Lunch:
One day, while the guards let us eat lunch with everyone else, on of the guards came over to us & told something to Nyhassa (Naomi). Naomi repeated it to us. The guard wanted me to help him with something. I looked at Ruthie & told Naomi that I wasn't going to leave Ruthie's sight, no matter what they did to me. Naomi related this to the guard. The guard looked at me for a moment then grabbed my arm. I looked over at Ruthie & said her name, but some other guards were standing next to everyone else. The guard took me to a room & then made me to take off my shirt. He looked at me & then gave me a hospital gown to put on. For some reason, I just stood there & looked at him. He told me to do something but all I did was put my shirt back on. I didn't understand what he had said. The guard took his whip off his hip & hit me in the legs. He repeated what he said but all I did was stand there. I didn't know what he said to me. The hospital gown lay on the ground. The guard whipped at my legs again & I fell to the ground. Finally, he told another guard to go get Nyhassa & he did. I sat on the ground & stared at the gown.
When Nyhassa came in, she hurried to my side & asked if I were okay. I shook my head no. my legs were killing me & I was ashamed to have let a man look at my chest. The guard looked at Nyhassa & told her to tell me that I was to take off my clothes & put on the hospital gown. Naomi repeated what he said to me. All I did was look at her and asked, "What for? I haven't done anything?" Naomi repeated what I said to the guard. The guard looked from me to the Nyhassa & then said we could go back to our cell.
When we got back to the cell, Ruthie, Sarah, Katie, Jake & Brian looked at me. Naomi was helping me walk. My legs hurt really badly & I didn't know what the guard was going to do to me. Nyhassa didn't know what happened before the guard told the other guard to come get her.
I didn't tell anybody what had happened in the little room, but I knew that if the guard had had a chance, he would have raped me. Later on I would realize that he only wanted to slip a note to me that was in English. It told of a plan to get out of the camp. Nyhassa went to get some water & came back with the note & the guard. I recoiled into the corner, but he didn't have his whip with him this time. He looked at me & in his best English told, he told me he was sorry. Before he left, he bent close to Nyhassa & told her to keep an eye on us as he slipped the note into her pocket & hand. He then left & we never saw him again. Nyhassa told us that he was transferred to another camp. That he himself only wanted what was best for us, all of us.
