21st Century African Youth Movement:
S
Monrovia, Liberia ending a 27-year estrangement.
At the emotional reunion, Sylvester and his mother
at first did not recognize one another. He exylvester Ernest was six years old when
plained everything to her, from his days in the war
captured, snatched from his family, and forced to
to joining AYM, and of his journey to find her.
join the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone Sylvester also re-met two elder sisters, and for the
as a child soldier in a war lasting from 1991–2001. first time was introduced to a brother-in-law,
Sylvester who goes by his alias ‘Old Meh,’ fought at nieces and nephews. Today he is employed as a
the frontline with rebels committing gruesome war
atrocities and wreaking havoc in different West African States; something a child at that tender age
wouldn’t dream of enduring. Sylvester had fallen
victim too, but was also a civil war perpetrator.
The end of the 11-year battle transformed Sylvester
to an adult, deprived of a childhood, education, and
the love and nurture of his parents. He was able to re
-unite with his Sierra Leonean father who lived in
Gondama Village, although bitter sweetly as he had
no knowledge of his Liberian mother’s whereabouts,
and no way of knowing whether she was still alive.
With a dark past, and no employable skills, Sylvester embarked on an ex-combatant rehabilitation
training that helped him obtain a certificate in tailoring in 2005.
Although on his way to restructuring his life, a dark
cloud still hovered over Sylvester as he had yet to
find his mother. With many questions, his biggest
dream was to see his mother again, to give her a
thousand hugs and kisses, and to never lose contact
with her. This dream eventually came true when
Sylvester’s path crossed with the Twenty-First Century African Youth Movement (AYM) where he became a volunteer in 2006 after failing to gain any
significant employment.
local photographer and tour guide, and is in regular contact with his mother.
It is stories like that of 34 year old Sylvester and
other former gun-toting resilient youths determined to reshape their lives and kick out poverty
that drives AYM to embark on its initiatives.
Through the help of AYM’s Christopher ‘Dude’
Founder and President, Abu-Hassan ‘Askia’
Lankford and Dennis Glover, he found his mother in Koroma, in cooperation with an extensive volun44