It’s May 2019, I’m serving as the vice president of the Adolescent Club of Ntankah Village Women Common Initiative Group, a grassroots organization. On a faithful morning, I receive a summon to the vocational training center for a roundtable session about project planning and execution. I leave the house and arrive at Mile 8 Mankon, a junction known for its social and economic activities, at 10:00 am. The place is so cold and moody. I walk into the Center, and we proceed with the meeting. Suddenly, two trainees rush in to alert everyone about gunshots and the killing of two soldiers about a mile away.

As we hurry to close the meeting, gunshots rain over the whole area within five minutes. Breaking, burning, and the destruction of houses and business properties follow. From 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, gunshots continue. I feel traumatized, being the only young boy among 28 females at the scene. The house closer to the road burns down to ashes, heightening my fear and making me shed tears for my life. Adrenaline rushes down my spine with each bullet shot. At about 6:30 pm, the situation calms down. I can’t return home, so I spend the night at my boss’s place. Throughout the night, I hear fierce gunshots.

The next morning, I use the early hours to return home as the area clears and calms. I can’t believe what I witness it is reality mirroring an action movie. Fast forward to two weeks, I stop going to school due to the dreadful circumstances of the crisis, reducing my education to homeschooling with a friend at her house. We have further mathematics lectures at about noon when we hear terrible gunshots just on the leeward side of the hill. Shouting follows and then acute silence. As it calms, I run home and, to my greatest shock, learn that the attacked house belongs to a friend of mine and her two sisters are shot. My heart breaks.
I sink in sadness and tears.

What is all this killing, destruction, and uncertainty of the future? How can I live freely? It is about peace and valuing human life. We need genuine dialogue to put an end to this inhumane act. Our future matters. Please!

Key Message: Giving Peace a chance through Dialogue and  Value human life.

I am Peter Bryan a Young Peace Advocate.