SHADOWS INTO LIGHT

The toll of war on the young.

Rebel armies abducted both boys and girls in the Sierra Leone Civil War, which inflicted tens of thousands of casualties and displaced more than 2 million people between 1991 and 2002. Some bore arms, others took roles as scouts, scavengers, cooks, or any other task their captors ordained. Extreme violence—including execution for minor offenses—and sexual abuse were commonplace, and many of the girls became pregnant. Not surprisingly, they encountered obstacles when returning to civilian life—PTSD, bullying and teasing at school, rejection by families and neighbors. After the war, Betancourt, then a Ph.D. student at Harvard, went to Sierra Leone to study how the survivors were adapting. Now a professor at Boston College, she tells some of their stories, as well as the stories of those who tried to help them become healthy, productive citizens. Not all succeeded. Many of the boys joined gangs or became drug addicts; many of the girls turned to sex work to support themselves and their own children. Those who escaped these traps usually did so with the support of their families and communities. Those working to help the survivors reintegrate found success by persuading family and respected elders to give the survivors support. Still, the programs were impeded by inadequate funding and staffing—there are only three practicing psychiatrists in the entire country—and by a traditional culture that stigmatized mental illness. General readers may find some of the text slow going because of technical jargon, but the story as a whole is inspiring. A bonus for many readers will be the close-up view of Sierra Leone, a country few Americans know well.

An eye-opening look at how young survivors of wartime trauma can achieve postwar success.