The 24th Son

Born three years before the brutal civil war broke out in Sierra Leone, my twenty-three siblings and I grew up amongst the daily heavy choices of what - and who - must be sacrificed to survive. Everyone has scars. Everyone has fears. But not everyone comes from a family of 24 children. This is my story. This is my voice. The voice of both a child and a man. A child forced to end his childhood in order to survive. A man whose dreams are still haunted by memories of the war. From a country's war to a war within myself: this is the story of the 24th son. I have achieved my three goals-degree, wife and house-and was even lucky enough to have my beloved mother there to witness it. But will it all come undone because of the legacy of the war?