I grew up in a small town, Lalehun, Kailahun district, Eastern-Sierra Leone. When the civil war broke out in our surrounding communities, I was a little boy and unaware of what was going on. My uncles and mom ran with me on their shoulders. We sought refuge in our neighboring country, Guinea, where we lived for the next decade till the war was over. Living as a refugee was challenging because even the country we seek refuge in couldn’t provide us proper protection and we only looked forward to the assistance of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR provided us food, and school while we were under refugee protection. One of my major losses as a refugee was that we got separated from my father as we were on the run. Although I have heard rumors of his existence, I haven’t gotten concrete information about his location or occupation.  

Fast forward, to my time as a student at George Mason, I engaged in a couple of activities. I was part of the Fall, 2018 Dialogue and Difference Project interns. This internship was an opportunity for me to practice some facilitation skills (creating space for conversation between two or more parties) and program or event organization. Also, in one of my classes, I did co-mediation practices and later completed the mediation training. These skills give me the required knowledge to respond to conflict situations and the ability to resolve emotional conflicts.