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The effects of war on children
Impact of civil war
Civil war in sierra leone
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Bad things happen all the time; but how you choose to handle them is what matters most. I could choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss; or, I could choose to rise up from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself.” ( Walter Anderson.) My mother passed away right after I was born. Shortly after, my father left the country and traveled to the United States with the goal of finding a job that would lead to a better lifestyle for his family. On March 23, 1991, a civil war started which became known as, “The Sierra Leone Civil War.” This war took everything from me and turned my life upside down. It brought so many tragedies; it took my grandmother away from me, educational opportunities, and left me with a lifetime of physical and emotional scars. The war left me in a coma state of blood loss, and burned limbs. After the war ended, I was found and immediately rushed to the hospital where the hardship to a new beginning started. Doctors did not want to treat me; they thought I was beyond treatment and should be left to die peacefu...
Think about how your life was when you were ten. For most people, the only worries were whether you finished your homework and if you’ve been recently updated for new games. Unfortunately, in Sierra Leone, kids at the age of ten were worried about if that day was the only day they’d be able to breathe. The cause of one of this devastating outcome is Sierra Leone’s Civil War. This war was a long bloody fight that took many lives and hopes of children and families.
During the 1900’s two deadly wars were raging on, the civil war in Sierra Leone and the genocide in Rwanda. The civil war in Sierra Leone began in March 1991, while the genocide began in 1994. Combined these two wars killed upward of 1,050,000 people, and affected the lives of all the people that lived there. The conflicts in Sierra Leone and Rwanda occurred for different major reasons, but many little aspects were similar. Politics and Ethnicity were the two main conflicts, but despite the different moments rebellions and the murder of innocent people occurred in both places.
War-ravaged Sierra Leone had trouble maintaining order, many still unclear what type of government they were living by. For years, the government of Sierra Leone had “made repeated commitments to...
The consequences of Sierra Leone civil war are children like Ishmael and his friends “by pass villages by walking through the nearby bushes” (Beach 37). By hiding behind bushes and sneaking by villages that is how they “would be safe and avoid causing chaos” (Beah 37). This civil war consequences were having people not only to be living in fear but fear of being caught or be in a village that gets under attack. Another consequence was losing loved ones, friends, and neighbors. But the final consequence was turning children and teenagers into child soldiers. (word count
Now that I am home, I am surrounded by family and friends. I have a wife and children. I see them, and hear them. They are right here in my life, just as I wished every single day while at war, but now even though I see them and hear them, I
There you stand over the body of a fallen friend, a brother or sister in arms. You are asking yourself why them, why not you? What could have I done to save them? That is when you wake up, sweating, panting. It was just a night terror, yet it feels the same as the day they died, even though it has been ten years. This is just one of the many emotional scars soldiers of war face. Though why do we go to war when this is the cost? For many it is because they are unaware of the psychological cost of war, they are only aware of the monetary cost. Tim O 'Brien addresses the true cost of war in The Things They Carried. O 'Brien suggests that psychological trauma caused by war impedes daily life in young Americans drafted into the Vietnam war. He does
America experienced many lasting changes because of this war. While the political, economic and social fabrics of the nation were changed, and hundreds...
During the author’s life in New York and Oberlin College, he understood that people who have not experienced being in a war do not understand what the chaos of a war does to a human being. And once the western media started sensationalizing the violence in Sierra Leone without any human context, people started relating Sierra Leone to civil war, madness and amputations only as that was all that was spoken about. So he wrote this book out o...
Where I am from, coming to America is an unachievable dream for most people; however, that dream became attainable to me one summer. When my father told my family and me that we were moving to America, I was very excited and I thought about a lot of things. I thought about all of the opportunities there were in the U.S. and how rich everyone must be. I also thought that everyone in the U.S. lived in big houses, and every school had a swimming pool. Most of what I conceived about America came from watching television, and a month later I would find out how wrong I was.
My family is first generation immigrants from Iraq, life coming to America was very hard. When we first came we did not speak much english. The first thing that made it so hard for us was learning a new language then having to take our citizenship test not to long after. Some of the questions that I studied for I know many native born Americans who would know the answers. This country though gave me an oppurintity that I never had before. My dad was drafted into the gulf war and during that time Sadam Hussian would have anyone killed if they did not. So my family fled to Saudi Arabia after time in the refugee camp we came to America. I feel that my story of life is so different, but I know many of us (immigrants) can relate to parts of my experiences.
We are all aware that wars are a constant struggle for humanity. They are horrible. We have heard plenty of war stories, been around many war survivors, and some may have unfortunatley experienced it for themselves. More than likely you havent. For us that have been fornunate enough to not be in that situation we are not aware of how brutal they really are. Wars change people. Sometimes for the better but mainly for the worst. There have been thousands of books written about war but some where true standouts. When i was in middle school i had the pleasure of reading "The Diary of Anne Frank" i dont want to sound predictable but this book changed how i view the world. It made me realize how cruel people were. I didnt think anyting could top
The only thing I can think about is food. I don’t think I can remember the feeling of having a full stomach, or my thirst quenched. Even the feeling of strength, of movement has left me. There’s no getting those feelings back until the war is over. The only thing that can be truly felt is the burn of the cold, and the fear. The fear is everything, consuming my thoughts, vision, and blurring the days together. It’s almost strong enough to overpower the hunger and thirst. I fear for my family’s safety, their sanity. My mother has started to go mad from the stress of taking care of my two younger sisters and myself. The war has stolen many things from my family; my father, brothers, home, everything. Even the sky is crying for us as it smudges my writing and blurs my vision even more.
While we were incredibly fortunate enough to escape the war, we continued to carry the trauma and distress of war well into our time in America, as several of our friends and relatives remained in our war torn hometown. I was too young to remember the trauma caused directly from the war that my parents are doomed to live with, However the pain of having to hear my mother sobbing through the night over the death of her sister is beyond enough to remind me of the tremendous opportunities I have been given here in America. My family was extremely fortunate to escape the war, but it would not have been possible without the best resource of all, my parents. The amount of steadfast, unconditional commitment which my parents had and continue to have for our family is beyond my level of comprehension. After escaping the war my parents were dedicated to giving our family an improved life compared to the one we left in the DRC. This dedication to a higher quality of life is the reason why my siblings and I have the opportunity to attend a university and accomplish something with our
The war destroyed and put an end man's life. It destroyed people in physical and even the emotional. These soldiers with major injuries will hold them all back from what they love to do most and what they w...
...at a doctor’s visit. She had a wound on her leg that would not heal and she complained to the doctor about how she was constantly thirsty. Her heart was affected and they were going to amputate her leg, but she passed away before they could do so. In the case of my grandfather, it was discovered that he had late onset or Type II Diabetes, which was most likely due to the effects of the war. He was able to control it with diet, but even though it was mild, it did affect his heart and he died of a stroke.