Born in a remote village in the foothills of the Wologisi Mountains deep in the hinterland of the small African nation of Liberia, Momoh Dudu's destiny was virtually ordained: he'd become a traditional chief and a subsistence farmer in the footsteps of his father. When his paternal uncle, Loseni, visited from Monrovia, the country's capital city in early 1975, however, Momoh's life veered in a totally different direction. A mundane conversation between uncle and nephew on a short trip from the village's riverbank demonstrated Momoh's inquiring mind and potential to excel in school. Impressed, Uncle Loseni took him, in spite of his parents' reluctance, to the city where Momoh flourished. Forced to abandon his University studies when the Charles Taylor-led brutal rebel war engulfed Liberia in 1989, Momoh fled on foot to countries heretofore unfamiliar. Initially, he settled in the Republic of Sierra Leone. But even there, he couldn't escape the clutches of the war in his homeland. Sierra Leone was soon invaded by Charles Taylor's proxy army, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Corporal Foday Sankoh forcing Momoh and his family to run for their lives once more. This time, they fled across the Makona River to the French-speaking nation of Guinea-Conakry. In exile, Momoh, like most refugees, struggled with extreme nostalgia and a biting sense of loss. To keep his sanity intact, he immersed himself in humanitarian work helping to organize and coordinate refugee food ration distributions as well as teaching at the refugee high school. Harrowing December is the story of Momoh's nearly one decade odyssey in these strange lands. It is an enthralling account of adversity and perseverance, of heartbreaks and joys, of profound sorrows and gratifying triumphs. Written with refreshing candor, it touchingly chronicles the grave atrocities committed by the parties to the long-running Liberian civil war, the trials and tribulations endured in exile, and the p

Author Biography

Momoh Sekou Dudu is a proud native of Liberia. After nearly a decade as a civil war refugee, he won a competitive scholarship to further his education in America. He is, at present, completing a doctorate at Hamline University in Minnesota. He lives with his family-wife Mamasu and their two young children Sekou and Makessa-in the Minneapolis suburb of Otsego.