Some people tried to hurt us to protect themselves, their family and communities...This was one of the consequences of civil war. People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy...
My teeth became sour as I listened to his story. It was then that I understood why he was quiet all the time.
I was sad to leave, but I was also pleased to have met people outside of Sierra Leone. Because if I was to get killed upon my return, I knew that a memory of my existence was alive somewhere in the wo...
I knew I could never forget my past, but I wanted to stop talking about it so that I would be fully present in my new life.
Children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.
We must strive to be like the moon.' An old man in Kabati repeated this sentence often... the adage served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and to be good to others. [S]he said tha...
We all knew that we could grieve only for a short while in order to continue staying alive.
My childhood had gone by without my knowing, and it seemed as if my heart had frozen.
How many more times do we have to come to terms with death before we find safety? he asked. He waited a few minutes, but the three of us didn't say anything. He continued: Every time people come at us...
When I was young, my father used to say, ‘If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die.’...
I learned that you are not free until you stop others from making you feel worthless. Because if you do not, you will eventually accept that you are worthless.
I AM PUSHING a rusty wheelbarrow in a town where the air smells of blood and burnt flesh. The breeze brings the faint cries of those whose last breaths are leaving their mangled bodies. I walk past th...
Even in the middle of the madness there remained that true and natural beauty, and it took my mind away from my current situation as I marveled at this sight.
But what was more violent than making people disbelieve in the worth of their own lives? What was more violent than making them believe they deserved less and less every day?
We must strive to be like the moon
One man carried his dead son. He thought the boy was still alive. The father was covered with his son's blood, and as he ran he kept saying, I will get you to the hospital, my boy, everything will be...
That night for the first time in my life I realized that it is the physical presence of people and their spirits that gives a town life. With the absence of so many people, the town became scary., the...
We had not only lost our childhood in the war but our lives had been tainted by the same experiences that still caused us great pain and sadness.
Sometimes a story does not make immediate sense—one has to listen and keep it in one’s heart, in one’s blood, until the day it will become useful.
If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die.