.

But as the rebel forces approached Yele and national soldiers started falling in droves, this tranquility was shattered. Lieutenant Jebati, the commanding officer, called a gathering and declared that the army needed more soldiers, urging the boys to enlist.

While the lieutenant initially maintained that anyone averse to fighting could depart, the boys felt cornered. The longing for security, juxtaposed with the fear and starvation they had experienced, made them feel as though they had no other option but to fight.

This illusion of a choice was shattered the next day. The lieutenant gruesomely displayed the lifeless bodies of a man and a boy from their group, stating they were ambushed by rebels after leaving Yele.

And what fate awaited the children who gave in and joined the national army?

These boys, aged from seven to 17, were treated no different from adult soldiers. There were 30 boys at Yele and each of them was burdened with weapons and subjected to rigorous military training. Despite the youngest barely being able to lift a weapon, he was provided a stool to prop it up during drills.

Once the training concluded, they were thrust into the battlefield. The author recounts his first combat experience; panic-stricken and disoriented, he couldn't even trigger his weapon. However, seeing his friends being slaughtered around him soon jolted him into the brutal reality of war.

Boy soldiers were manipulated into becoming ruthless killers with the aid of drugs and army propaganda.

Wrapping your head around the image of a 13-year-old boy turned soldier might seem near-impossible at first. But upon discovering the disturbing methods used by the army to brainwash their young recruits into relentless killers, the grim truth starts to unfold.

The first tactic involved feeding the boys with potent drugs to drastically alter their perception of reality.

Before the author's introduction to combat, the army commanders dosed the boys with white capsules which filled them with a surge of energy. Drugs eventually became an inherent part of the boys' existence — a tool systemically wielded to convert them into adolescent death squads, devoid of pain or empathy.

Marijuana was liberally supplied to the boys. Still, the drug that permeated the boy-soldiers' reality most frequently was 'brown brown', a lethal concoction of cocaine and gunpowder.

However, the reliance on drugs was just one part of the larger scheme to weaponize children. Extensive propaganda played an equally crucial role.

On their maiden day as official soldiers, Lieutenant Jebati initiated them with a fervid speech. He manipulated their shared trauma by pinning the blame for their shattered lives on the rebels — the very rebels who were said to have razed their homes and mercilessly slain their families.

During drills, the boys were conditioned to visualize the face of their enemy — the so-called architects of their suffering — sparking a blind rage and fuelling a thirst for brutality under the pretense of revenge.

Such propaganda manipulation became the army's default strategy till it was no longer needed. It was so deeply ingrained in the boys that it had become their reality.

End-of-war dialogues under the aegis of the United Nations revealed the harrowing fact that such disinformation was ubiquitous — with rebel child soldiers recounting similar fabrications.

But what happens when a boy soldier is extricated from the lethal grip of war? Let's explore how these young warriors navigated the path to recovery in Sierra Leone.

Returning boy soldiers grappled with the profound trauma of their wartime experiences.

Any war veteran knows all too well — escaping the battlefield doesn't equate to escaping the war. Whether fighters or civilians, those who survive war carry the nightmares of their experiences long after the guns fall silent.

Many child soldiers, even after the cessation of hostilities, behaved as though they were still locked in combat. The author's rescue in 1996, when UNICEF workers arrived at his village, marked his transition from several years of hardened conflict into hopeful rehabilitation.

A commanding officer assembled 15 boys, including the author, and told them they no longer had to fight. They were to accompany the UNICEF workers, who promised to help them embark on a new path in life.

The author, along with hundreds of other child soldiers, was transported to a rehabilitation center called Benin Home, close to the capital, Freetown. Thus began the arduous journey of transition for the boys. The drugs, which had been a staple of their daily existence, took months to flush out of their bodies — and even when they were chemically clean, the emotional trauma of the war continued to torment them.

Frequent fights sprang up amongst the boys, unprovoked attacks were launched on the staff, and school supplies were regularly set ablaze. Orders from civilian helpers were met with fierce resistance.

In essence, peace had not fully dawned on them.

Haunting memories of war dogged the author. Despite the comfort of a clean bed and regular meals, the luxurious amenities did little to alleviate the deep-seated trauma. The author was still entangled in harrowing memories of unthinkable acts he and his comrades had been forced to commit.

For instance, overhearing a nurse addressing a junior lieutenant sparked a surge of disturbing memories within the author. The very mention of that military rank reminded him of the heinous duties he had shouldered in the same role — annihilating entire villages, setting rebels on fire.

Although such cruelty felt bearishly normal amidst the intoxication of drugs and the coercion of fellow soldiers, the sobered author was now wrestling with the horrifying reality of his barbaric past.

Caregivers' empathy and familial love guided the author to transform his torment into constructive engagement.

A cloud of bleakness hung over the futures of ex-child soldiers, who, though free from the grip of war, continued to display a propensity for violence. However, against this backdrop of despair, glimmers of hope emerged.

Remarkably, it was the gentle and empathetic treatment extended to the author by his caregivers that enabled him to grapple with and recover from the monstrous atrocities he had both witnessed and committed.

Boy soldiers initially hurled both verbal and physical abuse at the staff of Benin Home. Despite this, the staff never retaliated or renounced their duties. Each violent outburst from a boy was met with empathy and kindness, always underscoring that the child's aggressive behavior was not his fault.

A nurse named Esther played a crucial role in the author's path to recovery. Esther coaxed him into receiving a medical examination, gifted him a Walkman along with some music tapes, and lent an understanding ear as he relayed his horrific battlefield memories. Her kindness impacted the author profoundly, aiding his healing process.

Esther was not alone. His uncle Tommy, too, played an instrumental role in his rehabilitation journey, showering him with love and even welcoming him into his home, paving the way for the author's return to a semblance of normalcy.

Thus, the author could finally retreat from the clutches of war and channel his traumatic experiences into more productive pursuits.

Following an impressive performance in a talent show arranged by Benin Home for the United Nations, the European Union, and several NGOs, the author quickly became the face of the rehabilitation center.

His journey later took him to New York to partake in the United Nations First International Children’s Parliament, where children from various global corners congregated. He used this platform to shed light on the harrowing hardships children in Sierra Leone had endured.

Eventually, with his book and his story, the author was able to share the tribulations of Sierra Leone and its people with thousands worldwide, instigating a wave of empathy and understanding.

In conclusion

The civil war that ravaged Sierra Leone descended abruptly and mercilessly, ripping families asunder. The death toll soared into the thousands, but the war had a particularly heartbreaking impact on young boys. Forced into the national army and rebel factions from as early as seven years old, these child soldiers bore the brunt of overwhelming trauma. Only the most profound expressions of compassion and care could eventually pave their path toward healing.