Budaburam Visit

While in Winneba, I met a young woman from the Netherlands named Lian who was volunteering for three months at the Budaburam Liberian Refugee Camp outside of Accra and was invited for a tour. “The more the merrier”, she said. So I brought six. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to pass by a refugee camp, if you don’t know what you’re looking for. My cab did on the way there, but we doubled-back and found it.

For a little insight, the camp was built by the United Nations in 1990 in reaction to the flood of refugees exiting the West African country of Liberia as civil strife set in. Under the oppressive regime of Charles Taylor, the country suffered and people kept coming to the camp and returned, although everyone I spoke to still wants to. If you show a child in the camp a map of Africa and ask where they live, they won’t point to Ghana, they’ll point to Liberia.

In the last 15 years, the size of the camp has increased to over 40,000 people. Unlike the camps seen on television in Darfur, this is more like a Palestinian camp, because when a refugee camp is built and not destroyed, it evolves. The camp was filled with small shops, restaurants and businesses selling everything that one would need. Many people live in concrete houses and their children go to decent schools run by the United Nations and other charities. There is even a fully-operational clinic. It’s basically a small town.

The people there were welcoming and friendly, especially the children. They also wanted us to spread the word about their situation. One man who helped me around named Frank, told me his story of how he came in 1996 at the age of 11, separated from his parents, with whom he has not seen since. In the time that he’s been here, he has graduated from high school and now works as a volunteer with the Welfare Council. I’m still amazed that people who have gone through so much can be so optimistic and warm.

Currently, there is a presidential election vote happening in Liberia, a historical one for a people who have suffered for so long. The main candidate is George Weah, a high school dropout who became one of Europe's greatest footballers, so I don’t know if there’s much hope for Liberia in the immediate future, but it will be a long march to democracy and perhaps this will be the first step.