Mohammed Jawara was just a child of about 12 when he fled his home country of Liberia. Charles Taylor was leading a rebel war, and his infamous soldiers killed Jawara's aunt and uncle, while the young boy fled with his family to a refugee camp in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
But Jawara was not safe there either. Liberian rebel soldiers, many of whom were children strung out on drugs, attacked the refugee camp, slaughtering and raping people, including pregnant women. Some child soldiers recognized their family members in the refugee camp, and they were ordered to kill them. Those who disobeyed were executed on the spot.
Jawara survived the attack, but the next day, there were thousands of bodies in the streets. He then fled to Guinea, but refugees were under attack there, too - this time from within the country. Jawara and his family members applied for refugee status and were accepted to Canada.
Jawara was so excited he was jumping and crying and couldn't sleep. When they arrived in Canada, they stayed at Welcome House, a temporary home for new immigrants run by the Immigrant Services Society of B.C.
Every morning, Jawara went outside, stood on the sidewalk, counting cars and waving to people. A man stopped and welcomed Jawara, shaking his hand and giving him a hug. Jawara was just a teenager at the time, and he had come to Canada with only his siblings.
His mother was killed in the war, and his father has been missing for several years.
Jawara, now 26, lives with his siblings in Burnaby's Hillside Gardens, a housing complex with many refugee and immigrant families.
He attends an adult education school in New Westminster, works in a gas station and takes care of his older brother, whose hand was cut off by the rebels. Jawara stills struggles with the traumatic horror he witnessed as a young boy in Africa.
"I'm trying my best to calm down," he says. "I feel like what happened to me, the same thing is going to happen again in these countries. It's difficult for me right now, especially when I see my brother, it reminds me of what happened in my country."
Jawara decided to self-publish a short book about his experiences: The Tears of the Innocent and the Bloodshed, which came out in March. It was a painful book to write, but he wants people to know what he went through.
"It's a story that I cannot keep in my heart. For me, it's important they know about it," he says.
The Tears of the Innocent and the Bloodshed tells Jawara's story, while touching on freedom, Liberian history and the need for peace.
"We have seen so much bloodshed, rapes and tortures, the killing of innocent people, people running away from their homes, people separated from their families, and we are tired to see people cry for freedom. We all need to come together as one nation and as one people," he writes in his book.
The Tears of the Innocent and the Bloodshed is available on Amazon, and the author is available for readings and interviews. Contact him by emailing jawara_ mohammed@hot mail.com.
Burnaby's Tommy Douglas library branch has ordered Jawara's book and will host a reading with him in the future, so keep an eye on the Burnaby NOW for updates.
