{"id":228242,"date":"2016-07-05T13:18:13","date_gmt":"2016-07-05T13:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=228242"},"modified":"2016-07-05T13:18:13","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T13:18:13","slug":"how-my-dream-gap-year-in-africa-turned-into-a-nightmare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/07\/how-my-dream-gap-year-in-africa-turned-into-a-nightmare\/","title":{"rendered":"How my dream gap year in Africa turned into a nightmare"},"content":{"rendered":"
Two hours had passed – maybe three. I couldn\u2019t tell. The dense jungle canopy above me had eliminated what little moonlight there was and plunged me into inky blackness deep in the Zambian bush. I lay very still, listening for the armed rebels and wondering how long it was until daybreak, not knowing if I\u2019d survive to see it.<\/p>\n
With my body shaking and my brain frozen with fear, it was hard to remember how I\u2019d ended up there, 6,000 miles from home. An 18-year-old Scot and former pupil of the prestigious Fettes College, I had come to Africa with hopes of helping some of the world\u2019s poorest people. But my gap year had become a living nightmare when I inadvertently found myself caught up in the fringes of the Congolese War.<\/p>\n
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G<\/span>unshots echoed through the bush and seemed to be getting closer. I couldn\u2019t imagine the awful, sporadic acts of violence that were being committed as the village was ransacked. Fear and anger for the children consumed my thoughts. Part of me wanted to jump up and make it all stop, but then I heard shrill screams and shrank back into my hiding place.<\/p>\n
As the night ticked interminably by, I tried not to think what the rebels would do to the ‘skinny white muzungu with long angel hair\u2019 if they found me. Clenching my jaw to stop my teeth chattering, I squeezed my eyes shut and reminded myself how I\u2019d come to be a central character in this horror story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n