You make beautiful things...

One of the thoughts that my last few months in Sierra Leone has left floating in my mind is that beauty can be brought out of the ugly. That God can work all things together for the good of those that love him. That where we see dirt now we could see a garden tomorrow. That within that dirt itself is the stuff of fertility. I have seen it over and over again in the lives of the kids I work for. Because that is true, there is hope. And that hope abides.

I just can't get enough of this song right now...

Olive's Story

While having a look through COTN's website today I made his wonderful little discovery - a story written by Esther Walker about her coming across a desperately ill Olive at the Shepherd's Hospice in Freetown. Olive now lives with us in Banta and she is doing really well. She's a wonderfully precocious little thing and starts Primary School next week. You will see the article Esther wrote below or you could read it at the COTN website here.

Fatu Hannah and Olive as they 'graduate' from Nursery School :)

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RESCUING AN ORPHAN IN SIERRA LEONE

POSTED ON Oct 01, 2007

Since leaving my home in the UK and joining my husband Ian in Sierra Leone, I have been working at the Shepherd’s Hospice in the capital city of Freetown. The hospice is situated on the east side of the city, a poverty-stricken area which was badly affected by the terrible civil war of the late 1990s. The hospice was established to try and provide palliative care services for people dying from life-threatening illnesses, such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and cancer. Since Sierra Leoneans have little access to healthcare services, many living their entire life without ever seeing a doctor, the hospice also functions to provide primary healthcare services free of charge to the local community.

In January 2007, one of the hospice community volunteers brought in a little girl. As soon as we saw her we knew that she was seriously ill, malnourished, and in need of urgent medical care. Olive, we learned she was named, was seriously ill with tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. She was so anemic her heart was failing. Although we were told she was five years of age, her malnourished body gave the impression of a child no older than three. The doctor seeing her wanted to admit her urgently for a life-saving blood transfusion. I left Olive at the hospital, fearing that her frail body would not be able to recover. To my delight she responded well to the blood transfusion and commenced treatment for TB.

Over the following weeks we regularly visited Olive to monitor her condition and ensure that she received all the care necessary for a chance of survival. During this time I learned more of the details about Olive’s short life. At three days old she had been abandoned by her mother. A couple had taken Olive in but subsequently had both died of AIDS. Up until the time she was brought to the hospice, another daughter living in an area known for its sex workers was trying, unsuccessfully, to take care of Olive. I began to wonder what would happen to Olive once she was well enough to leave the hospital. I feared that if she returned to this environment, she would become yet another statistic—one of the many children in Sierra Leone that fail to survive into adulthood.

I had previously visited an orphanage run by Children of the Nations (COTN) and I knew that the children in their home were genuinely loved and cared for, receiving food, clothing, medical care and an education—things that in the UK we take for granted but are often sadly missing in the lives of many Sierra Leonean children. After hearing of Olive’s plight, a social worker was asked to investigate further and establish whether Olive was truly destitute. During this time, Olive was moved into a nutritional unit to treat her malnutrition. Two months after I first met Olive and after social services completed their investigation, she was fit enough to leave the hospital and begin her new life at COTN’s Children’s Home.

Upon arrival she was met by the manager and her new “aunty.” I left Olive with a bewildered look on her face, sitting on her pink bed which was covered in toys chosen by her new roommates as welcoming presents. Olive now had a hope for the future and a chance to fully recover from TB. Olive’s story is unique to me, but in many ways her story is a tale all too familiar to so many children here.

I was later approached by COTN–SL’s Country Director, Rev. Angie Myles and asked to help raise funds for the furnishing of the new children’s homes at Banta Mokelleh, COTN’s new ministry site where the children in Freetown are to be relocated later this year. By telling Olive’s story to friends and family back home in the UK and through an American friend here in Freetown, who also told people about COTN, we have found that people have spontaneously wanted to donate. To date, through various fundraising efforts my sister Nina helped organize in the UK and with the support of St. Matthew’s Church in Redhill, Surrey we have raised over £3,000 (with funds still coming in), plus over $2,200 from our American friends.

