December 2nd
In the morning, I have a meeting with the senior staff of Catholic Relief Services in Freetown. In the afternoon, I cross the ferry to the airport and leave Sierra Leone for the USA via Brussels. I should arrive at JFK on Wednesday the 3rd. If I have a chance, I will offer to you a summary of my meeting with CRS when I get back to the USA.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Final Full Day in Sierra Leone
Monday December 1
This is my last day here in Sierra Leone. In the morning, I was able to visit with one of my old teachers from Kabala who is now teaching here in Makeni. There was an interlude from 1992 to 2003 where he served in the Sierra Leone military. We were able to talk a bit about those years and his work. It was an interesting insight to the feelings of the army pre-coup of 1997, post war, and up to the present.
In the late morning I taped some reflections for Radio Maria programming - five minute notes that can be aired from time to time as special spots.
In the afternoon I was able to give input to my Xaverian Community which today begins a three-day assembly, an annual affair where they review their work, evaluate it, and propose priorities for the future. My contribution will be on our work at AFJN and in particular this Restorative Justice Project.
My hope is that the foundation of their outreach in this post war country will be related to our work in restorative justice. The more I go around and listen to what works on the ground, the more I see the leadership position of trust and mentorship which we have as pastors, administrators, and medical personnel.
After this meeting I travel to Freetown for the evening.
This is my last day here in Sierra Leone. In the morning, I was able to visit with one of my old teachers from Kabala who is now teaching here in Makeni. There was an interlude from 1992 to 2003 where he served in the Sierra Leone military. We were able to talk a bit about those years and his work. It was an interesting insight to the feelings of the army pre-coup of 1997, post war, and up to the present.
In the late morning I taped some reflections for Radio Maria programming - five minute notes that can be aired from time to time as special spots.
In the afternoon I was able to give input to my Xaverian Community which today begins a three-day assembly, an annual affair where they review their work, evaluate it, and propose priorities for the future. My contribution will be on our work at AFJN and in particular this Restorative Justice Project.
My hope is that the foundation of their outreach in this post war country will be related to our work in restorative justice. The more I go around and listen to what works on the ground, the more I see the leadership position of trust and mentorship which we have as pastors, administrators, and medical personnel.
After this meeting I travel to Freetown for the evening.
Visiting Kabala
Sunday November 30
In the early morning, Sr. Rosanne, Sr. Eleanor,and I traveled to Kabala, some 80 miles from Makeni to join the community there at prayer. Rosanne and I were part of the parish team 30 years ago and it was humbling to go there and see so many familiar faces and be hugged by so many friends. As we remembered them all well, they remembered us just as well and we really celebrated. Kabala town is coming back to life after being hit hard by the war. In 1995 there had been major attacks that destroyed much of the infrastructure of the town. Our parish house was destroyed and the sisters house was used as barracks for peace keepers. As we drove around town after Mass, there were many more signs of the war with houses yet to be restored than in any town that I have seen yet. But there are signs of hope… the hospital is up and running and better than ever. Government buildings are near completion and all three secondary schools in town are operational and filled to capacity. (The challenge is the quality of the teaching.) So there is life and hope. But the roads that stretch out to the villages beyond Kabala are in grave disrepair.
The present parish team of three Xaverians are doing very well and are really serving the people. Of course, with Sr. Rosanne and Sr. Eleanor present, the people pleaded for the return of the sisters…
In the early morning, Sr. Rosanne, Sr. Eleanor,and I traveled to Kabala, some 80 miles from Makeni to join the community there at prayer. Rosanne and I were part of the parish team 30 years ago and it was humbling to go there and see so many familiar faces and be hugged by so many friends. As we remembered them all well, they remembered us just as well and we really celebrated. Kabala town is coming back to life after being hit hard by the war. In 1995 there had been major attacks that destroyed much of the infrastructure of the town. Our parish house was destroyed and the sisters house was used as barracks for peace keepers. As we drove around town after Mass, there were many more signs of the war with houses yet to be restored than in any town that I have seen yet. But there are signs of hope… the hospital is up and running and better than ever. Government buildings are near completion and all three secondary schools in town are operational and filled to capacity. (The challenge is the quality of the teaching.) So there is life and hope. But the roads that stretch out to the villages beyond Kabala are in grave disrepair.
