Rebuilding Hope in Sierra Leone

by Etta N. Nicol

When war broke out in Sierra Leone in 1991, thousands of people, including many children, were forced to flee their homes in search of safety.

Among the most vulnerable are girls who were raped. These girls and other children, including those who lost parents, have become street children. Children who survived with their parents are displaced in camps with little food and no funds for education.

The United Methodist Church is among faith communities that are reaching out to children and youth in Sierra Leone as that nation seeks a lasting peace.

The church’s children’s department created the Specialized Ministry to Children to serve children, without religious bias, to help them recover from the trauma of war. Examples of this ministry’s program include:

The Moyamba District engages children in outdoor games and lets them know someone cares.
Children’s workers go into the bush where there are people who are still afraid of coming out because of the rebels. They encourage parents to send their children to school. They take parents and children to health centers and provide milk for the children.
In Freetown in 1999, children’s workers collected data on how children had been impacted by the war. The survey revealed thousands of children denied human rights, including girls who had been raped; children whose hands and arms had been amputated; and street children seeking to survive without food, shelter or safety. Immediate steps were taken to medically treat the malnourished children and those who had been raped. Some children were placed into schools. Many remain in desperate situations.

Children’s workers in Freetown and in Bo, which is in southern Sierra Leone, sponsor radio discussions on the plight of street children. Discussions involve the children, representatives of non-governmental organizations and concerned citizens in an effort to find ways various sectors of the community can work together to address the problem.

Through the radio programs, some girl prostitutes have been placed into vocational institutions. Teachers are admitting street children into schools. Parents, who in the past sent children to the streets, now avoid doing so because they have become aware of the dangers.

It is hoped this program will continue with a goal of minimizing the number of street children and development of rescue homes for street children who have nowhere to go.

Church health clinics are offering community-based health and feeding programs to eradicate malnutrition, hunger and illness fostered during the war.

For example, skin infections were rampant because of over crowding and poor sanitation in camps of refugees and displaced people. Diarrhea and vomiting were common. Children were not able to continue immunization, so measles are killing them.

Harford School

The war and its aftermath pose challenges to mission projects in Sierra Leone. For example, Harford School, a United Methodist secondary boarding school for girls in Moyamba in the southern province, was forced to relocate to Freetown, about 123 kilometers (75 miles) away.

The move came in January 1995 after rebels looted and destroyed properties. As war raged, a dilapidated house in Freetown was rehabilitated to house nine classrooms and administrative offices. A new building housing five classrooms was erected.

Since November 1995, the school has served more than 800 children a year in two shifts.

Recently, a nucleus of about 200 students started meeting for classes on the Harford School campus in Moyamba while classes continue in Freetown. Under the leadership of Principal Lucretia M. Sheriff, students hope to return to Moyamba by September 2000. It is hoped that the peace process will be in effect so that the school’s centenary celebration in November 2000 will take place at its historic home.

Women’s training centers

The United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone also operates Kissy Women’s Training Centre in Freetown. Established in 1975, the center is for girls unable to participate in the mainstream educational system because of

Teenage pregnancy,
Neglect or lack of ability,
Lack of funds for school fees, and
Lack of access to formal education because parents could not afford or did not see any reason to send girls to school.

At Kissy Women’s Training Centre, which is in the east end of Freetown, students learn skills that make them more productive in society and that enhance their self-esteem. They improve their earning capacity toward self-reliance and self-sustainability.

Curriculum and activities at the center include craft technology and practical skills, such as gara dying, needlework, dressmaking, soap-making, calculation, adult literacy, peace education, human behavior and relationships, and religious and moral education. Trainees receive certificates on completion of the two-year program.

The center was damaged during the war and most of the working tools stolen by rebels in January 1999. Despite the damage, the center is operating today with more students than ever before.

Two other training centers for women -- Betty Carew Training Centre in the north and Konomusu Training Centre in the east -- ceased operation during the war. Properties were looted and damaged and trainees had to flee to safety. It is hoped that these centers will be rehabilitated and reopened soon.

Youth leadership

Scholarship opportunities for youth and young adults have been scant because of the war. Many have been unable to continue their education. The periodic closures of learning institutions has adversely effected the youth who have had to take longer to complete courses and who have not been able to find jobs or enter learning institutions.

In the midst of such turmoil, the youth of the church have been a source of relief and hope as they have become involved in being host to church-sponsored activities without religious bias including seminars, workshops and programs to bring hope back into the community. With vibrant youth programs under way, youth and young adults forcibly used in the war can be rehabilitated if there is adequate funding.

The Rev. Etta N. Nicol is director of the Christian Education Department of The United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone.