Interview With Winston Harmon

by Bérengère Cortade

RE-zine: Winston, you met Marc Schaeffer online while in Ghana Refugee Camp Buduburam. I understand you are a Liberian refugee yourself and the founder and president of Africation Youth for Actions there. Could you explain what your organisation does and what was your specific role there?

Winston: After many days of observation of the activities of youth in the camp and looking at the kind of leadership in the camp I saw that youth was being left behind. There had not been any good vocational school for youth. Youth was being used for all kinds of bad activities, and moreover, the Ghanaian government did not care about what was happening in the camp with the youth. And with high rate of poverty the youth was vulnerable and open to anything. And so I founded […]Africation Youth for Actions. It was [officially born] on June 7, 2000.

[It] is a small organization that was established to help the African youth who had been affected by war, teenage pregnancy, drug and AIDS. We assist the African youth to overcome situations that are beyond their control. We identify the youth in any of these situations and we organize seminars to educate them on the dangers of teenage pregnancy, drug, AIDS, and other matters of life.

Our role [in Camp Buduburam] was to bring the youth together, for awareness, and to help them solve some of their problems, and to teach them to be able to live good in the society.

RE-zine: Could you tell us about the general situation in the Buduburam camp?

Winston: The Buduburam refugee camp has about 50 to 60 thousand people. The UN has not done much for the people in that camp, the UN was just able to build a office there this year. There is no good drinking water, it needs more schools buildings and hospital; for all the population there is only two clinics. Schools are very full: one classroom is sometimes taking 95 to 145 students, and because of this there is no good learning atmosphere. There is no electricity. There is no good leadership on the camp. The leaders are not the people who really care. Because of this, the youth are getting involved with drug dealings, prostitution situations and other bad activies to survive. There are lots of them in jail and some lying in the hospital.

RE-zine: You met Marc Schaeffer through the RESPECT website. How did you get to know the organisation and how was it of interest to you?

Winston: I got to know the organization from the website and by reading the newsletters and also by some of the letters sent to me by Mr Marc Schaeffer.

The RESPECT organization as I see it is involved in helping the youth and others to rebuild their lives and I wanted to have some assistance from them, so that we can be a working partner.

RE-zine: You now live in Winnipeg, Canada. Why this move? What is your personal situation there?

Winston: After going through the war in my country and others around us, I have been trying to improve my living conditions. So I first stayed with the church in the Buduburam camp and there I was serving as the youth president in the Freedom Christian Fellowship Ministries International. Then I started some volunteering job in a preparatory school - the Providence Preparatory School of the camp - as a teacher. Looking at life condition and what I was, I decided to start [African Youth for Actions], but there was not much I could do because I was a refugee and they had no funds for the running of the program. So I was seeking an opportunity to travel out of Africa and go to a country where I will be able to learn and to find a sponsor for the organization.

I arrived [in Winnipeg] on Feb,12, 2004, and I'm not engaged in any work for now. I don't have a place of my own nor work yet, in short I'm not established in any way. Well I still remain the head of the [Africation Youth for Action] and I'm in contact with them. Now that I'm in Canada the organization is still on the Buduburam refugee camp in the Providence Preparation School building. It's being managed by mother Tonia Freeman and other members.

RE-zine: You re-contacted Marc since your arrival in Winnipeg. From the organisation point of view, do you hope/intend to get involved with it, and what do you expect from it?

Winston: Yes l hope and intend to get involved with the African Youth for Actions and to get involved with Respect. This is one of the reason I'm here. I expect from it good development and improvement in achieving our objective.

RE-zine: From your experience, how does RESPECT help the refugees?

Winston: RESPECT can help by providing rehabilitation programs for war affected youth, vocational schools and help with safe drinking water for the community.

RE-zine: Winston, thank you for your time. We wish you all the best for your new life in Canada.

** While RESPECT understands the material needs of refugee communities are great, such as schools and clear water, RESPECT's mandate is merely to work to increase awareness of refugee issues by introducing refugee student to non-refugee students by pen-pal letter exchange.