The present parish team of three Xaverians are doing very well and are really serving the people. Of course, with Sr. Rosanne and Sr. Eleanor present, the people pleaded for the return of the sisters…
Saturday, November 29th
In the morning I drove over to the Cathedral area of Makeni which is on the other side of the town from where our Xaverian Community Center is. At 10:00am I had an appointment with a young Canadian journalist who is here for some months, teaching at the Fatima Institute in the Communications Department as well as doing some free lance work. We chatted for a while about the challenge of reintegration of combatants and ordinary civilians as well as the challenge of linking Government with ordinary people and the lack of trust that hinders attempts to bridge these two realities. He found the perspectives helpful in understanding some of the barriers to a holistic reintegration of society post war. The challenges are many - challenges from the past as well as present.
I had been invited to lunch by one of the local priests, Fr. Daniel Samura. Daniel had been with me in Kabala 30 years ago as a young aspirant to the priesthood and he spent the first long vacation with Fr. Aniello Salicone and myself in that parish. It was great to be together after 30 years and to share the stories of those years. On my way back to the Center, I stopped in another parish to visit with Fr. Gabriel Koroma, one of the older local priests, having been ordained in 1980. Again, it was a warm and wonderful reunion, talking over fresh pineapple (which one only finds in Sierra Leone) about the stories of those years of war and woe.
At 4:00pm I met with representatives of the Diocesan Justice and Peace and Human Rights Commission. This initiative of Bishop Biguzzi and Fr. Joe Turay has the support of Caritas Italiana and is composed of a 5 person team that gathers information, monitors situations, and offers advocacy to those victimized by injustice in any way it can. There is a legal department to this commission outreach called Access to Justice which offers professional legal services to those in need. I spoke of Access the other day when I visited the Bikers Association, one of their service outreach constituencies. With their representatives, Mr. Paul Massaquoi and Albert, we reviewed some of the major issues that they are working on and I offered them some of my thoughts from the visit so far. There are some core issues that need to be addressed to avoid future conflicts in Sierra Leone.
On my way to the Sisters of Cluny for supper, I stopped at the home of Bishop Biguzzi. I had not had the chance to visit his home which had been destroyed and rebuilt after the war. He was glad to see me there, and we had a chance to have an in-depth conversation about some of my experiences for about an hour.
At long last I was able to met the Sisters of Cluny for supper. Their community has been in Sierra Leone since the time of their foundress, Sr Anne Marie Jahoway, who herself worked in Sierra Leone. Sr. Mary Sweeney, the manager of the Girls RC School as well as the School for the Hearing Impaired has been a friend of mine since my days in the Education Office. We opened the hearing impaired school together in the early 1980s. There is a Togolese Sister as well as two Sisters from India that are in the Makeni community now. Together, we enjoyed an evening of stories and laughter and friendship. I admire their willingness to continue to serve as they do in this challenging environment.
I had been invited to lunch by one of the local priests, Fr. Daniel Samura. Daniel had been with me in Kabala 30 years ago as a young aspirant to the priesthood and he spent the first long vacation with Fr. Aniello Salicone and myself in that parish. It was great to be together after 30 years and to share the stories of those years. On my way back to the Center, I stopped in another parish to visit with Fr. Gabriel Koroma, one of the older local priests, having been ordained in 1980. Again, it was a warm and wonderful reunion, talking over fresh pineapple (which one only finds in Sierra Leone) about the stories of those years of war and woe.
At 4:00pm I met with representatives of the Diocesan Justice and Peace and Human Rights Commission. This initiative of Bishop Biguzzi and Fr. Joe Turay has the support of Caritas Italiana and is composed of a 5 person team that gathers information, monitors situations, and offers advocacy to those victimized by injustice in any way it can. There is a legal department to this commission outreach called Access to Justice which offers professional legal services to those in need. I spoke of Access the other day when I visited the Bikers Association, one of their service outreach constituencies. With their representatives, Mr. Paul Massaquoi and Albert, we reviewed some of the major issues that they are working on and I offered them some of my thoughts from the visit so far. There are some core issues that need to be addressed to avoid future conflicts in Sierra Leone.
