• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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The gruesome narrative of Asatta Henriatta Allwell-Brown, a survivor of the Liberian civil war

The gruesome narrative of Asatta Henriatta Allwell-Brown, a survivor of the Liberian civil war

Asatta Henriatta Allwell-Brown was born July 4, 1987, in Monrovia, Liberia. She is a Caterer, Singer and Song Writer, Event Planner and Historian. She is a graduate of the prestigious University of Lagos.

Asatta attended Bethesda school where she had her primary education and went on to St Mary’s Catholic school for her secondary education. Shortly after the war broke out, Asatta moved alongside her family to Sierra Leone, to Senegal, to the Gambia, to Mali, to Ivory Coast, to Ghana (where she parted ways with her family members), and eventually settled by herself in Nigeria in the year 2002.

Asatta is a survivor of the Liberian Civil war which lasted for 20 years. She will never forget the sudden transition from living with a silver spoon in Liberia to living on the streets and working as a domestic help in Nigeria.

She is the MD/CEO of Ganador Catering and a gospel singer. She manages the day to day affairs at Ganador and is in charge of Business Development and Quality Assurance.

Read Also: Africa’s Post-Covid-19 Economic Recovery: Elumelu moderates as presidents of Senegal, Liberia, US Senator Coons convene at UBA  Africa Day Conversations 2020

Asatta believes that hard work, integrity, diligence and the fear of God has brought her this far. Her clientele in her catering business has risen from 40 to 500 within the space of One and a few years. Ganador provides bespoke catering to her clientele as she believes it to be individual artistry rather than routine.

Asatta is a wife and mother, she has three siblings, two Nigerian parents namely: Rev Bankole and Grace Olowofoyeku. She has two Liberian parents namely: Moses Barlay and Sedia Barlay. She lives in Nigeria’s busiest commercial hub, Lagos.

She is a Christian and an active member of the choir in her local Church.   Asatta in her spare time derives pleasure in swimming and likes to surf the web for the latest trend. When she is not doing any of the above, she loves taking a nap.

Earlier in life

Growing up for me was very interesting “smiles”.  Reminiscing about being loved by my parents, family memories and all, my parents raised children that were not their biological children who always looked up to us. I remember how our big five-story building located in the government reserved area of Monrovia, Liberia was always occupied with family and friends from the village and city coming to ask for one help or the other, as my Dad held a position as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) for the Food and Agricultural Organisation for the United Nations.

My Mom was a big businesswoman who traded in different kinds of materials and ran entertainment centres in the heart of Monrovia. My siblings and I attended the best schools in town and we had the opportunity to celebrate birthdays as it was a big deal for my peers.

My parents instilled values in me that I think has influenced where I am today. Growing up, we were told to never lie, no matter how bad the situation was. We were taught transparency, respect and how to love especially the less privileged. Though we had domestic staff who lived with us from the village, my parents still ensured we did house chores like cooking, washing of clothes and cleaning the house.

Surviving the Liberian civil war

It was a terrible experience. I remember how we escaped when we got the news that the rebels had attacked the city. We left in a hurry with nothing. There was no time to plan or even arrange any of our things. We and our neighbours started to move in different directions. As it got intense, without any compass, we began to move from one community to another, sleeping in uncompleted buildings, bushes and forests. We lost everything we had, most of my close family members were killed and conscripted into the war to fight as children soldiers.

They had to become children, soldiers, because they had no choice and there was no other means of survival but to become a baby soldier so you could loot and bring food for your family and also protect them. I remembered how my father was tied and beaten up by rebels because they felt he looked like a particular tribe that was against the ruling government.

Starvation was the top of the day, we ate grasses and domestic animals to survive. I was told by my mom that I fainted from hunger during one of the escapes and she thought I was gone, out of the blues she got grasses from the bush mixed and mashed it and squeezed the juice into my mouth and I came back to life.

I also remember how my sister was raped to save me when the rebels came into a particular community to fetch young girls that they could take to their camps to sleep with and cook for them.

As we speak, till date, my eldest sister is still missing from the war. She left us to go look for food when she heard a ship arrived at the port with food while our parents were out looking for food also. As she left, she never returned. We have gotten all kinds of news, some said she was dead, some said they saw her in Guinea Bissau where the ship came from. My mother’s biggest night mare.

I also remember how pregnant women were killed by the rebels for no just reasons, they would just bet and say, “that pregnant woman is carrying a baby boy” and the other would say “no it’s a baby girl” and they argue and the next thing they get her, spilt her tummy open and bring out the baby. The person who wins the bet gets more soldiers into his team.

I remember how people were crossing borders and before you were allowed to cross if you eventually encounter rebels at a check-point, they would ask for your tribe and ask you the level of amputation you desire, short sleeves or long sleeves. Short sleeve (amputation from the elbow and long sleeve, amputation from the wrist). A lot of experiences you know but for now, I stop here.

The war taught me how to trust God and depend on Him sorely. The war taught me how to be humble. The war taught me to be a survivor.

