I'm reading a book called, A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Child Soldier. A 12-year-old boy goes with his 16-year-old brother to a neighboring village for the day. While the boys are away, their village is attacked by rebels. Long story short, the 12-year-old ends up enlisted in the “army” to fight the rebels. He eventually makes it out and is rehabilitated.
It is a painful story. My heart hurts when I think of these people whose lives are turned upside down by war. How do you recover from something like that? This 12-year-old child looses his mother, father, and brothers. He is handed a gun and a mountain of drugs and is told, “These are the people who killed your family, you must take revenge!” These children shake with fear when handed weapons, then within 6 months are making games and contests out of how many people they can kill. He is only TWELVE! These are children!
I hope this story will help me learn to better appreciate a hot shower, a cold glass of clean water, a soft bed in a warm house, and that I am able to walk my daughter to school in the morning without fear of attack.
We must practice and teach peace and tolerance. Our lives will be richer and we will be happier.
Pinkie promise.
3 comments:
You are braver then I. I don't think I have the strength to read a book that painful and real.
As far as my list, I only listed the things I thought were worth other people's attention. Mostly I read crap, too!
I can't stop thinking about ripple effects and your topic today makes me think about it even more. Like that stupid movie, The Butterfly Effect, I think it will drive me insane!
Hiya! Came over from Ruth... Here are a couple of similarly painful books, but very good to read together. Kind of gives both sides of the same story. 'So Far from the Bamboo Grove' and 'Year of Impossible Goodbyes'. They are autobiographical, about North Korea in the 40's, the first by a Japanese girl (Yoko Kawashawa Watkins), the second by a Korean girl (Sook Nyul Choi). Choi wrote a follow-up called 'Echoes of the White Giraffe'. They have both written other stuff, but I don't know if it is fiction or not.
Hi yah! I too came over from Ruthy's place to check yah out! When I saw you loved Lost and Survivor- I knew I found my buddy! I LOVE those shows, I even tried out for Survivor a couple of years ago, but they weren't intrested in a middle aged frau :O( I'll be stopping by more often, welcome to the fold!
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