War survivor

In this post 9/11 world, we read about rocket blasts and suicide attacks taking the lives of many in the headlines of the newspaper everyday. We watch the images of gruesome fighting that leaves souls tarnished in fictional Hollywood movies like Blood Diamond. But can one ever really understand the deathly, sepulchral atmosphere or the intense rancor that runs through the minds of each individual in a region entangled in a war? For most of us, war is a foreign, faraway subject— words that we read do not hold intrinsic meaning and images fail to truly paint the ravages of war— the ravages that may only be truly fathomed by those who experience them.

Senior Alhaji Kamara has witnessed events in his life that have thickened his skin and soul. Kamara, a humble and patient 18 year old Muslim from Sierra Leon, immigrated to the United States in 2001 as a refugee from Guinea after two years of witnessing the atrocities that took place in Sierra Leon’s decade long Civil War that took, in total, an estimated 120,000 lives and mutilated thousands others with either their legs, noses, arms, or ears chopped off.

When most children are learning about the mysteries of the world, Kamara was just beginning to taste war at age nine. In 1997, near the end of the Civil War that inundated the lives of the civilians of Sierra Leon, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel group, consisting of trained students and men, initially began the war in 1991 against the government. The war was a cause of a military campaign against the President of Sierra Leon, Joseph Momoh. The RUF spread a revolutionary ideology among the workers of Sierra Leon’s diamond industry and began taking control of the diamond mines, stimulating the start of the civil war.


The first site the RUF targeted was Kailahun and they made their way into Kamara’s residence in 1999 in the capital of Sierra Leon: Freetown. During the 10 years of the conflict, the RUF attacked towns and villages. The men from this group used brutality to its fullest with an estimated 20,000 civilians who suffered amputation by the end of the war. Their weapons were machetes and axes that they used to cut arms, legs, lips and ears.


When the RUF began the Siege of Freetown (the battle that is depicted in Blood Diamond), the group was attempting to regain its control of the government after President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah’s government had reinstated in 1998. Kamara lived with his grandparents and two younger sisters during this time because his parents were living in America. His first experience with war began abruptly and suddenly.


 I remember I woke up and heard my grandpa shouting, “They’re here, they’re here!” said Kamara. He continues, “I remember being afraid. Afraid. My mind was just confused.”


The battles that took place between the RUF and Sierra Leon’s army in Freetown are noted to be the bloodiest battles of the 10-year long civil war with an estimated of five or six-thousand lives lost and yet thousands more were injured in one year.


Kamara recalls that the stench of death was everywhere. For him, the fear of death was the most freighting and terrifying. It kept him anxious and anticipating.


"You don’t ever know how or when you are going to die. It could be anytime and anywhere. You just hope that you’re not gone the next minute,” said Kamara.

Recounting the events for Kamara is hard; he lowers his eyes and voice as he lingers back in time to retell some events like the first time he saw a solider from the Revolutionary United Front raping a woman. This scene is etched into his memory as he remembers the exact date it occurred: Jan. 6, 1997. For something as horrific as this, he cannot gather the words to express his feelings.


He forces a smile on his face and says, “I was frightened when I saw it and to this day, I still have nightmares about it.” He pauses and then concludes, “That’s all I can say about it. ”


Since Kamara is the eldest child in the family, he bears all the responsibility. The one thing he wanted was for his two younger sisters to not witness such sites as rape. Unfortunately, although Kamara “prayed to God to not see that again” his sisters and him saw women raped and people beaten several times in the following two years of war after that right in front of their eyes. Kamara vividly remembers the cuts and beatings that RUF performed on many children and adults alike. Kamara recalls that sometimes one limb was cut off, while other times they would take away two limbs. He described the two types of cuts: long and short “sleeves.”


“The short sleeve was right near your wrist and the “long sleeve” was above on your arm,” said Kamara. “They would ask you which one you wanted, long or short?”


While witnessing rape was definitely grotesque, watching houses burn was just as terrifying.


“One of the baddest things was burning houses. It didn’t matter if you were inside it, you and the house burned together,” said Kamara. Then he looks far away as if seeing the flames erupt in front of his eyes again, he continues, “I watched my neighbor’s house burn— just watched it burn with my neighbor inside through the window.”
    
So how does a nine year old boy without his parents survive while experiencing such atrocities? Hope and prayer were the two virtues that Kamara held onto tightly.


“My dad always says, “When the time comes, you’ll know when you will die. When there is a life, there is a hope, you can survive anything.”


War leaves a lasting scar on many soldiers and citizens who witness the atrocities of war for many are diagnosed with physiological disorders and upon their return, many soldiers face various criminal charges. According to the Los Angeles Times, one in eight soldiers returning from only the first year of the Iraq war was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or another illness. Kamara, however, displays patience with others.


“I be patient. I ask God for patience. When talking to others, I try to understand people. I don’t wanna ever hurt nobody,” said Kamara.


 In 2000, Kamara’s prayers and hope were answered as his parents who were living in United States sent a friend to Sierra Leone who would take Kamara and his two younger sisters to neighboring country Guinea. Kamara and his sisters were one of the fortunate ones as over 250,000 citizens crossed the borders of Guinea and Liberia to escape the war.


It has been nine years since Kamara witnessed these traumatic events. In the three years he has been at AHS, he has not been affiliated with any fight or trouble. His friends describe him as “humble” and an “adivisor.” Kamara has seen too much of life. He laughs and admits that he often counsels his friends about life and “doing the right thing and going on the right path.”


War has taught Kamara to hold a mature outlook on life. His motto is “Don’t impress girls, just be yourself.” For the future, he plans on joining the Air Force this summer and afterward performing what he believes in the most: helping humanity.


“I want to help my country, my people—any people who need help. There are too many innocent people dying in war that gets no where. It’s the right thing to do in life," said Kamara.


 The Civil War that has hardened Kamara’s skin officially ended in 2001. He plans on going back to Sierra Leon in the summer of 2009 to visit.
“I want to go, see how much has changed; what I can do to make it better,” said Kamara.


For the future, he plans on joining the Air Force this summer and becoming an advisor African governments. His final remarks were, “It’s my country, my past and I never forget it or get humiliated by it,” said Kamara.