A few months before Bah left The Gambia, he noticed some of his friends in the journalism field were going missing. He discovered that the President ordered them to be arrested, and killed. In May of 2005, Bah received a call that he was to be arrested. He received calls from co-workers at the publication he worked at, warning him not to come to the office because the President’s soldiers were looking for him. Fearing he may be caught trying to seek refuge at the U.K. or U.S. embassy, Bah made the decision to escape to Senegal.

 

Bah only stayed in Senegal for a month. Soon after he arrived, he saw on the news that the President of The Gambia had declared him a wanted man. Being so close to his home country was too dangerous. He was then moved to Ghana, and spent a year there before the U.S. embassy picked up his case, and arranged for him to come to the United States. It was just the day before he left when he discovered his destination: Providence.

 

Bah had no clue where or what Providence was. “At first I thought it was a church,” Bah said. But his early days in Providence were not pleasant, to say the least. Bah felt very alone, and the only people he could talk to were his roommates, two other refugees from Liberia and Burundi, respectively. He was worried about his family back home, and had a lot of difficulty sleeping. Terrors from escaping The Gambia resurfaced in his dreams, and he resorted to sleeping pills. Omar hit bottom when he inadvertantly overdosed on the medicine one evening.

 

Bah's first steps toward getting his life together was helping others and helping himself. He started with himself, and found remedy by reading books telling the tales of other people who had picked themselves back up. He then got involved with refugee advocacy in Rhode Island, and started by tackling the issues of health care and housing for refugees. Lead poisoning was an immense issue when Bah first arrived. “Refugees are the smallest community in Providence, but our children have the biggest problem with lead poisoning,” said Bah. “Almost all the kids of refugees are poisoned because of the housing.”

 

One of Bah's first victories was securing better, safer housing for refugees in Rhode Island. This success led to him being named the Rhode Island representative for the UN’s Refugee Congress, that meets in Washington, D.C. every year. He is also the New England representative for the board of the Refugee Congress. His next big task involves the 60,000 refugees that are coming from the Congo in the next three to four years.

 

Bah has now lived in Rhode Island for six years, and his wife for four. Together they have two kids, ages two and four. His wife is currently studying to be a nurse here at the University of Rhode Island. This week, his mother is coming to the United States for the first time. She has not seen Bah in eight years, and has never met her grandchildren before.

 

Bah will be speaking at the Swan Auditorium here at URI on March 27th, at 7 p.m. He will discuss the struggle of Africans living under dictatorships and the courage of journalists trying to tell those stories. He will also tell his own story that is detailed in his book, "Africa's Hell on Earth." Admission to the lecture is free, and all are welcome.