As I write this, I have just come back from spending a morning at the orphanage in Olive’s class at school. It was wonderful to spend time with her and to see her fit and well again, happily playing with her friends. I reflect upon the images in my mind—when I first met Olive and while she lay helpless in the hospital, comparing them to my visit today. The contrast is amazing.

I am now one of Olive’s sponsors and will continue to support her and the work of COTN in Sierra Leone for as long as she is there. I look forward to watching Olive grow and feel blessed to have the opportunity to do so. I am excited to see what the future holds for her, especially given the realization of what fate might have been.

by Esther Walker (COTN supporter and partner)

War Don Don

"War Don Don" means, as you have probably worked out, "War is Over" in Krio. It is the title of a documentary film made by Rebecca Richmond Cohen about justice, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the particular story of Issa Sesay. Cohen actually interned on the defence team of the AFRC's Alex Tamba Brima before making the film but found herself drawn to Sesay and his story. She says, "I was fascinated by the range of roles that one man could assume amidst the intensity of such a brutal conflict. I became convinced that the story of his trial needed to reach a larger audience."

Below is a trailer for the film...

I am reminded of travelling between Lungi and Freetown on the ferry and watching some of Charles Taylor's trial played on the television in the lounge area upstairs. I was fascinated by the defence lawyer's forceful, even angry, claims of injustice. Taylor was the misunderstood victim of an international conspiracy. Though Taylor did have an established relationship with Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leaders he was not in any way responsible for the horror which befell Sierra Leone. No, no, no - he was trying to play the role of peacemaker. He was trying to talk these men back from a brink they had long since pushed beyond. I was again struck by the difficulty of getting at truth through trial and the deals we make with the devil in the name of peace. (You can watch much of the proceedings at the Special Court's website here.)

Sierra Leone suffered through the amputation of maybe 20,000 people, the often brutal death of 120,000 people and the displacement of at the very least 2 million and all those numbers have been put on the heads of twelve men.

Twelve.

20,000 + 120,000 + 2,000,000= 12

I hesitate to insert a clip illustrating these figures from the war in Sierra Leone as those available on-line can be stomach churningly horrible. Instead you will see below a second trailer for a movie about child soldiers in the Liberian war, which saw some of the same kinds of atrocities which took place in Sierra Leone, Johnny Mad Dog. The film stars former child solders and perhaps as a result has a sense of the authentic about it, particularly in the depiction of an atmosphere of brutal chaos.

So, how do you choose your 12 villains? What a contentious decision to have to make. In Sierra Leone they indicted leaders from all sides of the conflict EXCEPT the national armed forces. They DID indict members of the Civil Defence Forces (More commonly called the Kamajors). This was quite controversial because Hinga Norman seemed to quite clearly have the support of the government as he sought to direct this rabble of fighters who in many places protected people from the rebels. However, they were involved in many atrocities themselves because, as one of the lawyers for the prosecution put it, their leadership had chosen "to win the war at all costs".

But what do you do if you do not choose 12 villains? Given the vast numbers of people 'guilty' of participating in horror, and with maybe 10,000 of them being children, what is the best way forward? In Sierra Leone they coupled the Special Court up with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For the Sierra Leoneans I have spoken to the TRC is seen in a positive light but a major criticism is that although the Act of Government which formed the Commission stated that its recommendations would be enshrined in law that has not been the case. Another problem people talk about is one not unfamiliar for those from Northern Ireland - they are left with a situation where many with blood on their hands have been free to continue in their government offices and/or campaign for such positions in the future. Last but not least is the issue of money. Such a huge amount of money has been spent on the Court and the Commission people wonder whether that would not have been better used to provide more physical rehabilitation for the nation - schools and hospitals and infrastructure.

Rebecca Richmond Cohen writes that, "In 2010 the Special Court for Sierra Leone prepares to be the first major war crimes tribunal to conclude its cases since the Trials at Nuremberg more than sixty years ago. This landmark moment in international criminal justice is a timely call for introspection, dialogue, and critical analysis. I hope WAR DON DON offers an insider's view about the complex moral, political, and legal questions that issue from rebuilding lawless and war torn nations - and will inspire thoughtful debate about the future of international criminal justice." That some of the most major players in the war, Foday Sankoh, Sam Bokarie, Johnny Paul Koroma and Sam Hinga Norman all avoided the imperfect justice of sentencing due to death or evasion of capture is a major problem when discussing the success of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. It also perhaps puts added pressure on the institutions’ trial of Taylor, allegedly one of the remaining major string pullers. One of my best friends in Sierra Leone simply says, "We will never know what really happened in this country during the war. We will never know." He's probably right. But how much do people NEED to know and how much punishment MUST be meted out to sufficiently satisfy people's yearning for truth and justice and so make sufficient levels of peace possible?

