One morning everything changed. There was confusion and many people talking about great changes. It was a very important date, one I will never forget. Nobody could have imagined what would happen next. It was Friday in the month of May 1988 when the civil war began and people were running everywhere.

They ran into the forest to escape the planes. They ran in bare feet. Many people hurt their legs and arms. Others were killed. A lot of people lived under the trees in the savannah forest.

I remember the war in the forest. I saw a lot of corpses. Many of my relatives died. Some died of hunger. Others were killed in the fighting. There was no food, no water and no shelter.

In the forest our family became split into three. I was with my mum and her sister. All could think of was myself. I could not dream because I had terrible nightmares. The loud noise of the guns made us absent minded. We saw lots of trees, animals and corpses which we had never seen before. We were confused and worried about what would happen. I cannot describe to you how bad it was when you saw your friends and children the same age as you dead.

One night in the forest the moon was shining and in the darkness I could see animals moving. They were hyenas. I shouted and became out of control. But nobody could hear me, not even the hyenas because of the noise of the guns. I was cold, hungry and frightened. I found a little hole and crawled into it. For two days and nights I stayed there with nothing to eat or drink. I was sick and the enemy walked over me. I talked to myself saying "Where are your parents, brothers and sisters? Are they alive?" Sometimes I said to myself, "Perhaps it will be better one day when the war ends."

I could not eat anything because I had to lay next to so many corpses. My heart burned when I remember the hyenas eating the corpses. I started to cry and could not eat any food. I could not think of anything else except my father.

My father went back to Burao to try to find some money from our shop. The enemy caught him and tied him up. They were going to kill him but a friend helped him to escape.

Today I miss Somalia. I miss the freedom of the country and the sun. Maybe its because I am so attached to my country that I do not feel free. I feel homesick so badly sometimes and I pray to Allah that things in Somalia will improve. I want to go back and take my friends with me.

SABAD AND SAHRA