I am a refugee. I will always be a refugee. What does that even mean? A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. I left home to escape war and to avoid participating in it.
In 1983-84 which is 40 years ago, I took off and went west leaving behind my mother, my father and my siblings. After evading capture by a brutal army that went from house to house to kidnap and enlist mostly young boys in the Mengistu Ethiopian army, because I was old enough to carry a kalashnikov rifle, I had enough playing hide and seek. So I told my mom on a Sunday morning when my father had gone to church that I was leaving. I can only imagine what she must have been thinking about what I was telling her. I remember to this day the tears streaming down her face. She said very little but she did not have to as she knew the possibilities of what might happen to her second child.
When they say ignorance is a bliss, it truly was in my case. The next four months would prove that I was completely ill prepared for what was ahead. My two trusted friends and I had planned to take off and trek across Tigray, a state/province in northern Ethiopia and cross the border to Sudan. There, we thought, we would work in the farms as day laborers and make money to survive. We had very little else in our thoughts or plans. At the last minute, one of them changed his mind and stayed. But two of us took the road less travelled and headed west. As we descended the mountainous side of our village, the army that stood watching the area could see us walking away. We pretended as if we were going to the watering hole to wash our clothes. We walked casually until we were out of sight before we started running for our lives. There was a good chance that if they knew what we were up to, they had the ability to pick us up with their machine guns from the mountains. As luck would have it, we managed to disappear beyond their sight down the valley where they could not see us running.
We were running out of breath! We were absolutely astounded with ourselves that we managed to escape. We were elated and petrified at the same time. We had absolutely no idea where we were going or what was waiting for us. Not long after we thought we were safe from the Ethiopian army, we were stopped by young boys who were herding animals. They called us to stop and wait for them. We stopped and waited with anticipation not knowing what to expect. They were very polite and respectful. They asked where we were going and if they could help us. We told them that we had escaped from the government controlled area and we were heading west. While we were in conversation with the boys, one of them had already signalled the rebel militias in the area who were fighting against the government. An armed young man appeared out of nowhere and greeted us.
It took us a few hours before we got to what looked like a base camp. The place had a few grass huts and a few people. We could see men and women carrying automatic russian made rifles. We were terrified and excited at the same time. We were told that there were others who had escaped from other cities and towns and were gathering there. We were told to join them until we received instructions. Having attempted a similar escape the previous year in the east, I had anticipated a very similar treatment once again. Our first stop was called Chila.
The next four months were filled with experiences beyond our expectation or wildest dreams. It was filled with moments of fear, excitement and uncertainty. We marched westward from Chila accompanied by armed men who guided us towards our next destination. Along the way, food was collected from local inhabitants who are primarily farmers and provided to the growing crowd. We continued to pick up others along the way. The trek mostly under the cover of darkness was treacherous at best. Never having travelled much on foot, after the first day, I had blisters all over my feet and also my thighs. The constant rubbing while sweating from the heat and not having taken a shower in a few days exacerbated what was considered by most locals a mild walk and short distance.
