Last updated:Â 16 november, 2009 - 17:40 GMT
Brutal Scars of War
Mariatu Kamara
To play this content JavaScript must be turned on and the latest Flash player installed.
Whilst tens of thousands died during Sierra Leone's civil war, thousands who survived were left with physical and psychological damage.
Mariatu Kamara was one of those survivors.
She was just twelve years old when rebel child soldiers invaded her village, killed her family and chopped off both her hands.
She managed to escape and eventually made her way to Canada to start a brand new life.
Now aged twenty-three, Mariatu is an Ambassador for the United Nations Childrens' Fund, UNICEF.
Matthew Bannister met Mariatu in the Outlook studio and asked her to describe her life before war came to her village.
Child amputee in Sierra Leone
by Mariatu Kamara is published by Bloomsbury.
More from Outlook
More from the World Service
´óÏó´«Ã½ iD
´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation
´óÏó´«Ã½ links
´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.