Whenever I Speak At The United Nations,

A Lot Of People, When They Say Forgive And Forget, They Think You Completely Wash Your Brain Out And Forget Everything. That Is Not The Concept. What I Think Is You Forgive And You Forget So You Can Transform Your Experiences, Not Necessarily Forget Them But Transform Them, So That They Dont Haunt You Or Handicap You Or Kill You.

The Places I Come From Have Such Rich Languages, Such A Variety Of Expression. In Sierra Leone We Have About Fifteen Languages And Three Dialects. I Grew Up Speaking About Seven Of Them.

I Get A Chance To Observe The Moon Now, I Still See Those Same Images I Saw When I Was Six, And It Pleases Me To Know That That Part Of My Childhood Is Still Embedded In Me.

This Is One Of The Consequences Of The Civil War. People Stop Trusting Each Other, And Every Stranger Becomes An Enemy.

Some People Tried To Hurt Us To Protect Themselves, Their Family And Communities...this Was One Of The Consequences Of Civil War. People Stopped Trusting Each Other, And Every Stranger Became An Enemy. Even People Who Knew You Became Extremely Careful About How They Related Or Spoke To You.