War-torn Sierra Leone refugee now a community volunteer and HPU student
By Chelsie Gastright
“We were okay until we started hearing on the radio that the rebels were advancing into the capital. I remember my mom came and got me and the neighbor’s kids from school and we went into hiding mode.”
Throughout his life, James Kamara, a High Point University senior, has endured many struggles. His home country of Sierra Leone, located in West Africa, fell victim to war in 1991, when Kamara was only one year old, after the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) began attacking villages on the southern border near Liberia.
Dr. Larry Simpson, HPU professor of African history, explained what caused the war and the tragic consequences that came with it.
“Like much of Africa, Sierra Leone suffered from wide spread corruption, the manipulation of ethnic politics by unscrupulous politicians and the lack of civil liberties. This contributed to more than a decade of civil war and caused tens of thousands of deaths; about a third of the population became refugees.”
By 1995, the RUF had control over much of Sierra Leone and was close to controlling the capital of the country, Freetown. Just three years later, Kamara’s life began to change when he started hearing gunshots in Freetown. It was then that 8-year-old Kamara and his family went into hiding to begin the longest journey of his life.
On that afternoon when his mother picked him up from school, when the war was taking a turn for the worse, Kamara and many other friends from school hid in the basement of a neighbor’s home. Several hours went by as they sat quietly together, waiting for transportation to arrive.
Finally, a large eighteen-wheeler pulled up. The group hurried from the basement and piled into the truck, hiding under whatever was in the back. The emotions were high as the truck began to drive off to a local port.
“I remember we hid under quilts that were in the back. Kind of like what your grandmother would make by sewing together different pieces of fabric,” said Kamara. “I also remember my younger sister was crying. My mom did her best to quiet her down and keep her calm during the ride.”
The eighteen-wheeler was taking the group to catch a ferry at a local port. When Kamara was younger, he remembered times where going to the port to catch a ferry was to celebrate a joyous occasion.
“Usually when we took a ferry it was to go to the beach. We would go during Easter and Christmas with the whole family to celebrate.”
This time, Kamara knew it was different. They were not going to the port to catch a ferry to the beach, but rather to escape the travesties of war.
Kamara and the rest of the group arrived at the port and quickly boarded a ferry. Half way through the trip, the ferry broke down after unknown complications. The group waited anxiously for a rescue boat to come to their aid, but when it finally did, the rescue boat was already carrying other passengers.
“When the rescue boat got there, people were already on it,” said Kamara. “But my sister was one of the first ones on the boat and then I came on. My mom was last and I remember telling her it was going to be fine, but she was so nervous about crossing over from the ferry to the rescue boat. I just kept saying, mom it’s going to be fine.”
The rest of the trip was spent on the rescue boat. The group finally arrived at their destination in Port Loko, a small village about 17 miles from the capital city of Freetown in Sierra Leone.
While in Port Loko, Kamara and his family met with his Uncle Milton and one of his older sisters. However, the journey was not over yet. Kamara and his family still had to make it to Guinea, which borders the northern side of Sierra Leone; they needed to make it there in order to escape the RUF.
Waiting for them in Guinea was Kamara’s father; he had previously been living in America with Kamara’s stepmom and came back to Sierra Leone when the war started to worsen. Once in Guinea, Kamara and his two sisters were told they were going to America to live in Maryland with their father. Since Kamara’s father had lived in America for some time, this allowed Kamara and his family to have a secure way out of Sierra Leone.
At this time, Kamara found out that the correct paperwork had not been secured for his mother’s travel to America. The paperwork would take one year to complete, and until they could work out the issues, Kamara’s mother would have to stay behind. While the thought of his mother having to stay behind in Sierra Leone was not ideal, Kamara knew that if all went well, his mother could soon join them. In America, the family knew that life would be different and almost perfect.
“The way people talk about America from a foreign perspective is that the streets are painted with gold and there is candy falling from the sky. It was like something out of Willy Wonka,” said Kamara with a small chuckle. “I mean I was a 7- or 8-year-old kid, so I just couldn’t wait to get there.
“And when I got here I was like, ‘This kind of looks like Freetown.’ I asked my dad if we were here yet because I was looking for streets of gold and candy falling from the sky. He told me we were here and I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is America?’”
Once in America, 8-year-old Kamara and his sisters settled in with their father and stepmother in Maryland. Things seemed to be going smoothly, until Kamara heard the devastating news that his mother had passed away before the paper work could go through.
