I SURVIVED 6 MONTHS IN HELL

AMINATA NEVER LET THE HORRORS OF HER PAST GET IN THE WAY OF HER FUTURE. NOW, SHE’S GIVING BACK

- Astha Gupta

Aminata ContehBiger was a teenager when she was kidnapped by rebel soldiers.

Taken from her home town during the Sierra Leone Civil War at just 18 years of age, she was their prisoner for six harrowing months.

Brutally raped and even used as a human shield during heavy bombing, it was a horrific start to life. Eventually, Aminata was released from her captors in a televised exchange for food and medicine.

But she couldn’t return to her home country. She became one of the first refugees of the war-torn country to be brought to Australia.

Now, almost 20 years later, the mum-of-two is proud to call Australia home and has dedicated her life to helping women in the African country.

“When something bad happens, you can rise or you can fall. I chose to rise,” Aminata, 36, tells New Idea.

While the civil war began in 1991, it took nearly eight years to reach Freetown, where Aminata lived.

Eventually, her family’s worst fears were realised when the rebels captured the city, burning houses and murdering people in the streets.