Nearly all my life in Eritrea there was a war. For 30 years my country was locked in a war for independence. I remember the terror when the war raged in our city. I was young, but I vividly remember the fighting. There was no power. We had very little food. The city was surrounded by the fighters for months and months. Then independence was declared in Eritrea. I saw music and people dancing in the streets all the time, day and night, for months. We believed that Eritrea could be the shining star for Africa, where everywhere else there were coups and civil wars. But our country was betrayed by the same people who fought to free Eritrea from colonisers. They took away our dreams. And now, Eritrea is one of the biggest refugee-producing countries per capita in the world. 