Transformations of the heart: author and president to speak

VICKIE PAPAGEORGE COPY EDITOR VP724@CABRINI EDU

“There were all kinds of stories told about the war that made it sound as if it was happening in a faraway and different land. It wasn’t until refugees started passing through our town that we began to see that it was actually taking place in our country.” Those are the words that begin the 240-page memoir written by Sierra Leone native and former child soldier, Ishmael Beah.

Beah, author of “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” will be visiting and speaking during Cabrini’s Founder’s Day activities on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. in the Grace Hall Atrium.

The 26-year-old is known around the world for the account of his escape from his once peaceful life in the western African country, to being thrown into the whirlwind of heavy artillery, narcotics and the gruesome massacring of his fellow people. He is one of the first to tell the experiences of a boy soldier in his own words and then ultimately to recount his rescue and rehabilitation in the United States.

At the age of 12, Beah fled from his hometown in search of safe grounds as the rebels began invading the homes of innocent people and mercilessly murdering them. By the age of 13, Beah was adopted into the government army as a child soldier. He was immediately brainwashed and manipulated to commit crimes and acts of violence that were unimaginable to a child his age.

In 1991, civil war erupted in Sierra Leone. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel group formed to fight against the government that they believed was corrupt, attacked communities, raped women and children, amputated limbs and murdered innocent people to prove that their rulers were mismanaging diamond and mineral resources.

The rebel groups and the government, both opposing forces, used a large number of children as soldiers. Approximately one fourth of the children in Sierra Leone were forced to become soldiers and Beah was one. They carried weapons almost heavier than themselves and fought for something they did not understand at the time, as he

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Former child soldier Ishmael Beah will be speaking during Cabrini’s Founder’s Day activities. Beah’s personal memoir details his escape from his native country of Sierra Leone at a young age and follows his journey to the United States in search of rescue and rehabilitation. Beah graduated from Oberlin College in 2004 and is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee. He has spoken before the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory and many other NGO panels on children affected by war.

DIANA VILARES EVENTS EDITOR DVV722@CABRINI EDU

Catholic Relief Services President Ken Hackett will be speaking, along with author and ex-boy soldier Ishmael Beah, on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at Cabrini’s Founder’s Day. Hackett comes to speak to the Cabrini community with more than 30 years experience with CRS, including 15 years as its president. CRS works in more than 100 countries and has a global staff of approximately 5,000.

CRS provides relief assistance around the world after natural disasters and man-made ones like war. Additionally, it works in poor nations to help people develop and thrive. Finally, it seeks to promote in Americans a sense of global solidarity with the poor of the world.

In 1993 as executive director Hackett began leading CRS in new directions that sought to work on the root causes of injustice and war in the countries in which it worked. In addition to providing disaster relief, CRS focuses on hunger, food and water issues. Almost 20 percent of its budget works to help societies affected by HIV/AIDS. Education and peacebuilding work seek to lay a foundation for future improvements in poor countries. Microfinancing and food security are also on the list and are becoming hot topics amongst advocates for peace, equality and justice.

In October of 2007, Hackett’s position in the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s Board of Directors was confirmed for a second term. The MCC is the United States government’s corporation to work with the poorest countries in the world. Hackett’s honor comes with great esteem as the body of the MCC Board, chaired by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, is composed of only four non-governmental representatives in addition to five from the U.S. government.

“I am honored to be selected to a second term as an MCC Board member,” said Hackett in a press release releases by CRS. “Over the past three years I have witnessed this new agency evolve into a world-class institution that is helping millions of people pull themselves out of poverty. I am proud to have been part of this early success and look forward to more accomplishments in the future.”

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