Coincidentally as I started reading “And Still Peace Did Not Come,” a moving memoir about reconciliation in Liberia after 14 years of civil war, my Liberian friend Patricia Rogers emails me. The book focuses on the victims of the war which essentially is every single Liberian living during those times.
The story of the child soldiers is simply horrifying. They [the surviving child soldiers now mostly grown up] tell their stories on air during a call-in radio show hosted by the writer, Agnes Fallah Kamara-Umunna, and the things they did, they were forced to do, willingly did under the influence of whatever they were given and the mayhem they witnessed and caused is enough to make you reassess your life and appreciate what you have and what you don’t have.
The radio show was started as an outlet for people to speak. Reconciliation doesn’t come from everyone running around pretending they’re forgiving, forgiven and have forgotten what just happened. The mental scars are still fresh, and time alone isn’t enough to heal these types of wounds.
Eventually after I finish the book I may post something more about it, but in the meantime, coincidentally, Patricia has organized a Mental Health Fair coming up in a couple of weeks. Generally I’ll almost never promote an event outside of Washington, DC [call me a hater but I'm work-live-play DC] but Patricia is a special person and whatever she does deserves special recognition.
Dr. Josephine Kim [Lecturer on Education in the Prevention Science and Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Education] will be speaking at this free event 10:00 am on May 14 at the Covenant United Methodist Church in Montgomery Village, MD. Peek at the flier for more information and how you can get in touch with Patricia if you have questions.
