He lived in a country with a very unstable government who had a very accessible resource, diamonds. The government was so unstable that a huge civil war began. He was forced into the army as a child soldier and was forced to take drugs and kill people. Right away ismail didnt have alot of oppurtunities in his life because he was forced into war at such a young age. Being hooked on drugs and going through what he did and seeing what he saw affects your outcome of life. He would later flee his country and begin going through a lot of rehab because of all the things he had gone through. So as you can see a person's location and available resources can play a major factor in the outcome of one's life.(Ishmael