June 14. Blood Diamond

I finally finished reading Blood Diamond written by Greg Campbell. I bought kindle version of this book and read it for a week. The author did a wonderful job to reveal the secret of all-about-diamond in Sierra Leone, covering history, politics, economy, and his talent for writing. I guess most of people have heard the movie Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio but do not know exactly where the background - Sierra Leone - was. It has been more than 10 years since the Civil War was declared over, but the wounds of war still exist in Sierra Leoneans' mind.

One day, I asked Michael whether he watched the movie, Blood Diamond. He said no, and he did not want to watch that. It was their tragic real story, and he witnessed and experienced this great tragedy for 10 years. How can I imagine; how much he was hurt from the horrible war? It was totally my bad to ask that. No matter how much I read book and watch movie or documentary, I may not feel fully about Sierra Leoneans' suffering.

Korea experienced the similar torment, and the war has not even finished yet. It has been more than 60-year ceasefire between North and South Korea, and we do not know when the Korean war breaks out again. My grandparents have still suffered the pain of separation caused by war and keep it buried in their heart. Because of truce, all South Korean males have a duty to serve the country by enlisting in the military, I did military service in Air Force for more than two years. I am a reserve force now, and I truly hope that there will be no more tragedy of fratricidal war in the Korean peninsula.

On acquaintance, Sierra Leone and Korea has a similar modern history. Korean has Japanese colonial era (1910-1945) while Sierra Leone has Great Britain colonial era (1792-1961). The name of capital city "Freetown," is ironic because it means "Province of Freedom," the place that thousands of slaves were in and out, and the British governor resided. When do we meet TRUE free? Free from hunger, poverty, and disease? I do now know. However, I believe that Sierra Leoneans' desire for happiness will come true someday; my effort might be trivial, but I will be a good messenger to my friends and people around the world who will be much helpful for Sierra Leone.