Visit Sierra Leone

Fatmata Conteh's journey began 56 years ago in the village of Mabonto, Sierra Leone, and has included her older children being adopted by a Peace Corps volunteer from Natick, and the murder of her husband during the 10-year civil war in their West African homeland.

It includes the day in 1999, when rebels caught up to her family as they made their way to Makeni.

"We saw them cutting off people's hands. One of my daughters was crying. I told her not to cry."

They were taken to the rebels' camp, where "they told us all to pick a paper. We were going to be in a raffle. If your paper said 'short sleeve,' they would cut off your hand. If it said 'long sleeve,' they would cut off your arm. ... The paper I chose said, 'Sing and dance.' I sang and danced for the rebels."

And it includes the moment in 2004, when her journey took her to Bellingham to live with her daughter, who spent part of her childhood in Natick after being adopted, and in-laws.

That's when she saw snow for the first time and thought perhaps America was such a rich country people filled the streets with salt or sugar - until she went outside.

The journey then took her to the Bethany Hill School in Framingham, where she lived, and learned, for several years before moving to an apartment of her own.