Oct 17, 2009
Making difference
Kindness is the ability to love people more than they really deserve, and love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.
Oct 16, 2009
Kindness is the ability to love people more than they really deserve, and love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.
Mar 11, 2009
Long Road
Bruce Cerew
''Long Road- A -tale of a War Child''
Upon witnessing the explosion its creators had mixed reactions. However one thing was certain, they had ushered in a new dimension to war and the equilibrium in our existence. "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" Cried Robert Oppenheimer as he watched the mushroom cloud of radioactive vapour rise into the cloud, leaving only fragments of jade green radioactive glass in the soil and a horrendous weapon of war for mankind. The history of mankind is a tale of an endless episode of violence, death, bloodshed and the misery all in the name of war. In spite of these harsh realities mankind continues to be plagued by this terror. Benjamin Franklin once said, “There never was a good war or a bad peace” yet sadly we are forced to hear and see the frightening images of innocent men, women and children who have been murdered, maimed, raped, tortured and scarred by conflicts in their localities.
Driven by the will to survive, the victims are forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in the indignity of life as a hopeless nomads and refugees. In the process they attempt to cross paths strewn with perils, despair and hopelessness; many perish, some fall prey to uncertainty and many never have another shot at the better life they desperately seek. Yet the fortunate few that brave the hazardous circumstances end up in the chains of destitution, discrimination and under the constant shadow of fears in cities of the Western nations.
The ‘’Long Road’’ by Bruce Cerew is a book that chronicles the tales of war; as seen through the eye of a boy, Ray, its protagonist and victim of horrors of the conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The book paints a true picture of the plight of refugees and the horrors they are so atrociously forced upon by lending credence to the voices of the maimed men, women, and children scarred and ravaged by war.
The 345 page “Long Road” is written as a narrative and employs a simple diction to tell its story. It is a tale of humor and tragedy, courage and fear, hopelessness and anticipation, love and betrayal, hope and triumph. “Long Road” in set in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Netherlands.
The book begins with Ray’s struggles in life beginning from an early age in Eastern Nigeria. The young Ray was constantly abused by his father (a compulsive gambler and an alcoholic) who could not come to terms with the boy’s inadequacies. Ray was thus sent away to the village of Amata to live with his grandmother. There Ray finds love, fear and mysterious character in whom he suddenly finds a friend and comforter.
Now grown the boy Ray puts aside childhood traumas and insecurities returns to the city in search of a livelihood. But his hallucinations reappeared handing him the feeling of emptiness and his fears and delusions.
In search of greener pastures away from hassles of life in Nigeria, Ray emigrates to Monrovia. But before he could settle in the country was thrown into conflict. The war ushered in a time of bloodshed, death, sorrow and anguish. Ray forced to flee to Freetown, Sierra Leone in the hope for a life away from the misery of carnage in Liberia. But yet again the gates of Hell were cast open.
The second part of “War Child” begins Ray’s eventual flight to the Netherlands where Ray meets Jamo and Bar. The plot in the tale of their freedom from war, poverty and uncertainty in Africa climaxes with the rejection, misgivings and hardships of life in the observation camp. Living with other refugees the trio are challenged by myriad elements and the harsh realities of life in the west. In the face of these trials, betrayal and disappointment Ray meets and fall in love for the first time. But his joy is short lived when he is sent away to the Asylum Seekers Camp (ASC) in Haarlem. With no money, job or friends, Ray is overtaken by depression, hallucinations and feelings of suicide.
But just when all hope seemed lost, Ray meets Ginger, a lady who helps to rekindle his hope in life. But a sad and sudden twist brings their relationship with to a grinding halt. The Sad and dejected Ray returned to the ASC to the news from the immigration authorities.
In the end Ray finds falls in love again yet. With Trudy, the young man lived and learned the ropes of love, compromise and sacrifice which make relationship and companionship the pillars of a life worth living for.
The “Long Road” is the compelling story of hope against despair, and a boy’s will to give meaning to his life. It is bold message to humanity to say NO to wars and its devastating effects which seek to destroy mankind. Wars reconcile nothing and unless people themselves refuse to go to war, as Albert Einstein posits, we may be all consumed by it.
The “Long Road” by Bruce Cerew would be available from 9 April, 2009 in major book stores and internet.
Interested agents and publishers please contact Bruce Cerew at bcerew@gmail.com.
Oct 13, 2008
Aug 30, 2008
Press Release
Excerpt From War Child''
A survival instinct:
I went every night to use the stationary bike, and cycled my way to exhaustion. I continued to sleep. Thoughts of suicide began to fade and I began to notice the world around me again.
This was a mixed blessing, as I discovered one night on my way back from the gym. I had noticed that there seemed to be a migration of cars to the camp parking lot almost every night of the week. I had no idea why.
This night I was alert enough to be curious about it and slipped to a vantage point from which I could watch the cars. What I saw brought a flood of memories.
The cars arrived, but no one got out. Eventually, though, someone from the camp—usually young and female—would go and poke her head into the open window of one of the cars. After a moment or two of discussion, the door would open and she would climb in.
This was a scene that happens on the corners of every city—girls (and young men as well) doling out sex for money.
Sometimes the cars would stay in the lot and the refugee would eventually emerge and go to another car or return to camp, but sometimes the cars would pull out and speed away. I began to hear of girls being raped or forced into prostitution, and worse…
Prostitution in the camps is rife; not only for money, but as a way out of a system that stresses one to the core. The social life is non-existent, the money they get is meager, and so they end up going out with different kind of men as a way to top up their finances or as an escape route from all the misery in the camps. Some of them have been raped, abused victimized and traumatized and they need help not jail, they need reorientation but not deportation.
Now on the major internet shops around the globe!
Media Contact
Bruce Cerew
Tel. +31 -346-555520
Website: http://http://www.warchildnet.com/
Weblog: http://bclink.wordpress.com/
A survival instinct:
I went every night to use the stationary bike, and cycled my way to exhaustion. I continued to sleep. Thoughts of suicide began to fade and I began to notice the world around me again.
This was a mixed blessing, as I discovered one night on my way back from the gym. I had noticed that there seemed to be a migration of cars to the camp parking lot almost every night of the week. I had no idea why.
This night I was alert enough to be curious about it and slipped to a vantage point from which I could watch the cars. What I saw brought a flood of memories.
The cars arrived, but no one got out. Eventually, though, someone from the camp—usually young and female—would go and poke her head into the open window of one of the cars. After a moment or two of discussion, the door would open and she would climb in.
This was a scene that happens on the corners of every city—girls (and young men as well) doling out sex for money.
Sometimes the cars would stay in the lot and the refugee would eventually emerge and go to another car or return to camp, but sometimes the cars would pull out and speed away. I began to hear of girls being raped or forced into prostitution, and worse…
Prostitution in the camps is rife; not only for money, but as a way out of a system that stresses one to the core. The social life is non-existent, the money they get is meager, and so they end up going out with different kind of men as a way to top up their finances or as an escape route from all the misery in the camps. Some of them have been raped, abused victimized and traumatized and they need help not jail, they need reorientation but not deportation.
Now on the major internet shops around the globe!
Media Contact
Bruce Cerew
Tel. +31 -346-555520
Website: http://http://www.warchildnet.com/
Weblog: http://bclink.wordpress.com/
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