Mariatu lived happily with her family, friends and girlfriends in a small village in West Africa. But then civil war came to Sierra Leone. Heavily armed rebel troops attacked peaceful settlements, waging senseless terror. During one of these raids, a twelve-year-old girl’s hands were cut off, and this was done by young fighters no older than herself, intoxicated by permissiveness and the false promises of corrupt leaders. Running away from the rebels through the forest, half-delirious with pain, Mariatu was bleeding. But the sweet taste of mango - the first food after the attack, which a random stranger treated the girl to - revived her desire to survive.