Bikers Associations and More Fambul Tak

November 27th

In the morning, I was brought to the nearby city of Magburaka where I met about 50 members of the Bikers Association. This is a cross between a workers union and a credit union, an association of motorcycle drivers, mostly former combatants who since 2002 have organized as a way to protect themselves from harassment by the police, educate themselves to the rules of the road and support one another in times of need. It was started in Magburaka by just two bikers in 2002 and today there are over 200. They each contribute 1,000 leones a day (30 US cents) and this purse assists them with police cases, marriage costs, and credit schemes. The Bikers Associations started in Kabala some years ago and have since spread to Makeni, Kenema, Bo, and now Magburaka. They are assisted by ACCESS to Justice, an initiative of the Diocese of Makeni that is supported by Catholic Relief Services and helps build understanding and capacity of citizenship and the law. My visit to them coincided with a four day education program that ACCESS to Justice was holding for them. My visit encouraged them. For me, it was an example of the capacity of ordinary citizens to form an assembly or an association with leadership that can protect their interests, provide a greater sense of community, and support and move them into a future of hope. It is an example of restorative justice for sure.

In the afternoon, I was invited to give a public lecture at the newly opened Fatima Institute of Makeni, an initiative of Bishop Biguzzi and Fr. Joe Turay to have a tertiary level educational institution geared toward peace and justice, development, communications, catechesis and evangelization. It is about two years old and presently has 500 students. My lecture on AFJN and the restorative justice project was covered live on Radio Maria which has its studios on the campus of the Institute. People all throughout Sierra Leone were able to tune into this talk. It was well received and a challenge to them. My focus was on the need to formulate a new strategy that can meet the needs of the masses who so often are left behind by all the expedient means to bring restoration to a post conflict area, and in the end does not work. We can see it here in Sierra Leone today. So many people are frustrated and disappointed by the lack of progress toward sustained peace. Maybe this challenge to look at restorative justice will offer new hope. With me on the dais was the Makeni contact person for Fambul Tok, that initiative of Mr. Coker that I spoke of a few days ago. Mr. Dawo is now in Makeni, about to launch Fambul Tok here. Being with me on the stage was an encouragement to him and this local and appropriate initiative.

In the evening, I joined the my friends, Sr. Rosanne Rustemeyer and Sr. Eleanor, together with the Bishop and a number of expatriate volunteers to celebrate Thanksgiving. We may not have had turkey, but chicken did just fine. Being together was all that mattered.