Things continued to decline for Kamara when he started his first year in an American public school. Since he could not speak English, he had to learn to speak English in the English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) classes.
“It was tough. I remember seeing students walk by the window of the classroom and they would laugh at us,” said Kamara.
However, Kamara’s father heavily stressed education; he had big goals to get his children into the Clinton Christian School.
“In order to get into the Christian academy, the faculty at the Christian school would give us twenty to thirty words for us to learn to spell, but he would make us learn fifty. Not only would we need to know how to spell them, but what they meant and how to use them in a sentence,” said Kamara. “It paid off in the long run because I remember in high school people used to stress about the SAT’s. People would prep for the test and go, ‘Oh man I don’t know these words!’ And I would think to myself, ‘Wow I’ve known that word for a long time!’”
Even though Kamara’s first year in school was tough, he did have some positive influences in his life, such as soccer and football. He played soccer on the high school varsity team at a young age and really enjoyed it… until he found football.
“My dad used to tell me, ‘Why do you play that American sport? You are going to get hurt, all they do is beat you up all day!’” said Kamara.
Playing football did create minor conflict between Kamara and his father, but it did not stop him from playing the sport he loved. Life was starting to get better for Kamara, and then he moved into his eighth grade year.
During his eighth grade year, the war in Sierra Leone was finally ending. According to Simpson, the war ended in 2002 after interventions on behalf of “the British, the United Nations, and West African States.”
“The country has sought to bring justice to those responsible for the crimes committed during the civil war,” said Simpson. “The political system remains fragile and must confront a host of problems such as restoring the economy.”
While conflict in Sierra Leone was finally calming down, Kamara was having difficulties with his family. While Kamara was in eighth grade, his grandfather became ill. Out of concern, Kamara’s father decided it would be best if he returned to Sierra Leone to care for Kamara’s grandfather.
Soon after Kamara’s father had arrived in Sierra Leone, his grandfather passed away. When Kamara’s father returned to America, he noticed a change. Kamara had voiced his concerns, saying, “It wasn’t that he fell into a deep, deep depression, he just seemed off.”
Following his return that same year, Kamara’s father fell ill. Regardless of the pleas from Kamara and his sisters, his father decided it would be best for him to return to Sierra Leone to receive treatment. Once returning to his home country, months went by without word from anyone about his father’s condition.
Left in the care of his stepmother, Kamara wanted answers for what had happened to his father.
“I never really got the full story, but from what I have pieced together they just left my father to die,” said Kamara. “I tried calling my uncle in Sierra Leone, but my stepmother didn’t like that. All I wanted was answers but she kept telling me not to talk to him.”
A year went by and Kamara was now in ninth grade. His stepmother lost her job and this meant the family had to relocate to another part of Maryland. Unfortunately, the neighborhood was in a bad part of town and not “fit to raise children in.”
Finally, his stepmother got another job, but she had to commute several hours to a different area of Maryland, and this made things very difficult for the family.
“My stepmom got a job at a Wendy’s several hours away. It would be like living in High Point and getting a job in Charlotte. That’s what it was like,” said Kamara. “She would be gone for days at a time.”
Kamara also remembered how after school on Friday’s, he and his sister would commute to his stepmother’s job. They would help her work double shifts, even if this meant sleeping in undesirable places and even pulling all-nighters. Even though the situation was undesirable, Kamara and his family were at least doing it together and that is what mattered most.
A couple years passed this way and Kamara’s family struggled. Finally, after much searching, Kamara’s stepmother managed to secure a home in Burlington, N.C. so the family could finally live together without the commute.
But soon after the family had relocated to North Carolina, Kamara’s stepmother was offered a nursing job in Pennsylvania. To avoid her children from moving with her, she would stay two weeks in Pennsylvania, and then come back to North Carolina when she could.
Left in charge of his younger sister, Kamara became the man of the house in their Burlington home. This meant that he had to cook, clean and take care of anything else that may come up for his little sister and himself. However, Kamara shared light heartedly the words of advice his father gave him.
Things went on like this for a while, where Kamara and his younger sister lived alone in the house that his stepmother had secured for them. Then, when Kamara was 17, his sister told him she was pregnant.
