I am a 15-year-old Eritrean; I’ve been helping organize for the global woman on strike on international women day.

Everywhere in the majority of Third World countries, people struggle through their daily lives, enduring the catastrophe of wars especially, in the rural areas. Having a brutal government often propped up by the military and western governments, means people face starvation because of famine, illnesses, and disability. It’s much worse when it comes to losing a loved one who has been imprisoned or even murdered, not knowing how they are, or where to go to find them. It’s hard enough when everything your family tried to accomplish is just destroyed.  These are the reasons people from my country flee and become asylum seekers.

People are forced to flee Eritrea in order to avoid being arrested and imprisoned by the government.  For over 30 years Eritrea and Ethiopia have been at war, with arms sold to both sides by western government s.  The governments are corrupt and they inflame divisions between Eritrean and Ethiopian people. Both countries get money from western governments but they don’t use it for the people, or anything people need.

War broke out again in 1998; people were worried they knew once war started it would lead to other thing like drought, famine, sicknesses and that a lot of people would die. The border wars, banditry and abysmal roads threaten food distribution to the third world countries leading to starvation.

When Ethiopian Soldiers reached the villages, many people were forced to leave their land and made to fight or escape leaving behind their personal belongings, the foodstuff that had been stored and the animals they bred.  The army took everything. Older people remained in hiding and starved because there was no one left to harvest the produce.

Many husbands and other family members are imprisoned, the women are to care for the family while also looking for their missing family members, and then women have to run away because their lives are at risk as well. Many women are also imprisoned and suffer rape and other violence by soldiers.

The experience of women and children are more than anyone should have to bear; this is all because of the consequences of war. Children lose their childhood – they are abruptly told they have to flee leaving everyone and everything they knew behind, their life is taken away, which is a form of torture.

In order to reach safety it takes weeks travelling over desert without food and no shelter in extremes of heat and cold.  Scared of being caught, ambushed, and attacked by predators, & poisonous insects and snakes. Still feeling unsafe even having reached a neighbouring country, because they would be sent back, or even killed, when they are caught by government agents. The lucky ones who get enough money are able to flee to countries like Britain. But often people do not know where they are going, and leave without even a choice of what country they are being taken.

 Coming here refugee women face many problems. Having to go to different places to find out how to claim asylum -not knowing the system. Not speaking the language. Daily worrying about whether they would be allowed to stay or be sent back. Everything is different and confusing. This is especially very traumatising for younger people.  Its not easy making new friends and starting life over again. Not able to go to school- young peoples education is prematurely stopped-sitting at their Hostel  –isolated from kids their own age.

While money is waste on war – girls like me don’t have the money to go to college and the resources to living life again.

Still the UK government is planning to spend 3.5 billion on war. How many grants would that provide for all the students? How much  would it  take to provide for clean piped water, to end drought , provide food , better hospitals , better schools and resources for the people disabled by war.