Most days, Omar is like any other teenage boy. He sometimes plays his music too loud, loves to play soccer and is impatient to get his drivers’ license. He hopes one day to be a famous athlete, or perhaps, a renowned businessman.
Other days, however, Omar is barely recognizable as the 16-year-old he is, resembling instead a beleaguered and war-weary man many times his age.
Omar, who will be entering the 10th grade this fall, came to Mercy Home just over a year ago. However, his story — unlike those of so many other children here — begins not in the streets of inner city Chicago, but in a small town in Uganda.
Omar was raised by an aunt and uncle after his mother died during childbirth when Omar was a toddler. His father died later that year after a long illness.
Omar recounts his early years with his aunt, uncle and their son as relatively happy. There was always enough food, he was often able to go to school and he made friends while playing in near-daily soccer games with neighborhood children. And though Omar remembers witnessing periodic violence, the sharp sound of gunfire and hiding from the noise, he said he always felt secure — as long as his family was there.
However, that delicate sense of safety began to erode as violence in his area increased, the occasional gunshots becoming commonplace. It finally shattered one day when Omar was about 11, after his uncle left to go to the market to buy food and supplies for the family.
Omar says he remembers hearing the gunfire that followed, but tried to brush off his fear. His uncle was always careful, he thought, and this round of violence would pass as all others had before.
Soon though, he found that this was not the case. His uncle had been caught in the crossfire, and had died before he could be taken to a hospital.
“I could not believe it,” Omar said, still struggling with the English words to describe what happened. “It was very bad and my aunt cried for many days. My uncle was a very good man and loved our family very much.”
Omar’s aunt soon decided that the family could not longer risk the escalating violence. She fled, taking her son and Omar to a cousin’s home in the country’s capital, Kampala.
Once they arrived, however, the family found little peace. There was little money, no opportunity to go to school and their neighborhood was plagued by crime.
“It was so dangerous — you could not go out at night, and it was not always safe to even go out during the day. We tried to hold school lessons at home, but it was very difficult to focus.”
Finally, determined to find a better life for her family, Omar’s aunt packed her few remaining belongings and sought safety in the U.S.
They moved into a small, sparse Chicago apartment, his aunt doing her best to make a comfortable home for the children. However, before long, the neighborhood they moved into proved to be little safer than the places they had fled. Gangs controlled the area, and Omar and his cousin soon found themselves pressured to join.
Tragically, Omar’s cousin fell into the wrong crowd and has maintained little contact with his family since. His aunt, determined not to lose Omar too, searched for help and was referred to Mercy Home.
Since arriving at Mercy Home last year, Omar has taken full advantage of our academic and therapeutic programs, and has made remarkable progress. He is a dedicated student who makes his aunt and his Mercy Home family proud, and is widely recognized for his work ethic and for serving as a leader among his peers.
“I feel that for the first time in many years, I am safe,” Omar said. “I think that, for a very long time, I was running. But now, I do not have to be scared. Now, I have a future.”