He sister was only 14 years old, and this made things difficult for Kamara, but he managed to find a way to work through it and help in any way he could. Things were fine between them until the neighbors started to notice his sister was showing, and they were the only two people living in that house.
This is when the state came and told Kamara that since he was not of age he could not take care of his sister properly. Kamara’s sister was then made a ward of the state, and Kamara did not know what to do.
A kind neighbor, whose name has been omitted, heard what was going on and suggested that Kamara could live with her. Grateful for her offer, Kamara moved in with her and for a while, the waters were smooth. He was playing football for his high school and he had many great friends.
“I don’t know if it was because she got more stressed, or had more things going on in her personal life but (the neighbor) started to change,” said Kamara.
Eventually he was given an ultimatum: get a job or move out. This would mean that he would no longer be able to be a part of the football team, and as much as it hurt Kamara to leave his teammates, he quit the team and got a job.
“The way I was brought up is that you never question your elders. Unless it is going to kill me, I just say ‘yes ma’am’ and do it,” said Kamara.
Months went by where Kamara would wake up and attend school, and then catch a ride to work. He would spend roughly eight hours working and then get home around midnight.
“I never wanted to make her mad, so there were some nights I wouldn’t eat because in order to get to the kitchen, I had to cross right in front of her room. I figured it would be safer to not even risk it.”
Then, the neighbor told Kamara the one thing he did not want to hear. She told him that she was moving to Georgia and that he could either come with her or stay in Burlington.
Kamara began talking with his social worker and counselors at the school to find out what the best course of action was for him. During that time, his social worker mentioned I Am Now, a non-profit organization that provides housing for men ages 18-25 who have outgrown the foster care system, and he began looking into it. The school social worker, Ms. KC, made a phone call to Travis Burrell, who is the Executive Director of I Am Now.
“I don’t really remember the exact date, but in November of 2007 I moved into the I Am Now house. They were still putting up the exit signs the day I moved in,” he said laughing.
From there, Kamara finished his schooling and graduated from High Point Central High School in May of 2008. Kamara had big goals of playing college football and great SAT scores. He was accepted into Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C. and decided to major in architectural engineering.
He spent one year at Livingstone and finished his first semester with a 3.8 GPA. This is when his mentor at Livingstone suggested he apply for a scholarship to HPU.
“I told her, you know they don’t have a football team right? I really had plans of transferring to Virginia Tech or some school like that, but she thought I should just give it a shot and see what happened,” said Kamara.
While Kamara did not receive the scholarship, he did receive plenty of other funding through numerous HPU grants and other means of financial aid.
Today, Kamara is a double major in human relations and political science. He is also actively participating in many community service opportunities and has an internship with West End Ministries.
Helping the community and those who truly need it just comes naturally to Kamara. Kamara mentioned that ever since he could remember he has had this urge inside to help the oppressed in any way he can.
Throughout his time at HPU and through his community work, Kamara met Chris Gillespie, an HPU graduate and executive director at West End Ministries. West End Ministries is a not-for-profit organization that specializes in multiple community outreach programs.
These programs include a women’s shelter known as Leslie’s House, a thrift store, a partnership with the Boys and Girls club, a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, life skill classes and more.
Kamara works specifically with the program department to help plan special events for the church and community. One of the things Kamara has started is a movie night once a month for those in the High Point community. Gillespie also added that Kamara is working on what he calls a “community day” which would allow students to come to West End and help refurbish a room to build a gym area.
“James is a wonderful example of what God can do in your life,” said Gillespie. “Also through hard work and dedication, James has become a role model. I am just so proud of him.”
Kamara has been through a lot in his life, and so much of it has shaped him to who he is today. Throughout his years, Kamara has come out humbled by the experience and has not let his experiences negatively impact his larger life goals.
“People have done so much for me, so the least I can do is pay it forward, or help someone else,” said Kamara. “I’m just thankful that people see something in me, to invest your time and money to see what you see in me.”
“For a while, I questioned myself but my mentor, Dr. Don Scarborough, (vice president of Community Relations at HPU), just kept telling me that I had so much potential. It’s just crazy how your mind is powerful enough to keep you away from realizing your full potential.”
Dr. Nido Qubein once said, “Your present circumstances do not determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” Throughout all that Kamara has been through, he has remained humble and appreciative for everything people have done and continue to do for him.
“Everything has just worked itself out, and I just thank God every day that I wake up. I don’t know how I got here, but I am going to go along for the ride.”