Brian Sokol’s Refugee Portrait Series

Poga Za (family name) Fideline (given name), 13, poses for a portrait in Batanga transit center for Central African refugees in Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of Congo on 12 August, 2013. When Seleka forces arrived in Fideline's village, her family hoped that they would be able to stay in Moungoumba and peacefully coexist with the armed men. A week later, on the 7th of April, 2013, this proved impossible. Fideline and some other children were playing near the river when Seleka forces got into an argument with a Central African businessman. When the businessman refused to give his money to the gunmen, the dragged him from the port to the village center. As Fideline and her friends watched, they tied his arms behind his back, then threw him facedown to the ground, and shot him twice in the back. Terrified, the children ran in all directions. Fideline remembers screaming as she sprinted home, where she told her family what had happened as she trembled and sobbed. Her father immediately decided that they had to leave. Fideline, her three sisters, three brothers, mother and father grabbed a few belongings before running from their home and hiding overnight in the forest beyond the village. At 9:00 the next morning, they boarded a boat, and two hours later arrived safely at Batanga. The most important thing that Fideline was able to leave her home with are the notebooks that she holds in this photograph. An excellent student, Fideline one day hopes to be a minister in her country's government. “I couldn't take my school bag, my shoes, or the colored ribbons for my hair”, she recalls, “but I did bring my notebooks and my pen”. Holding her history, homework and practice books – all of which bear an image of the African continent on their covers – she says, "we have suffered so much. My father is out of work and my mother goes to the fields all day. I want to study so that I can become someone. I want to study”. (Photo by Brian Sokol/Panos Pictures)
Brian Sokol’s Refugee Portrait Series
   
  Military Woman Gallery

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