2022
Today Refugee Day and thought of writing a story about my experience as Refugee in a Civil War.
I definitely know some of the Local Guides would have experienced the horror of War and experienced
the STATUS of Refugee.
To sit and watch on TV the flight of people suffering and fleeing the war is different than to be in Ground Zero and experience it first hand.
Its all started in Peaceful country Liberia, West Africa in 1979 (when I was teaching in a Mission School), continued till 1989, when it became full pledged Civil War.
All those years we used to occational gun fights, Dusk to Dawn Curfew, Check Posts everywhere
constant patrolling of soldiers
But 1989 it became very serious and we could see people fleeing the conflict areas and flooding capital Monrovia. We lived in Monrovia and helped lot of people especially Children providing them Milk good.
(My two kids were just 5 and 3 years old)
Few shops will open for few hours
no schools, people will afraid to walk on the street.
Now when I booked flight for my family to India in British Airways
Swiss Air, the International Airport was closed and all International flights stopped landing in Monrovia.
It was May 1990, the city of Monrovia was in darkness, no water
no electricity, all Shops closed and will open for few hours in morning,
and hundreds of refugees from other parts already in the Capital City.
The Indian and Lebanese association arranged for a small Russian cargo plane to land in a small Airfield and my family travelled to Sierra Leone to Moscow to India.
During October 1990, the situation beyond control after the Lutheran Church massacre, where close to 1000 refugees were in killed in two hours shooting. That place was designated as Refugee Camp by UN with a flag. It was three blocks from my house.
So the remaining Indians and Lebanese decided to move out of Monrovia leaving behind everything except our PASSPORTS
We moved in a convoy of hundreds car with an escort vehicle with M16
snd inspite of begging to take my house boy Kamara who was wounded badly, he was denied permission and we moved to a town 30km away
There we waited 10days to cross the border to Ivory Coast.
During those three months what I saw and experienced, if I write will run into pages.
Few of us crossed the border and took a bus to travel 800km to reach Abidjan, Capital of Cote d,'ivoire.
There after a week Indian Embassy made arrangements to reach India via Geneva.
While this was going on Liberia, the Kuwait war started and people were fleeing the Country.
Who is right and who is wrong, not for discussion, but 99 percent of innocent people suffer in these kind of Civil Wars and other wars.
As Local Guide now, I know some of the Guides in Africa and Middle East and other parts of the world would have experienced the REFUGEE LIFE
Thank you all for taking time to read my post. Let us Pray for all the refugees, where ever they are