Read Also: IMF Managing Director Appoints Sayeh, a Liberian as Deputy Managing Director

Transitioning from one country to the other

The process for me was tasking, as most of the movements were by foot, we had swollen feet and sore feet from trekking. People died from exhaustion and all that. We had almost lost hope and just wanted to cross to a place where we would find peace and solace. At some point, we got the refugee trucks to convey us to neighbouring countries like Mali to Ivory Coast trip and the Ivory Coast to Ghana trip. We reported ourselves in every country we landed in. The immigration officers at borders would accommodate us but did not allow us to cross the border until they get permission from their headquarters. Some countries had to get makeshift relief camps to host us while others didn’t grant us access and the only option was to keep moving from one country to another. I was between the ages of 9 to 13.

As far as I can remember, some of the countries were not receptive; some of the countrymen took advantage of our girls. I don’t remember us doing any kind of job, proper job, to survive because the language was one of the barriers as most of these countries were French-speaking countries. Most of the time they got humanitarians and philanthropist to come with relief supplies like food, clothing, sanitary pads, blankets, tents, camp beds and counsellors to talk with us and teach us. Most of the houses we had were mud houses.

I know that some of our people became labourers, truck pushers and car loaders as most of the places we settled were closer to the borders of other countries. We kept on moving searching for a better life as we continue to get news from other refugees in other countries, so we were always at alert.

Parting ways with family in Ghana

The camp seemed bigger than every other camp we had ever lived in, but the life there was a stereotype and we could only live in the confines of the camp which I felt was not good enough. Unlike the Francophone countries, we knew there was no hope because we couldn’t speak French. Seeing a country where they speak English was such a great relief for us, but NO! We had the refugee status tagged on us like a badge. People were not allowed to go into Accra or even work; there was no freedom of movement, even though it’s all over now. There was this fear of “Ah! Some of these boys and girls are rebels oh, the fact that the government granted them refugee status doesn’t mean we should allow them into our city”.

And the camp suddenly became like Sodom and Gomorrah. You know where you have idle minds the people become the devil’s work tools.

Men started coming from Accra to pick our girls, people got involved in prostitution, and teenage pregnancy became very common. There were schools but I mean, there was no interest and it was really hard and difficult adjusting to normality. I was never happy; I was always sad and wanted a better life for myself but it just wasn’t working in Ghana.

One faithful day, a family friend who had lived on the refugee camp in Ogun State, Nigeria, established by the United Nations came visiting the camp in Ghana and he looked different from us. It was clear that life on the refugee camp in Nigeria was better than the life in Ghana in terms of freedom and acceptance from the people.

He told me he had seen my uncle a few times and my uncle was doing very well in Nigeria. I wrote a letter to my uncle asking him if I could come to Nigeria to live with him because I didn’t want to stay in Ghana. A couple of months later, my uncle reached out to me with his phone number and we began to communicate. Unfortunately, my uncle’s contract had ended and he had one month left to return to the US to his family. He was fortunate to have escaped before the war got intense. I came, visited my uncle for one month and he asked me to go back to my parents.

I cried because I really liked life in Nigeria and I really wanted to stay back but I had to leave. Immediately I returned, I told my parents I wanted to come back to Nigeria and my parents were worried. My mom cried, my dad was helpless and broken and didn’t like the idea. My Mom cried profusely and reminded me about my eldest sister who had gone and I was the only one left but I made a promise to her that I will be fine…I assured her. I pleaded with them as I wanted to come to make a living for myself in Nigeria. It was the hardest decision ever leaving my family to come and fend for myself at the age of thirteen.

I kept in touch by sending letters through drivers from Mazaza, Mile 2 park and sometimes phone calls which were very expensive. Yes, we are still in touch. As a matter of fact, my parents have visited Nigeria twice. My graduation from the University of Lagos and my wedding.

Living on the streets and also becoming a domestic help 

At this point, I wasn’t afraid of anything anymore. This part of my life was one of the toughest and most interesting.

When I returned, I had nowhere to stay, I had reported myself at the embassy but unfortunately, the embassy had shut down operations from Lagos and moved to Abuja. The refugee program for Liberians in Nigeria had also come to an end. I was stuck and had nowhere to go. I made friends with an Idoma girl the first time I came to visit and I was able to contact her and she hosted me for a few months and her mom asked me to leave because they weren’t comfortable about the fact that I was a complete stranger.

That was how I began to sleep on the streets of Lagos, Obalende market and a few other locations. I was always sure of my Fridays as I could enter into any church and pretend to have come for their church service or vigil and I would sleep. I slept in strange places…some of them I can’t even remember. I slept on people’s porch. I was friends with Mallams.  I was still in touch with my friend but this time, we used to meet at her church since I couldn’t go to her house. We began to look for jobs I could do. Being homeless without any qualifications whatsoever, my best option was to become a domestic help. With that, I had a roof over my head and I was safe, I had food to eat and I was being paid maybe 1000 Naira monthly or so.

