It was a civil war between the Somalia government and the Somalia National Movement. The date was May 27th 1988. The war began in the early morning. Everyone was running anywhere.

They ran from the tanks, planes, guided missiles and guns. Sometimes they shot at us with shells which killed children, women and old people.

They put poison in all the wells so you could not find anywhere to drink. Even if you thought the water was not poisoned you dare not drink it in case it was! There was no food and no shelter.

Everyone became sad, unhappy and confused. The President wanted us to follow his rules. But we did not want to because we thought they were not right.

Everything became worse. We could do nothing to change what was happening. There were so many corpses. I could never run fast enough when the planes came.

Somalia people did not seem to understand each other any more. They became angry. The noise of the planes, guns, tanks and shells made them deaf. So many people dead or injured for the rest of their lives.

My family finally came to a refugee camp which was in Harta Shek. We were there about three years and after the that my biggest brother sent me a visa from the United Kingdom.

We have been here since Jan 1991 and I am so happy. Sometimes I feel worried, because I still remember my country, the country I was born in.

BASHA