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Mariatu was raped by her uncle's friend
Her childhood was robbed at the age of 12 by Salieu, who always wanted to marry Mariatu. It happened when she was home alone. -
Mariatu was cut off her hands by the rebels
One night, Mariatu dreamed of palm oil. To what her grandmother said: "Whenever you dream of palm oil, blood will spill by the end of the day." The following day after Mariatu dreamed of palm oil, the rebels came and attacked her village. She was capture and her hands were cut off by the child rebels that are about the same age as her. -
Mariatu found out she was pregnant and tried to kill herself
Although waking up with blood and mud all of over her body, Mariatu made her own way to the hospital in Freetown. At the hospital, Mariatu could not eat anything but kept on throwing up. Her aunt, Abibatu, told her about sex and men and then she realized and acknowledged how she became pregnant. This horrified her as she had to carry Salieu's child and she could not be able to raise the child without her hands. Mariatu attempted to end her life from here but her aunt was on time to stop her. -
Mariatu reunited with her cousin, Adamsay at the hospital
Besides Ibrahim and Mohamed, Mariatu also got to reunited with her other cousin, Adamsay, who she thought already got killed. Happy to see her again but sadly, Adamsay also lost her hands to the rebels. -
Mariatu born her baby boy and named him Abdul
Mariatu was still deep in depression although her family helped her with Abdul. Also at this time, she was interviewed by foreign journalists and her story of her life was put on newspaper. -
Mariatu's baby passed away
Her baby boy, Abdul soon died of malnutrition. Mariatu was brought back to sorrow and depression again -
Mariaru finally got help from a Canadian man and offered to fly to England
After 2 years living in a refugee camp and begging on the streets in Freetown, she was began to being supported financially by a Canadian, named Bill, who had seen her story on a newspaper. Bill offered her to fly to England to get prosthetic hands. Mariatu did not enjoy them, instead, she became more confident, independent and got better at doing stuff by herself. -
Mariatu reached Canada and knew that was where she wanted to be
In Canada, Mariatu lived with a Sierra Leonean couple, Kadi and Abou. She started to learn English and attend high school here. There was a lot of difficulties at first, but Mariatu was able to fit in with her new life. -
Mariatu and Susan McClelland started to work on the book about Mariatu's story
One of the journalists that interviewed Mariatu, Susan McClelland, requested and discussed with her. They decided to work on the book about Mariatu's true heartbroken and magical story that called The Bite of the Mango. -
Mariatu came back to visit Sierra Leone
After several years being far away from her hometown, Mariatu returned to where everything started, where she used to have fun with family, where the brutal attack happened, and where she lost her hands. She realized how her life had changed magically.
