Through Martha’s Lenses: A Mother’s Day Refugee Journey

A Mother’s Day Tribute To My Mom

Each time I share my story, I fear not being able to deliver it just how my mother Martha experienced it. That’s why I title my story “Through Martha’s Lenses: A Mother’s Day Refugee Journey.”

You see, I was only two years old (the age of my own daughter, Moriah) when we had to flee Liberia.

Every Mother’s Day, I think about my mother and the brave journey to America she led my siblings and I through. She took countless risks to ensure our safety, and I am forever indebted to her.

State of Refugee Resettlement

This Mother’s Day, I am also thinking about the COVID-19 crisis. I worry about my American community and refugees around the world. There are over 70 million forcibly displaced people around the world, including over 25 million refugees, and more than half are children. Even before COVID-19, only about 1%  got resettled yearly.

Now, refugee resettlement is paused, and I am even more concerned about those children and families who need to find safety here in the U.S. or in other parts of the world. I hope resettlement is resumed soon so these families can be reunited and resettled, like Martha and her children.

Hope Lost 

Martha was what they called a “market woman,” which translates to “entrepreneur.” It was Martha — my mother, the hero, given power and strength from God — that led us out of Liberia to safety in the Ivory coast after losing not only her business, but hope for our future.

What caused Martha to flee with five of my eight siblings and I can only be understood through Martha’s lenses.

My father, Lawrence, had worked as head of the security unit at Lamco Hospital in Liberia. It was in this same hospital I was born. My dad took a risk to come to the U.S. after hearing rumors of the second impending civil war—while Martha was pregnant with me.

That was a risk that changed our lives. Not long after my dad left, Martha — who was a strong but small-framed woman — had to take care of eight children with the help of her village—as you all know the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

But, when war breaks out, that village disappears, as everyone is fighting for survival.

Through Martha’s lenses, there was daily harassment from soldiers and rebels who were searching for each other. Almost every night, women, girls, men and boys had to line up outside of their homes. On the days soldiers came, homes were searched for rebels—and if found, everyone in that home was gunned down.

On the days rebels came, men and boys’ ankles were examined to find the imprints of the boots soldiers wore—which meant that person was a soldier in disguise and immediately, that person and  their household were gunned down. We survived that.

Fleeing Liberia

Through Martha’s lenses, there were days of ethnic cleansing. The rebels were on a mission to wipe out the former president, Samuel K. Doe’s tribe (the Krahn people). We belong to the Bassa tribe, so we survived that.

Through Martha’s lenses, things worsened. We were no longer waking up to the sounds of roosters crowing, but to AK-47s.

We had survived, but how long could we continue to survive? We had to flee before Martha or one of her children were murdered.

So when I was two years old, Martha made the brave decision to board a *cargo train (meant to transport goods, not people) in the middle of the night with five of my siblings and me. *My sister reflects that both children and adults fainted on the train that night. We made it safely to the Ivory Coast. Martha was finally able to contact my dad to let him know we were alive. My dad was able to send money to rent space for us to live there for a time.

Today, I am in the U.S., celebrating Mother’s Day, and I reflect upon the risks my mother took. I continue to be extremely grateful for the opportunity to have escaped the war in Liberia, and to have grown into the woman I am today.

We survived, and together, we as a nation can collectively survive the current COVID-19 crisis by supporting each other and reopening our doors to refugees when the time is right.

To learn more about the work I am doing with regard to refugee advocacy, please visit Refugee Congress.

What are you grateful for this Mother’s Day? Comment below/share post, join the mailing list!

*=indicates updates made on 6/20/2020