I was given a tool to cut trees. That’s how aid started for me as a refugee fleeing Sierra Leone's civil war to Guinea in 1991.
Now, as someone who has spent decades leading international aid, it’s the perfect metaphor. With machetes we could gather large sticks and build a temporary shelter, but we weren’t given any tools to grow trees. And that’s the challenge with our current approach to international aid. Eventually, there are no more trees. And there is no one left who knows how to plant them.
Once refugee camp systems appear, you are assigned a number that often replaces your name. It starts a process of treating all refugees the same, irrespective of their ages, social backgrounds, education or goals.
