A Long Way Gone has opened my eyes and changed how I understand the world. This book has shown me that each part of the world is different and many people are suffering all over the planet.
There are places in the world where living conditions are terrible. Food is scarce and water is unsanitary. Education is poor and medical knowledge and treatment is not the greatest. Where I live in, which is Canada we don't experience the things that others have to experience somewhere else in the world. I am also very lucky to live in a country that has never experienced war. After reading A Long Way Gone I learned that not everyone is as fortunate as I. The war started in a small part of Sierra Leone but quickly spread to the other parts of the country. War is traumatizing for adults but I read it through the eyes of a child. It opened my eyes to the condition that other children live in. Families fearing for their loved ones, people fearing that today might be their last. I could never imagine living that way.
War is not the only problem people have in the world. People need help with things that are very simple for us in Canada. Here all we have to do is turn a tap handle and fresh water comes out, In other parts in the world children have to walk miles to the nearest water source and that source may even have contaminated water but it's the only water they have. Here it's mandatory we go to school where in other part in the world kids miss out on school because they need to support their families. Poverty is a huge issue all over the world. People who don't have any money to support themselves or their family. There are a lot of reasons why people need help in the world. It takes one person to make a difference in the world. One tiny action in your life can help another somewhere else in the world. In the book Ishmael who experienced a harder way to live came through it all and is now educating others on how to make a difference and how to decrease the problems in the world. This book has really opened my heart, ears, and eyes to the suffering around me in the world.
It makes me frustrated with the people who know about these problems in the world but don't do anything to help. For example the genocide in Rwanda, I had learned and watched the people suffering in Rwanda. They had peacekeepers and soldiers there but when times got difficult they pulled out and let the innocent die. I couldn't believe hoe they could just do that. Even in the war in Sierra Leone when Ishmael got put into the government army it wasn't until two years later UNICEF came and toke Ishmael away.
People sometimes think there is nothing they can do to help, that it's hopeless, but there are things you can do to help.
After reading this book I am grateful for the little things I do to help the people in this world and what you can do too. Sponsor a child through World Vision or another organization. Join events at your school like Walk for Water or Free the Children. Knowing that I did something, even if it's small, makes me happy thinking I'm helping someone out there in the world.
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