Map West Africa

x I’m Olayinka and this is my best friend Baboo. We’re going to show you around our home, West Africa!

In school I learned that each country in West Africa is either a republic or a democracy, which means that people vote for their leaders.

Politics have changed a lot in West Africa in the years since countries became independent of their European rulers. Most countries have been through lots of political ups and down. There have been government take-overs by the military and many angry military leaders who haven’t made decisions that help people.

Sometimes, there have even been civil wars. My country, Sierra Leone, recently went through one of these wars. It was very violent and lasted 11 years.

The war was mostly caused by the diamond trade in my country. Sierra Leone has lots of diamonds, and companies all over the world wanted to buy them. The government and the rebel army in my country were fighting against each other for control of the diamond mines.

They wanted these diamonds so badly, they didn’t care how many people they hurt to get them. Many of my friends and family members were killed or injured. Thinking about it still makes me cry.

10,000 kids were forced to fight in the war as soldiers.

Worst of all, 10,000 kids were forced to fight in the war as soldiers. Some of the older boys who go to my school fought in the war. My brother Tamba is one of them. I’ll let him tell his story:

Tamba One day, the rebel army came to my school. They killed all our teachers. Then they told the kids we had to fight. I didn’t want to fight. They told me if I refused, they would cut my hand off. I said I would rather lose my hand than fight in their war. They took a big knife called a machete and cut my hand off just below my wrist. Today, I go to school again. I am glad the war is over.

The rebels destroyed many of our schools, hospitals and homes. Some of my friends in other villages still can’t go to school because there is no school nearby for them to attend. We need help from people like you to rebuild our country.

A Powerful West African

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became the first woman to lead a government in Africa when she was elected president of Liberia on November 23, 2005. She is the first black woman to be elected president in the entire world!