Abstract
My favourite time with Richie was in the evening after dinner. In the absence of electricity, we would sit outside in our yard catching the cool breeze in the darkness, listening to the evening noises. During this time, we would talk for hours covering an array of subjects from European football to his Zatti FC teammates to general life. It was during these times that Richie described his experiences of the war, his life before displacement and his ambitions for the future. His story would enlighten me on the experiences of being a child during the conflict, his journey to Monrovia and his life now. His story represents many young Liberian’s experiences during the conflict and most significantly their position in Liberian society now.
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Notes
- 1.
By this Richie was referring to men and women of specific ethnic affiliation.
- 2.
The ATU (1997–2003) was a security force established to protect government buildings and embassies. In reality it acted as its own terror group. Nicknamed the ‘demon forces’ it caused fear and committed some of the most violent acts during the conflict. The group consisted predominantly of foreign nationals from Burkino Faso, the Gambia as well as the RUF combatants from Sierra Leone. Chuckie is now serving 97 years in a US prison (c.f. Armstrong and Rosbrook-Thompson 2012).
- 3.
Pekin is a local term for boy or younger male. It is a pidgin word derived from the Portuguese word pequenino or pequeno, meaning small.
Reference
Armstrong, G & Rosbrook-Thompson, J (2012). Terrorizing defences: Sport in the Liberian Civil Conflict. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 47(3), pp 358–378.
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Collison, H. (2016). Richie. In: Youth and Sport for Development. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52470-6_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52470-6_3
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