Mariatu Kamara (born 25 May 1986 in Yonkro, Sierra Leone) is an author, public speaker, and UNICEF Canada's Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict.
[6] In 2008, Kamara enrolled in the George Brown College's Assaulted Women and Children's Counselor and Advocate Program so that she could become a social worker.
[6][4] Beyond her personal education, Kamara has given speeches at schools about her experience in Sierra Leone during the war as a child, and has toured with international NGOs such as Free the Children and UNICEF.
[6] In May, 2009, Kamara received a Voices of Courage Award from the Women's Refugee Commission for her advocacy on behalf of disabled and displaced people.
[3][6] She also founded the Mariatu Foundation, which seeks to support abused women and children refugees in Sierra Leone through the building of shelters.
[9] The book details Kamara's experience during the RUF attacks, her escape to the hospital, her time in the amputee camp, and her first few years living in Canada.