#WorldRefugeeDay: I am a refugee

By John Ngong, Program Officer, World Vision South Sudan

A bomb blasts and my life shatters

I ran for my dear life, I am desperate to find shelter

But no place nearby is safe anymore

Not even my ancestors' graveyard

So I ran and ran really hard

My land is covered with a ceaseless blood flow

I was terrified and ran to places I didn't even know exist

I am walking in the valley of death, yard by yard

Death has become so easy because life is hard

I ran, walked and crawled and here I am in a foreign land

Being offered a glimpse of life by some strange hand

I cannot find my friends and relatives

I found myself under the camp directives

I really miss home

But death there is the norm

My body may be safe but my spirit is dead here anyway

I wish I could go home and change things if there was a way

In the dark of the night I sob

But one thing has not left me and its hope

I strongly hope to re-live and relieve myself from this pain

I know one day, all the pain will go away

And I will overcome this strife.

John Ngong was a former refugee in Kenya and stayed there for four years. He went back to South Sudan after finishing his degree in Philosophy.