sorry. the machine won't let me down to correct my spelling.

Damn. I mean it won't let me edit. But now it will. Too late.

I very much enjoyed "A Long Way Gone."  Beah came to Winnipeg to speak at one of the universities here and I was able to attend.  I had expected a reading from his book followed by a few expanded stories and experiences that weren't covered in the text.

What he spoke about was very different.

He spoke for an hour on the beauty of Sierra Leone, of the joys of living there pre-war, and of the community that once existed there.  He wasn't reminiscent of a past forever gone, rather he was making an effort to help us see Sierra Leone past the images of war.  All we see in the media is war and poverty.  Rarely do we see the beauty of such places.  His talk was an amazing follow up to the book.

You might enjoy reading "An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-First Century" by James Orbinski.  Orbinski, a Canadian, spent his life working for Doctors Without Borders and this book is a riveting memoir of his life with the organisation.  "A Long Way Gone" was the most fascinating non-fiction book I'd ever read until I came across "An Imperfect Offering," which is immensely more riveting, in my opinion.

then I'll certainly get a copy.

Beah must be a quite remarkable person. I wish I had heard him speak.

I think this is very important.  So often those outside only see the horror and it is easy to turn way thinking that is the way it is, the way it has always been.

I watched a documentary on Afghanistan, before the wars with the Russians and the Americans.  It was a beautiful country, with a rich heritage, full of colour.  It was robbed of its colour and now few are left to remember enough to return to that point.

LB

Remember your humanity and forget the rest.

     Albert Einstein