Richard Henry is a hero. The 26-year-old left his native Liberia at the age of 17 to escape the civil war which has wrecked the West African nation and whose wanton violence had claimed the lives of both his parents.
Destitute and an orphan, Richard began his odyssey from the Liberian capital of Monrovia on March 12, 1989. Nine years later, he is a reluctant guest of the Republic of Cyprus, which has taken upon itself to rescue him from a drifting boat, clothe him, feed him and put a roof over his head.
Richard is grateful, but he is not happy and he does not relish his new life as one of the “prisoners” of the Pefkos Hotel.
The son of a military commander from one of the many rival militias in the Liberian civil war, Richard knew that staying at home could mean death after his father and mother were shot dead in 1988 by men loyal to warlord Charles Taylor.
“I wanted to be go to a place where I can be safe and where human rights are protected,” he declared in an interview with the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
He decided it was time to go, and his epic journey began in neighbouring Ivory Coast, from where he travelled to Mali, then to Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and finally Lebanon.
“I entered some of these countries legally and others illegally,” Richard said at the Pefkos, where he and 108 other passengers from the Syrian- flagged trawler Rida Allah have been put up by the government since their rescue late last month.
Like the others, he had paid thousands of dollars in return for passage to either Greece or Italy to seek employment, but instead drifted in the Mediterranean with no food or water after the boat developed engine trouble. Rescue arrived nine days later, thanks to an heroic feat by the Liberian and another passenger from Rwanda, known only as John.
“I was one of the two men who decided to put our lives at risk and leave the boat to seek out help,” said Richard.
“Me and John were out for two days on a raft we made until we were spotted by the Ukrainian ship which we led to our boat,” he proudly recalled to nods of agreement from Arabs and Africans around him at the Pefkos’ underground dining room.
Richard, whose travels since 1989 did not include a single aeroplane ride, left school at the age of 13 and says he played second-division football in Mali.
So what do you want to do with your life now?
“I want to go to Europe and be a professional footballer. I am a striker,” said the irrepressible Liberian.
