Blood Diamond

Janelle and I watched Blood Diamond last weekend and found it to be a very thoughtful and entertaining flick which surprisingly had a lot of substance. It does a great job in shedding light on the plight of children in Africa who are forced to be soldiers, and the corruption of the diamond industry. A friend of mine quipped that every guy should have his girlfriend to see this before he proposes.

I was originally intrigued by this movie because it takes place in Sierra Leone as I happen to have two coworkers from there. SL is a small country in Africa on the western rim that is about the size of South Carolina. After getting to know these guys, I did a little research. I was shocked when I realized that the life expectancy there is ~40 years…..again, 40 years. That is a hard one to wrestle with. For me that would mean that I could only reasonably expect to live another decade. For some of you reading this, you would already be on borrowed time and would be the village elders. My coworkers are both now past that mark and have changed their life expectancy simply by changing their latitude and longitude.

Another documentary about the child soldiers in Africa that has gained a lot of buzz is Invisible Children (we haven’t watch it yet, but look forward to it soon), which was made by some college students who spent some time in Uganda. This is still an independent film, so you can’t rent this at your local Blockbuster, but you can purchase it at their site (for ~ $20). The good thing about this film is that it has started a movement that not just tells about the tragedies but is working for change. Go to their site for more info.