This year again I led a Justice project in Sierra Leone to assist in the training of judges and magistrates, and also community paralegals who, in simple terms provide a “Citizens Advice Bureau” service in the rural communities outwith the capital where no lawyers are available, and even if they were, won’t be affordable by local people. I have the greatest respect for these community based paralegals who also seek to mediate disputes between individuals. They really are in the front line, not just of providing access to justice for so many of their fellow citizens, but also ensuring that there is a rule of law after the chaos of the war years. Britain is very popular still for its role in bringing that war to an end, so I smile politely when Tony Blair is praised, as he often is, there at least!
I also had the opportunity to visit the Sierra Leonean Parliament (where I couldn't escape British politics as many members were watching the Murdoch hearings at Westminster live on TV!) and spend an afternoon with three MPs, attending public meetings in their constituencies to hear directly the concerns of local people, which were predictably health, education, sanitation and clean water. It was hardly a surprise – what impresses me is the stoicism of people in dealing with the reality they face on a daily basis and their continued hope for the future. For example, the health statistics for Sierra Leone are particularly appalling – it is the place in the world that a mother is most likely to die in childbirth and why so much UK Government Aid is being focussed on this particular problem. This is also why as part of our project a midwife and health visitor gave training and support to local health workers in the rural north of the country.
Having filled the small Christian Aid envelopes which have come through my door over the years, I was pleased, whilst in the southern city of Bo, to have the opportunity to visit a Christian Aid “Access to Justice” community project in the village of Mbelebu in the Bumpeh district (a very appropriate name given the condition of the roads we used to get there!). The meeting took place in a thatched-roofed structure without walls, but provided adequate shelter from the torrential rain, during what is the rainy season. The local dispute was between the Elders and the Youth of the community over the construction of a football pitch. According to the young people, the older members of the community had not done their share of the work. That was also the consensus of the meeting and an agreement was reached on how the project was to be completed. I was very impressed by how calmly and reasonably the young men argued their case and wondered if it would have been the same here in the UK.
Street Child of Sierra Leone was an organisation I first heard of during our project last year. They seek to help children who are living and working on the streets back into education and, hopefully, reintegrate them into their families if they can be traced. Some have simply been abandoned, with others needing to earn money for households that have no other earners. Girls have a particularly tough time, often forced into prostitution. This year I was able to see Street Child’s work for myself and a number of our volunteers were able to teach the youngsters in the summer school which prepares them for a return to mainstream schooling in the autumn. The enthusiasm of these children for learning is truly inspirational and very moving. There are also sports and games in the afternoons to build up social skills. I know people who sometimes say that the problems in Africa are so great that they can’t be overcome and perhaps therefore that we shouldn’t try, or that we have more pressing problems at home to deal with, but when I see for myself the difference that relatively modest resources can make to lives of these street children, I am clear not only on the moral case for aid, but the practical one too.
I always say that volunteering in Africa, which I have now done for the past five summers, helps me restore my sense of perspective and to be thankful for what we have here in Britain. That was reinforced this year, when I visited the Blind School in Freetown and learned that one of the children had lost her sight during the civil war, because melted plastic had been dropped into her eyes as a punishment for crying whilst her father was murdered in front of her. Sierra Leone’s civil war was one of the most brutal of modern times and was characterised by the images of child soldiers on our television screens. Thankfully, the children now are more interested in having their photos taken and then seeing their images on the back of digital cameras. However, there are still many signs of the war with burnt out buildings in many villages and the human cost in the form of the amputees who had limbs forcibly removed as a form of torture. One of the most remarkable sights is to see men playing football on crutches on the beaches of Freetown. It is at the same time tragic and uplifting – and they are very good!
Ten years on from the end of the war, there are also signs of recovery and as a fertile country, with plenty of rain (our trip was during the rainy season so I can vouch for that) Sierra Leone does not face the drought issues we see in the Horn of Africa, and of course has many natural resources such as the infamous “blood diamonds”, more a curse than a blessing in the past. However, it is peaceful Presidential elections next years will be the real test. I have grown very fond of this beautiful and vibrant country from my visits in the last three year and I really hope it is able to move forward.