On my way to the Sisters of Cluny for supper, I stopped at the home of Bishop Biguzzi. I had not had the chance to visit his home which had been destroyed and rebuilt after the war. He was glad to see me there, and we had a chance to have an in-depth conversation about some of my experiences for about an hour.
At long last I was able to met the Sisters of Cluny for supper. Their community has been in Sierra Leone since the time of their foundress, Sr Anne Marie Jahoway, who herself worked in Sierra Leone. Sr. Mary Sweeney, the manager of the Girls RC School as well as the School for the Hearing Impaired has been a friend of mine since my days in the Education Office. We opened the hearing impaired school together in the early 1980s. There is a Togolese Sister as well as two Sisters from India that are in the Makeni community now. Together, we enjoyed an evening of stories and laughter and friendship. I admire their willingness to continue to serve as they do in this challenging environment.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Xaverian Work In Sierra Leone
November 28
In the morning, I went again to the Fatima Institute for a meeting with the Justice and Peace and Human Rights Commission. When I got there, I found that this meeting is postponed to Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm. With free time on my hands I was able to see some of the students individually and better understand their perspective on life in Sierra Leone today.
In the afternoon, I was taken to Binkolo, a village about 10 miles away where our Xaverian Community works. Fr. Willy Mukucha who was with me in Chicago took me there after his class at the Fatima Institute. On our way, we stopped at the newly renovated Loretto Clinic in Makeni, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny. The clinic now has a very fine space for its ordinary work and new space on the second floor for mental health outreach and counseling, a condition we never had to deal with to this extent in the past, but which has now become a necessity.
In Binkolo, I visited our community and parish. It is doing quite well as it rebuilds its structures and services to Sierra Leone today.
In the morning, I went again to the Fatima Institute for a meeting with the Justice and Peace and Human Rights Commission. When I got there, I found that this meeting is postponed to Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm. With free time on my hands I was able to see some of the students individually and better understand their perspective on life in Sierra Leone today.
In the afternoon, I was taken to Binkolo, a village about 10 miles away where our Xaverian Community works. Fr. Willy Mukucha who was with me in Chicago took me there after his class at the Fatima Institute. On our way, we stopped at the newly renovated Loretto Clinic in Makeni, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny. The clinic now has a very fine space for its ordinary work and new space on the second floor for mental health outreach and counseling, a condition we never had to deal with to this extent in the past, but which has now become a necessity.
In Binkolo, I visited our community and parish. It is doing quite well as it rebuilds its structures and services to Sierra Leone today.
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.
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.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Reflections on the Immense Needs of Sierra Leone
November 25th
This trip to Freetown is a change in our plans. We had hoped to travel today to Makeni, but I will wait for our Xaverian superior to come today and return with him to Makeni tomorrow. The name of the game is flexibility. This change affords me the opportunity to sit down with Emmanuel who has travelled with me for these first two legs of my Sierra Leone journey and do some reflecting together on what we have found. From my perspective, if restoration is to come to Sierra Leone, the following things need to be attended to by both Government as well as civil society.
1. Unemployment is staggeringly high. Youth are everywhere and milling around. There is a lot that needs to be done to improve the infrastructure of the country – construction, road building, schools and teaching, etc., but there is not a strategy that can capture these workers. Some say they do not want to farm or work. Some say there is laziness. I do not believe that. But for me the creation of jobs to respond to the very visible needs of the country and its people must happen now.
2. The second area of concern is health. The quality of health care is very low. The sanitary conditions in most of the neighbourhoods are dreadful. Sickness holds people down.
3. Corruption is my next concern. Many say that corruption is worse now than before. As I look at it all, with the gravity of the poverty that blocks so many from having access to any financial gain, engaging in corrupt activities offers the only access in the face of depressingly unfair wages that have stymied progress in Sierra Leone for decades.
4. Poverty seems to be the result of all the above… a poverty that every one says is far worse than in the past. How to improve the situation is beyond me.
5. There seems to be a rise in the presence and power of the traditional societies of the various tribes. It seems to me that because of all of the above, the only power that many people have is that of the traditional societies, and they are active now more than ever, holding their sway over any discussion that may threaten the support that corruption and underground economies may offer. It could very well be a defense mechanism of simple societies, but it does not help those on the ground to move into a wider sense of civic society. As I see it, it only stirs deeper distrust of the “other”.
