Musa (SL)
"Before the commencement of the war, I was in a small village… I lived there with my parents. At the age of eight years I lost my father. I was in class IV. Due to my father’s death, I left school for two good years. This was due to the fact that there was nobody to help me in paying my schoolfees and to get other academic materials. I decided to engage myself in farm work.
At the age of ten years, my uncle decided to put me in school as a class IV pupil. It was not too long when the civil conflict started in the country in 1991 and my uncle happened to be the head of the Kamajors in the villagewe lived. Around 1996, my uncle forced me to join the Kamajor force. I served in the Kamajors force for about three years. Immediatlely after the war, my uncle died. My uncle’s death made me to depart to Freetown without any relative. I became a streetboy for sometimes. To even get my daily bread was a big problem.
I started using abandoned vehicles as my place of sleep. Fortunately a friend whom I refered to as the "good samaritan" picked me up from the street . It was not actually easy at all for me. I had to engage myself in doing domestic work in morning in order to get or earn some money which I was using as lunch and to get some school materials and pay my fees. Presenly I am in desperate need of help to further my education."