A Long Way Gone

and Radiance of
Tomorrow:
Sierra Leone
Background

Write the information in GREEN!

Interview with Ishmael Beah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
5K4yhPSQEzo
What is ONE interesting or important
thing Beah has to say?
What are your first impressions of
Beah and his story?

Sierra Leone Profile

Full Name: Republic of
Sierra Leone
Population: 5.7 million
(2009)
Capital: Freetown
Major Languages: English,
Krio, and various African
languages.
Major Religions: Islam and
Christianity
Monetary Unit: Leone
Major Exports: Diamonds,
Rutile, Cocoa, Coffee, and
Fish

History of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Name means Lion
Mountains
1462: Portuguese explorers
arrive in Sierra Leone, which
was also already occupied by
several African tribes that had
migrated to the area.
1500s-1700s: Traders stopped in
Sierra Leone to exchange cloth
and metal goods for ivory,
timber, and slaves.
*Abolitionists later help slaves
return to Africa in what is now
the
Province of Freedom
or Freetown
in Sierra Leone.
They came to be
called Krio.

History of Sierra Leone

1808: Sierra Leone became a
British crown colony
1839: Slaves aboard the
Amistad revolt to secure their
freedom.
1951: A constitution is enacted
by the British to begin the
process of decolonization (or
when a colony becomes selfgoverning)
April 27, 1961: Sierra Leone
becomes independent with Sir
Milton Margai as its first prime
minister.

Sir Milton Margai

Sengbe Pieh
(Joseph Cinque)

Civil War in Sierra Leone

March 1991: The
Revolutionary United Front
(RUF) began attacking
villages in eastern Sierra
Leone.

Civil War in Sierra Leone

January 2002: President
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
(elected in 1996) declared
the civil war officially over.

Recovery in Sierra Leone

50,000 killed; 500,000 displaced
2003: Rebel leader Foday
Sankoh died.
Many child soldiers, like
Ishmael Beah, also had to begin
a personal healing process to
restore their sense of humanity
and to forgive themselves.

Ishmael Beah
At 15, UNICEF removed Beah from fighting
and helped him begin rehabilitating.
In 1998 he moved to the U.S. and finished
high school. He graduated from Oberlin
College in 2004.
He is a member of the Human Rights
Watch Childrens Rights Division Advisory
Committee and speaks on behalf of
children affected by war.
He began the Ishmael Beah Foundation to
help former child soldiers.

The Diamond Trade in

Sierra Leone
During the civil war in Sierra Leone, people
who purchased diamonds in the West
unknowingly funded the mission of Foday
Sankoh and the RUF
These diamonds came to be known as
blood diamonds or conflict diamonds
These diamonds were specifically mined in
war zones of Africa to fund the invading
armys efforts.
Liberia would trade weapons and training
to Sierra Leone in exchange of their
diamonds.

Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme
Created in 2002 to control the
flow blood diamonds.
A Kimberley Certification must
be presented by a gems owner
before it can leave the country.
This forces the government to
keep track of the diamonds they
are importing and exporting and
their value.

Blood Diamonds in the

U.S.

Executive Order 13194 ( Jan 2001) and

13213 (May 2001) specifically ban the
importation of rough diamonds from
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Clean Diamond Trade Act (2003): U.S.
recognizes that as a major consumer of
diamonds, it has a responsibility to
severe its ties to any diamond trade
that funds war and conflict.
This was crucial to the success of the
KPCS.