6. Trust… that is my last reflection. Trust is the real challenge. It has been the challenge from years of exploitation of human resources (slavery), colonization, poor resource management by newly independent governments, etc. People find it hard to trust themselves, never mind the other who may either be friend or government. And if trust is not established, we cannot move into a future in any shape or form.
Emmanuel’s reflections take the above challenges a different direction.
1. He sees education as the way forward for restoration. Sixty percent of the population in Sierra Leone are unable to read and write. The drop out rates in Secondary School is on the rise since many students now realize that there is no future in meaningful work and income, despite the investment of time and money. Emmanuel encourages the polytechnical schools that have come up recently. These offer very practical skills training and he believes that even if only 25% of the population have such training, there would be a marked improvement in society. He hopes that the Sierra Leonean Government and the international donors will see this as a priority.
2. His second way forward would be to guarantee just wages. Unjust wages have hampered development for decades. The very low salaries hardly cover food expenses, much less housing, schooling, and health. There is no minimum wage law here. Establishing that, grounding it on a fair wage, would go a long way to building up the economy of this country.
3. His last concern is my first concern: Unemployment. There needs to be a system to encourage people and institutions to get people working. Motivation needs to be stirred.
The last thing that Emmanuel and I spoke of in reflection was the need for a new strategy that focused on community based civic education, starting where the masses of people are. Whether in the markets, or in the gathering places where ordinary people meet often, it must happen at a community level. It seems that any and all attempts to "educate" or "animate" people is always done in places that remove them from where they naturally gather, and often what is shared is not understood nor implemented. So, civic education needs to be done at community level in community gathering places so that it impacts their normal lives and thought processes. We ended with a wonderful motto: "No matter where people are, there is always a barri." Dialogue and coming together as we are is what will move us forward. What better strategy for restorative justice is there than that?
In the afternoon I was able to meet with the young man named Francis who lives just outside our compound who had been with the RUF for 12 years. He shared how he was pressured to join the forces from his town of Waterloo, some 15 miles outside of Freetown and near an army base. If the young men of Waterloo wanted protection, the only way to get was to join the forces. So reluctantly, as young as he was (he must have been only about 10), he joined. And from there as the war began, he moved around the country, from the Koinadugu District to the Kailahun District, and back to the Bo District where there was a large camp near Okra Hill, a very popular place for road ambushes. I got the sense that there was firm discipline and clear ideology that fed the enthusiasm and focus of these young soldiers.
I was aware that some of the leaders of the group that he spoke of were from our Catholic Schools… What did we teach them, or what didn’t we teach them!!? How easily they were manipulated. He spoke of very quick and strategic battles. He was a field commander at the age of 16. As he spoke I could perceive a confidence in who he was. But he himself realized that by 2003 the only option was to disarm and accept the offer of demobilization. They were directed to a very large camp where interviews were made, promises were offered, and very little was given in the end. And now he is a neighbour of ours, scrapping together a living while going to technical school in the hope of a better job and life.
Ibrahim and Alimamy from the previous evening dialogue joined us. As the four of us reflected on their stories and the plight that they are now experiencing, I discovered something that I had not seen the last time. Ibrahim’s eyes looked as if they have cataracts. He shared with me that he is almost blind in one eye and finds it challenging to see in the other. I hope to find a way to have him checked at the eye hospital nearby to see what can be done. He shared with me that his eyes were affected by the flashes of the guns that he fired for all those years. Another unnecessary outcome of children with guns. I visited Ibrahim’s tailor shop and gave him an order for some clothes to be sewn. In any way I can, I hope to encourage this fine young man who is trying to improve his situation.
This trip to Freetown is a change in our plans. We had hoped to travel today to Makeni, but I will wait for our Xaverian superior to come today and return with him to Makeni tomorrow. The name of the game is flexibility. This change affords me the opportunity to sit down with Emmanuel who has travelled with me for these first two legs of my Sierra Leone journey and do some reflecting together on what we have found. From my perspective, if restoration is to come to Sierra Leone, the following things need to be attended to by both Government as well as civil society.