Special Court of Sierra Leone

Let's have a look at what the Special Court has been able to do with the twelve it actually indicted. There have been four trials: One for the RUF (the 'rebels'), one for the AFRC (the group of soldiers who overthrew the government and later effectively joined forces with the RUF), one for the CDF and one for Charles Taylor. Outlined below are the results of each of these trials.

Revolutionary United Front (RUF)

Foday Saybana Sankoh, Sam Bockarie, Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon, Augustine Gbao.

What were they charged with?

Eighteen counts of crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

What does that mean?

They were accused of unlawful killings, causing physical violence and mental suffering, extermination, looting and burning, terrorizing the civilian population, enacting collective punishments, mutilations, rape, forced ‘marriages’, attacking UN peacekeepers and using child soldiers

What were they found guilty of?

Foday Saybana Sankoh, the leader of the RUF, died in custody before his trial could begin.

Sam Bockarie, the former Battlefield Commander of the RUF, was killed in Liberia two months after his indictment.

Issa Hassan Sesay was found guilty on 16 counts. He was not found guilty of killing or kidnapping UN personnel.

Morris Kallon was also found guilty on 16 counts. He was not found guilty of killing or kidnapping UN personnel.

Augustine Gbao was found guilty on 12 count. He was not found guilty of killing or kidnapping UN personnel, of enacting collective punishments or of enlisting child soldiers.

What sentences were they given?

Issa Hassan Sesay was sentenced to 52 years in prison.

Morris Kallon was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Augustine Gbao was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Armed Forces Revolutionary Council

Johnny Paul Koroma, Alex Tamba Brima AKA Gullit, Ibrahim Bazzy Kamara, Santigie Borbor Kanu AKA Five-Five.

What were they charged with?

Fourteen counts of crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

What does that mean?

They were accused of acts of terrorism, collective punishments, murder, extermination, rape, sexual slavery, outrages against human dignity, mutilation, looting, enslavement and the enlistment of child soldiers.

What were the found guilty of?

Johnny Paul Koroma, the former leader of the AFRC, has never been caught. Some believe him to be dead, others that he is alive and well and living overseas.

Alex Tamba Brima, Ibrahim Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu were each found guilty on 11 counts. They were not found guilty of sexual slavery.

What sentences were they given?

Alex Tamba Brima was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Ibrahim Bazzy Kamara was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Santigie Borbor Kanu was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Civil Defence Force (CDF)

Sam Hinga Norman, Moinana Fofana, Allieu Kondewa.

What were they charged with?

Eight counts of crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

What does that mean?

They were accused of unlawful killings, causing physical violence and mental suffering, looting and burning, terrorizing the civilian population, imposing collective punishments and using child soldiers.

What were they found guilty of?

Sam Hinga Norman, the head of the CDF, died before the end of his trial.

Moinana Fofana and Allieu Kondewa, after appeal, were found guilty on 5 counts. They were not found guilty terrorizing the civilian population, imposing collective punishments or using child soldiers.

What sentences were they given?

Moinana Fofana was given 15 years in prison.

Allieu Kondewa was given 20 years in prison.

Charles Taylor

What was he charged with?

Eleven counts of crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

What does that mean?

He stands accused of unlawful killings, causing physical violence, looting, terrorizing the civilian population, imposing collective punishments, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abductions, forced labour and the enlistment of child soldiers.

What was he found guilty of?

Taylor’s trial continues.

Find out more about War Don Don by clicking here.

The Big Picture

I have mentioned this site before but having spent some time looking at it's pictures from a flooded Pakistan I thought it due another plug. With amazing photography and interesting subjects time and time again, it is boston.com's Big Picture. Click on the above photograph and you'll be taken to the site for some more!