When the Revolutionary United Front launched a war in Sierra Leone, Africa, in 1991, Aruna Fornah said, “Our world turned upside down.”
His family was scattered in the hope that some might survive in the event of an attack. Their family home was burned, and an uncle and others were killed. Rice, a staple food, became nearly impossible to find, and water was even scarcer.
Fornah’s dream of going to college and becoming an engineer seemed far away. Still, he worked hard, selling goods before, during and after trade school, where he trained to be an electrical and electronics installation technician. He started a family and—to his joy—discovered his parents and other family members were still alive. Then came a miracle that put him on a pathway to life in America: A stranger stopped him to ask if he was interested in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, a lottery, as a way to travel to the United States.
A week after Fornah was attacked for the simple act of riding his bicycle past a checkpoint, he found out he won the lottery. His mother pulled him aside and told him three times, “Never forget your home.”
He never did.
Fornah started at Con Edison as a general utility worker in 2005, after seeing the company name on signs and looking it up online for a job. Today, he’s an operating supervisor in Con Edison’s gas operations department, living in the Bronx, New York, with his wife, four children and his mother. “My job at Con Edison and my own hard work have made all this possible,” he said.
His work also made it possible for Fornah to fund a scholarship in Sierra Leone, to help others like him who dreamed of attending college. “My father, a businessman, lacked formal education but insisted that his children attend school,” said Fornah. “My desire to help others get an education comes from my own struggle.”
To date, Fornah has provided scholarships to 17 students, and graduates have become respected members of their communities. Some serve in the military, some run a business, others are civil servants. The program’s first medical student graduated this year, and a second is set to graduate in 2022. In 2018, a 2012 graduate ran for Parliament in Sierra Leone.
“Education builds people’s self-esteem and strengthens communities,” said Fornah. “Most people in Sierra Leone are not educated. The streets of Freetown and the district headquarter towns are full of young men and women selling batteries, shaving blades, handkerchiefs and other items. I want to help as many people as I can.”