Edmonton man reunites with mother, 17 years after fleeing war-torn Liberia
Bokolo Chea was just 16 when he found himself living alone at a refugee camp in Ghana, separated from his parents and four siblings after heavy fighting broke out in Monrovia, Liberia.
He never expected that 17 years later, after moving to Canada and starting a new life in St. Albert, he would see his family again.
The first Liberian civil war broke out in 1989 and lasted eight years. In 1996, fighting broke out in the capital city, forcing Chea to flee for safety.
He recalls the situation being chaotic.
“I got separated because of the heavy gunshots,” Chea said. “It was so confusing and everybody ran their own way and I just found myself behind a certain group of people who I [didn’t] know.”
Eventually, he fled to Ghana as a refugee, where he lived a difficult life under impossible conditions that he says he wouldn’t wish upon anyone.
“That was a very bad life,” Chea said. “It was horrible. You wake up in the morning, you don’t even know what to eat.... how to get water to drink.
“All you look up to is God and say 'God, this is my life and if you can spare my life for this day, I thank you.'”
Living as a refugee
For 12 long years, Chea struggled at the camp but managed to find purpose and strength at church and through his love of soccer.
He began coaching children’s soccer in Ghana, connecting with the kids who — like him — didn’t have a family.
‘“I started doing some recreational play with the kids, who also lost their parents, at the camp,” Chea said. “I said, since I can’t find my parents and you guys are just like me, [I’ll just] play with them.”
It was while he was coaching children’s soccer that he met and fell in love with Lee, an education student from the University of Alberta who had toured the camp.
The pair exchanged emails and over the years their relationship flourished, despite the long distance. They married in Senegal in 2008.
A new life
Despite starting a new life in Edmonton, Chea never forgot about his past in Liberia.
When the opportunity came for Chea, a talented soccer player, to return to Liberia to play at a national event, he jumped at the chance.
After the game, Chea received word from a local radio station that someone was looking for him.
The man from the station told Chea that he knew his mother and brother, that they were still alive and that he knew exactly where they were.
Chea burst into tears.
“I said ‘no, it can’t be’ and I just started crying right in front of him,” he said.
The next day, Chea and the stranger embarked on a six-hour long journey that would weave through Liberia and into a small, remote village where his family — still alive and well — was living.
At first, his mother didn’t recognize him, but after a long look at his hair, she realized who he was.
“All my brothers, we have this type of flat hair,” Chea said. “She recognized me because of my flat hair.”
After bombs, gunshots and violence separated him from his family 17 years earlier, he was reunited with his mother and brother.
Living with hope
The brief reunion ended with a promise to return to Liberia, but the trip has been put on hold because of the Ebola crisis.
The Ebola outbreak, the largest ever, has ravaged Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. It is believed to have sickened more than 6,200 people.
It’s difficult to be so far away from his family in a time of crisis, but Chea remains hopeful.
“I feel for the country,” Chea said. “I feel for the government because they are trying to do their best. It really makes me sad. I can really feel bad, but I've got the faith in God that my mom is not going to die, my brother is not going to die.”
Chea hopes others have the same faith that he has.
“I want them to have hope,” he said. “I want them to have peace of mind that one day things can happen for them. If it can happen for me, that I saw my mom just for a day, it’s a pleasure for me. So let them have hope and know that one day, good things will happen for them.”
