Refugee children of Africa

 My name is Joseph Sandy, born on the 26th July 1968, in Dayblay town, Gbarzon District, Grand Gedeh County, within the eastern end of Liberia. Born under the union of Mr. Taylay Sandy and Mrs Sarah Sandy, unfortunately, my mother die when I was a child. We are two from one mother, but we have different brothers and sisters by different mothers. My parents are from the krahn ethnic group.  When our mother met her untimely death, our father took us to different people to stay with in Monrovia .

Due the to behavior of our step mothers. Now my sister with her husband in Nigeria in a refugee camp, while I am here in Ghana, on a refugee camp. I came on this camp, in 1996 may 20th, through the Ivory Coast . Presently, residing within Buduburam Refugee Camps.

I wish to tell the story or  plight in the Liberian civil war that brought me to Ghana and as well the painful situation I encountered and is still going through here in Ghana on the refugee camps for the past 18 unbroken years. As a result of the civil war, I lost my father, two brothers and a sister and other close relatives. They were killed due to their tribal association with the late president Samuel K .Doe in Paynesville city outside Monrovia in 1990.

This happen when the rebels entered Paynesville in 1990, entered our house,  started asking where are the krahn dogs as we were called during the war since we came from the president tribal group, and at the same time making threating remarked that we are finished today shouting randomly and later broke into the main door enter our house, order us to get outside. At that time, I was in the one apartment behind the large family house within the compound, right away I jumped through the window into the unfinished building straight in the bush. While running, I could only hear them saying kill the krahn dogs, and the crying of my parents, brothers and a sister rented in the air. I walked into the bushes for three days without food and safe drinking water before I found my way to central Monrovia . I went straight to my big brother Mr. Jallah Sandy, on 5th street Sinkor. However, for the past three days, I spent within the bush my feet and ankles were swollen up because of the injuries I received when I jumped through the window and receive some cut also.

 As the war intensified, we moved to the Grace Stone, near the American Embassy for safety , there we were until the ECOMOG, a west African peace keeping force took complete control of the city and an interim_government installed. This facilitated the safe returned of people to their various homes, but I arrived home with my senior brother. I did not see my parents, my other brothers and my sister. And that has been my ordeal until today they could not be  fine. As we endeavor, a girl called Janet, who was my girl friend with two kids for me, came and started to stay with us including our kids . She was with us in the house when the April 6th war broke out in 1996. As we were running to the Grace Stone again, a daughter of my big brother got hit by a stray buttlet instinctly died on the spot together with my girlfriend and my son also die . We were there until April 6th , war ceased down and we were asked by the Peace Keeping Force, to return home,  they felt they have brought the situation under control, but while we were at the grace stone, a boy came to me who managed to escape from our house area told me that a group of soldiers went to your house and killed every one that were that where in the house and put the house on fire. In that house, I had my big brother and his wife and their kids and other tenants.

After explaining, I decided to leave the country but due to my tribal back ground (krahn) , I was afraid to leave and at the same time, I was not having money and there was no means of transport leaving the country. I spent few days on the ECOMOG base, and we were asked  to leave to our various homes until the situation is  brought under controls, but I was afraid to go to my house, as instead, I decided to go my boss house for safety .

While I was there with him, rumors circulating around that soldiers were still doing house to house search for krahn men and women. As a result, my boss told me remain indoor. I stayed indoor, for three months before he found a way through a World Food programme, Truck Driver carrying some relief items to Sinoe County to drop us to Grand Gedeh county to a town call, TOE Town, a border town to the Ivory Coast. The truck spent ten days on the road before reaching to Grand Gedeh county. Due to the bad condition of the road. I crossed into Ivory coast, by the way of Toulepleu by foot. it  is a frontier or border town in Ivory coast and Liberia. In Toulepleu, I spent some time finding way to come to Ghana .

I want to leave Ivory coast, because of language barriers, and since Ivory coast, is the French speaking country, I could not speak French, therefore, i was finding thing difficult. However, I used went to people farms to brush for a little of nothing to enable me to get food and other thing to feed myself . In this, I was able to get transport that is, fare to come Ghana. As I  mentioned  in  the  above  paragraph that I am living  on  the Buduburam Refugee  camp.

The Buduburam Camp 

This  Camp, was established in 1990, by the Ghanaian Government and the UNHCR Ghana, when the war erupted in Liberia. The camp as of this date hosts over forty-five thousand refugees according to UNHCR registration conducted. The camp is forty five minutes drive away from Accra, Ghana`s capital city.