As I worked as domestic help, I met the good the bad and the ugly. I was maltreated and abused, physically, verbally and emotionally. I got assaults in different forms and shapes. It’s funny now, it was never funny then. I worked like a horse. The fear of losing my job had me on my toes because I was determined to succeed. Many times, my madams rotated me amongst their family members, because I was hardworking. A particular home I worked I was the Washman, the Nanny, the cook, the gardener, the cleaner and so on.

Birthing Ganador Catering

Ganador started in 2017. We usually used to make family specials for family and friends because we found out that both of us liked cooking as those were the only days I had to cook and spend quality time with my husband. The week was full of office activities while Saturday was for choir rehearsals. So, Sunday was reserved for family and food. One day, my husband cooks this fried rice and it tasted really nice. It was one of the best I had ever tasted, my husband posted the pictures on Instagram and people responded positively to the images. I thought of it that this could be a strong source of income and also an exit from the nine to five. I told him about my vision and he agreed and encouraged me by saying “anything is possible”, so I asked him to make that fried rice again and I sent it out to one or two companies to taste and that was how I got an approval from one of the companies to resume packed meal services. I was so excited and I discussed with my husband about giving the business a name, a name that will stand. I prayed about the name and got the name “Winner”. But even without searching on google, I knew that there were lots of companies especially catering outfits with the name Winner. So, I was worried and I told my husband about it, so my husband searched for the Spanish translation. My husband never took too long to think of a creative way to solve a problem so this was just one of those challenges. There we found the name “Ganador”

Asatta Henriatta Allwell-Brown
Asatta Henriatta Allwell-Brown

Starting up and now…the journey so far

Staring up in any business or any job is usually the most difficult part. It is also a little bit tasking when there is a new client but it just takes a few days to settle down and then it’s coasting all the way. I want Ganador catering to be a name mentioned in every region across Nigeria. I want people in other countries to ask Google for where to find the best meals, and get the answer Ganador, Lagos, Nigeria.

For the love of singing

I started singing when I was a little girl. I remember how my sister would listen to tapes and write down lyrics for me to learn. She used to take me from church to church in some of the refugee camps we resided and tell them we have a testimony to share but before then she would want her younger sister to sing. I would sing and the whole church would be excited and we would share our testimonies on how God spared our lives from the civil war. When I came to Nigeria, I was always looking for opportunities to showcase my singing talent. I later joined my church choir. Interestingly, my husband and I formed a band in 2013, we kept trying and he is still working on my music to make me a better singer and songwriter. The band grew strong but over time, individual members moved on to one thing or the other. The band still exists but the members-only come together when there is a need. I continued performing with every opportunity until it became a strong source of income as well as helping me show my talent.

I have worked on a few songs in the studio and will love to release them as soon as I see a good enough opportunity.

Your Nigerian parents and the influence they’ve had on you

My adopted Father Rev Olowofoyeku was like an elder brother to the last family I worked with. He took interest in my case, by following up and trying to know more about me and how I came to Nigeria. God laid it on his heart to adopt me. He has three boys and he told me that God said the female child he didn’t have was me. God used him to change my life and change my story. When he adopted me, he took me into his family without fears or doubts and treated me as his own. He cleaned me up, gave me a new life and gave me hope again. He taught me how to love and forgive. I was hurt, really hurt and abused by people. He sent me back to school till I complete my studies and got my BSc form the University of Lagos. I owe it to you daddy.

Meeting your husband

Remember as a domestic help I didn’t have the opportunity to join any choir not to talk of going for a musical event or any kind of outing. So, after I met my Dad, my life changed for good and I gained back my confidence and my healing process was complete, I started socializing and following up with my singing career.

I met my husband in 2012 at an open mic event at Terra culture where I performed ‘I will always love you’ by Whitney Houston. He liked my performance and from there we became good friends. Marriage has made me believe again that there is a God above who loves us so much and cares about us and is involved in the tiniest detail of our lives. My husband is one of the greatest gifts I have from God. He is one of my numerous testimonies. Marriage has helped me to reinforce all my values and has taught me how to care for people more and how to be accountable. He has been a bedrock through my experience, whatever I go through now, I know I always have someone to run to.

Do you ever see yourself going back to Liberia?

To live?  No! To visit with my family and establish businesses? Yes!

Personal and professional challenges

When you own a business, it becomes one of your children, so you have to give it enough attention and if you are not careful, it takes away the attention from another. So, I have to get used to having a lot of children which includes my business and treat them all fairly that no one loses out. In music, it has always been how to get promoted. And we all know these days it costs an arm and a leg to promote music.

Advice to anyone going through difficult situations

If you are consistent with your push towards breaking out of your situation, doing every and anything legal, the opportunity will meet the prepared. It always does.

What are you grateful for?

Everything. I am grateful that I am alive to see this day. A day that I can give advice to someone that is going through what I have been through. I am grateful for the gifts God has given me, my family and friends

Final words 

This is just the beginning! Thank you.

Kemi Ajumobi