Rising Heart

One woman’s astonishing journey from unimaginable trauma to becoming a power for good.In 1999, Sierra Leone was in the midst of a brutal civil war where mindless violence, vicious amputation and the rape of young enslaved women were the everyday weapons of bloody conflict.It was also where rebel soldiers snatched the young Aminata Conteh-Biger from her father’s arms, then held her captive for months.After she was released, the UNHCR recognised that her captors still posed a serious threat to her safety. So, still in her teens, she was put on a plane and flown to Australia to start afresh as a refugee in a land she knew nothing about.It is here that she has proudly built a life, while never allowing her trauma to define her. Yet it was a near-death experience she suffered during the birth of her child that turned her attention to the women of Sierra Leone – where they are 200 times more likely to die while having a baby than in Australia.So she set up the Aminata Maternal Foundation, then returned to the land of her birth to help. This is her story.

'Rising Heart will never leave you; searing, powerful, disturbing, hopeful.' -- The Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO
'An incredible story of hope and transformation, one that we can all learn from.' -- Emma Isaacs, Founder and Global CEO, Business Chicks
'Aminata's courage in sharing this intensely personal story is rewarded with the power of inspiring hope. Rising Heart has refuelled my sense of perspective and purpose.' -- Yael Stone, actor and activist
'Rising Heart is a gripping story of courage, survival and redemption. I could not put it down.' -- Wendy McCarthy AO

My name is Aminata Conteh-Biger and I was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in West Africa.My country Sierra Leone endured 12 years of civil war and it was in January, 1999 during this wartime, when I was kidnaped by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and was used as a sex slave and a human shield for several months. I was 18 years old. She now runs her charity in Australia where she lives with her husband and two children. Zindzi Okenyo is an Australian actress and musician. A graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, she is a presenter on Play School (2013–present) and performs music professionally under the stage name Okenyo. Her iconic song, ‘Woman’s World’, is the soundtrack for VicHealth’s This Girl Can fitness campaign.

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