Sierra Leone’s civil war spawned a generation of child soldiers and war-affected youth. Some fell into chronic depression and unemployment, while others became lawyers, doctors, and entrepreneurs. For Ishmeal Alfred Charles, a former child recruit in Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, trauma has given way to a fulfilling adulthood as a humanitarian worker. Why We Wrote This When a brutal war births a generation of child soldiers, why do some succumb to despair while others recover and thrive? A pivotal study suggests connection and community may be key to healing. Why did some former child soldiers recover while others were overwhelmed with trauma? That’s one of the questions Theresa Betancourt, a Boston College public health researcher, set out to answer in Sierra Leone in 2002.