Miriam Bah fled civil war in Liberia, seeking safety in Sierra Leone only to face more bloodshed. The Mernda woman lost her childhood to civil war in Africa where killings, abductions and rapes were common.
Her experiences made her want to help other women refugees so she founded the Migrant African Women’s Association (MAWA).
Ms Bah, 28, was last week awarded the Whittlesea Refugee Award for her unpaid work in African communities in the northern and western suburbs.
‘‘This is the first time I have had recognition and means that I have achieved a lot since I arrived in Australia,’’ she said.
Ms Bah said MAWA members from the Ivory Coast, Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia had experienced trauma before arriving in Australia.
‘‘My own family ran from one war straight into the next,’’ she said.
‘‘We arrived in Sierra Leone (in 1996) only to have a civil war break out there a year later.’’ A peace deal struck between the Sierra Leone government and rebels in 1996 unravelled in 1997 and the civil war, which started in 1991, continued until 2002.
Others in MAWA suffered violence in their home countries but Ms Bah said her experience was different.
‘‘I was just a child and I saw so many things,’’ Ms Bah said.
‘‘It was really awful growing up — people being shot and their bodies left on the street and people having their arms and legs amputated.
I saw girls my age being raped and I was terrified it would happen to me so I hid all the time.’’ Her family stayed in Sierra Leone for nine years until their application for refugee status was approved and they arrived in Australia in July, 2005.
‘‘I still have family missing over there.
My mum was abducted and has never been seen since.
I was hoping to see her some day but I heard she was dead,’’ Ms Bah said.
Tragedy followed Ms Bah, her father, stepmother and six siblings to Australia, with her brother James Smith, 16, drowning in the Yarra River two years ago.
Two other brothers are in the Australian Defence Force, including one who is in the infantry and due to do a tour of Afghanistan.
Ms Bah, a single mother of two who is studying for a TAFE diploma in community development and services, said she wanted to empower herself and other African women.
‘‘We all have a dream of who we want to be,’’ she said.
‘‘Some dream of being a doctor or a nurse but it’s not happening because we don’t know how to get there.
“We need education and employment and to be made to feel that we are part of society.’’ The award presented by the City of Whittlesea and Whittlesea Community Connections (WCC), was made as part of Refugee Week, which ended on June 23.
WCC community participation and employment worker Michelle Newton said Ms Bah was recognised for her work with MAWA, as a mentor and educator for African women, for her work getting young Africans to return to school and for other community services.
