In Early 1993, When I Was 12,

My Childhood Had Gone By Without My Knowing, And It Seemed As If My Heart Had Frozen.

Whenever I Speak At The United Nations, Unicef Or Elsewhere To Raise Awareness Of The Continual And Rampant Recruitment Of Children In Wars Around The World, I Come To Realize That I Still Do Not Fully Understand How I Could Have Possibly Survived The Civil War In My Country, Sierra Leone.

We Must Live In The Radiance Of Tomorrow, As Our Ancestors Have Suggested In Their Tales. For What Is Yet To Come Tomorrow Has Possibilities, And We Must Think Of It, The Simplest Glimpse Of That Possibility Of Goodness. That Will Be Our Strength. That Has Always Been Our Strength.

I Had A Very Simple, Unremarkable And Happy Life. And I Grew Up In A Very Small Town. And So My Life Was Made Up Of, You Know, In The Morning Going To The River To Fetch Water - No Tap Water, And No Electricity - And, You Know, Bathing In The River, And Then Going To School, And Playing Soccer Afterwards.

I Believe In Having A More Open Mind And Including Others Who Don't Share Your Faith And Having Dialogue With Them. And Just Having A Pure Heart And Being A Good Person Can Bring You Closer To God. Because Once You Believe In One Particular Religion Fully And Not Others, That Requires You To Start Disliking People Who Don't Share Your Views.