In the Life of a Refugee: Finding the Light at the End of the Tunnel . . .

Copyright © 2019 Luba Sudak.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-2079-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2080-8 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 01/25/2019

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1   My early years

Chapter 2   Encountered darkness

Chapter 3   Desperation

Chapter 4   The way out

Chapter 5   Observation

Acknowledgement

Biography

For all the innocent

For all who struggle

For all trying to find their inner peace

Preface

One of my colleagues, out of the blue, told me once that I don’t share much. At the time, I looked at him with my eyes wide open and had nothing to say in return. I felt confused.

That statement had a profound impact on me and made me think. I ruminated on what he had said for several week - I couldn’t shake it off. I finally took everything into consideration and decided to share my own story with everyone.

I decided that I have nothing to hide within myself any longer and it is time for me to face my demons of the past, demons that suppressed my heart while haunting me with all sorts of emotions throughout the years. I have now come to the point when I am letting those demons out and trying to find my peace within.

If you are wondering who I am - I can only say that I am a simple person. I am someone who has a Ukrainian heritage but who was born in Bosnia. I am a person who lived for her first eighteen years in the small village of Trnopolje and who experienced the evil darkness called war. I am someone who became a refugee and experienced displacement, hunger and devastation; an individual who ended up immigrating to Canada and who settled in, this new country, while adjusting to the new society, language and culture.

Twenty-five years after I immigrated to Canada, a journey of inner struggles and soul searching, this is the creation that has finally emerged from this odyssey. For so many years, I have been trapped in memories stuck so deeply in my brain, heart and soul: memories of my past that have been screaming inside of me to be shared. I hope you never experience the same kind of torment. However, if you have walked a similar path to mine, then you will understand what those struggles are, and I hope that you will find the peace within yourself to let go as well.

This book is my way of letting go. It is hard to forget but we all can forgive and move on. After all, we have only one life to live. One life to educate others to be aware, to embrace our differences and strive towards individual and global harmony.

It seems that harmony is so far away from our reach in our current political and cultural climate, but it must be we, individually, who need to strive towards this goal. We are the keys to our happiness and educators of future generations. Wherever we are from, we are all the same regardless of our nationalities, our skin colour and our religious preferences. We shed the same blood when the wound is open and feel the same pain that follows. We experience the same feeling of happiness and sorrow. Inflicting pain on others is inhuman. Killing others is insane.

My personal story might open your eyes in a new direction. My hope for you is to never experience the heartache of losing your home or loved ones. All material things are replaceable but loved ones will never be replaced. Hold on tight to them and tell them that you love them as tomorrow might never come.

Don’t waste your life searching for happiness as it might be right in front