A Canadian Forces chaplain, based at 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown, is working on a book about his own experiences as a refugee in Tanzania.

Major Charles Deogratias was born to Rwandan parents, and grew up in a refugee camp.

"It was a jungle. Surrounded by the danger and animals and everything you can think about. It was terrible experience for the most part," he said in an interview with Information Morning Saint John.

"We made use of it, it was filled with a lot of hopelessness and helplessness, however we had a lot of good people… we survived."

Deogratias spent 20 years in the camp. He went to school and worked there.

"I remember vividly when they left. I wondered where they went. Where did they go? - Charles Deogratias

"I didn't wear shoes until I was 20 years old, never been in a car until I was 20 years old. It was an experience you can never forget for sure, at the same time it made us stronger."

He says he's thankful for those who came into the camp to offer food, clothes and immunizations.

"I remember vividly when they left. I wondered where they went. Where did they go? Nobody told us where they went and I always thought wherever they went it must be a good place."

"I realized I couldn't go back then and survive."

When Deogratias left the camp, he made his way to Kenya and found an organization called youth with a mission which invited young people from around the world to experience Africa.

"I had the privilege of meeting a lot of people. One of them is this young woman named Julie. She invited me to visit her family in the United States."

When Deogratias arrived in the U.S., his first experience was to try ice cream.

"I am thinking 'What is ice cream?' When I tasted it, it was something so cold. I never tasted anything cold like that."

What Canada means to us is, 'Well, come in.' - Charles Deogratias

He explains his first trip to the grocery store with his friend as overwhelming.

"To see how much food there was ... it froze your mind."

Deogratias attended university in Colorado and obtained his bachelor of arts and his master's degree in divinity.

When he finished his studies in 1993, he had every intention of going back to Africa.

"The genocide in my country was being planned. We had Canadians already there...Romeo Dallaire was the Canadian commanding officer at the time."

"I realized I couldn't go back then and survive."

Surviving a monster

Deogratias and his wife were declined a permit to stay in the United States, so the two took a bus to Detroit and crossed the border into Windsor, Ont.

He says the moment he and his wife arrived in Canada and met with the border officer was one he can never forget.

She said, 'Well come in ... And have a seat, an officer will come and listen to your story.'"

"What Canada means to us is, 'Well, come in.' We were accepted and here we are, 22 years later."

Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, wearing the blue cap in Rwanda in 1993 (Canadian Press) Deogratias met with Dallaire in 1998 and says he was moved by the work he had done in Rwanda. He was inspired to join the Canadian Armed Forces after Dallaire had called him "Padre."

Deogratias is Presbyterian, but by joining the forces he would be known as Padre, a Roman Catholic term for father.

"It's been incredibly rewarding to stand with the soldiers and be present with them in tough times," he said.

He hopes that his book will not only tell his story, but hopefully help others who need to survive.

"We survive this monster. Surviving a refugee camp is surviving a monster. Not many of us have the privilege to survive it."