WHEN IT'S TIME TO RUN, RUN

摘要

When armed rebels advanced across the Sierra Leone border, I ran for seven hours to my mother's village because she was alone with my grandmother. I was only 17, but I wanted to protect them. Eventually, the rebels overwhelmed the region and took our village as a base. My mother, sister, and I decided to escape. My grandmother could not walk, so before we left I brought her food, water, and firewood and said I'd return tomorrow. I never saw her again. We ran toward a river. On the way, we agreed on a route of villages we'd flee to in case we had to separate. Sure enough, rebels stopped us at the river's bank. I acted aggressive so that the rebels would think I was with them, then jumped into the water, grabbed a canoe for my mother and sister, and pushed it into the current. To survive, you need to read situations quickly and respond confidently. Battle broke out the following day. I hid in the bushes, then walked upstream for weeks. When I came across abandoned settlements, I searched houses for commodities. Salt was gold. You need seasoning when you're eating what you find in the bush: leaves, roots, fish, opossums (Fig. E). I took matches to cook with and tobacco to trade. Money was worthless.