When deadly conflict erupted in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, following the 2010 elections, Essan Emile Ako was living in a student dorm near the epicenter of the violence.
Ako was a master’s degree candidate in English linguistics with plans to pursue a PhD when a disputed election turned into a civil war. Caught in the middle of the chaos, Ako was forced to flee Abidjan to his village, where he remained for five months, during which time forces loyal to presidential candidate Alassane Ouattara and supported by France and the United Nations stormed the presidential residence, removing Laurent Gbagbo from power.
When Ako finally returned, he encountered a city in shambles.