Ishmael Beah

This past Wednesday, the wider Poly community had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Ishmael Beah. Having worked with UNICEF, co-founded Narrative4, and authored the novel A Long Way Gone, Beah showed us all the power of storytelling.

Born in a small village in Sierra Leone in 1980, Ishmael Beah's world flipped up side when the infamous Civil War started lasting through the 90s into the early 2000s. After a rough experience as a child soldier, UNICEF took him and other former child soldiers to a rehabilitation program. After the latter, he went to live with his uncle in the capitol and then eventually to New York to assist in policy making related to war. Beah was soon adopted and started attending school in the Big Apple. Here, he developed a passion for writing and storytelling.

His work started small and finished big, but always remained in the vein of broadening people's horizons. One of his first written pieces was an essay to the UN about why he did not have a report card. This was his first step on the road to writing an entire book about his experience. Beah's powerful and unique voice are attached to his blooming from such a trying time but also from his village tradition. Because storytelling was a fundamental part of his village's culture (as they were regarded as medicine), Beah appreciated the power of trading tales. Moreover, Beah's experience as a child soldier in such an oppressive environment taught Beah that sharing stories was a central pillar of democracy.

After this event, upper school Poly students had the opportunity to actually participate in a Narrative 4 Story Exchange. Students were assigned specific breakout rooms where they told each other stories. Uncovering the power of empathy through sharing, students retold other students' stories from the I perspective. This experience definitely added to my understanding of Mr. Beah's work.

Ishmael Beah's Assembly was inspring to say the least. Between his transformative experience as a child soldier, to his time adapting to a new lifestyle in the US, Beah's life and experience gives him a very unique and important perspective. Mr. Beah has shown us that human connection can surmount anything.