1. Unemployment is staggeringly high. Youth are everywhere and milling around. There is a lot that needs to be done to improve the infrastructure of the country – construction, road building, schools and teaching, etc., but there is not a strategy that can capture these workers. Some say they do not want to farm or work. Some say there is laziness. I do not believe that. But for me the creation of jobs to respond to the very visible needs of the country and its people must happen now.
2. The second area of concern is health. The quality of health care is very low. The sanitary conditions in most of the neighbourhoods are dreadful. Sickness holds people down.
3. Corruption is my next concern. Many say that corruption is worse now than before. As I look at it all, with the gravity of the poverty that blocks so many from having access to any financial gain, engaging in corrupt activities offers the only access in the face of depressingly unfair wages that have stymied progress in Sierra Leone for decades.
4. Poverty seems to be the result of all the above… a poverty that every one says is far worse than in the past. How to improve the situation is beyond me.
5. There seems to be a rise in the presence and power of the traditional societies of the various tribes. It seems to me that because of all of the above, the only power that many people have is that of the traditional societies, and they are active now more than ever, holding their sway over any discussion that may threaten the support that corruption and underground economies may offer. It could very well be a defense mechanism of simple societies, but it does not help those on the ground to move into a wider sense of civic society. As I see it, it only stirs deeper distrust of the “other”.
6. Trust… that is my last reflection. Trust is the real challenge. It has been the challenge from years of exploitation of human resources (slavery), colonization, poor resource management by newly independent governments, etc. People find it hard to trust themselves, never mind the other who may either be friend or government. And if trust is not established, we cannot move into a future in any shape or form.
Emmanuel’s reflections take the above challenges a different direction.
1. He sees education as the way forward for restoration. Sixty percent of the population in Sierra Leone are unable to read and write. The drop out rates in Secondary School is on the rise since many students now realize that there is no future in meaningful work and income, despite the investment of time and money. Emmanuel encourages the polytechnical schools that have come up recently. These offer very practical skills training and he believes that even if only 25% of the population have such training, there would be a marked improvement in society. He hopes that the Sierra Leonean Government and the international donors will see this as a priority.
2. His second way forward would be to guarantee just wages. Unjust wages have hampered development for decades. The very low salaries hardly cover food expenses, much less housing, schooling, and health. There is no minimum wage law here. Establishing that, grounding it on a fair wage, would go a long way to building up the economy of this country.
3. His last concern is my first concern: Unemployment. There needs to be a system to encourage people and institutions to get people working. Motivation needs to be stirred.
The last thing that Emmanuel and I spoke of in reflection was the need for a new strategy that focused on community based civic education, starting where the masses of people are. Whether in the markets, or in the gathering places where ordinary people meet often, it must happen at a community level. It seems that any and all attempts to "educate" or "animate" people is always done in places that remove them from where they naturally gather, and often what is shared is not understood nor implemented. So, civic education needs to be done at community level in community gathering places so that it impacts their normal lives and thought processes. We ended with a wonderful motto: "No matter where people are, there is always a barri." Dialogue and coming together as we are is what will move us forward. What better strategy for restorative justice is there than that?
In the afternoon I was able to meet with the young man named Francis who lives just outside our compound who had been with the RUF for 12 years. He shared how he was pressured to join the forces from his town of Waterloo, some 15 miles outside of Freetown and near an army base. If the young men of Waterloo wanted protection, the only way to get was to join the forces. So reluctantly, as young as he was (he must have been only about 10), he joined. And from there as the war began, he moved around the country, from the Koinadugu District to the Kailahun District, and back to the Bo District where there was a large camp near Okra Hill, a very popular place for road ambushes. I got the sense that there was firm discipline and clear ideology that fed the enthusiasm and focus of these young soldiers.
I was aware that some of the leaders of the group that he spoke of were from our Catholic Schools… What did we teach them, or what didn’t we teach them!!? How easily they were manipulated. He spoke of very quick and strategic battles. He was a field commander at the age of 16. As he spoke I could perceive a confidence in who he was. But he himself realized that by 2003 the only option was to disarm and accept the offer of demobilization. They were directed to a very large camp where interviews were made, promises were offered, and very little was given in the end. And now he is a neighbour of ours, scrapping together a living while going to technical school in the hope of a better job and life.
Ibrahim and Alimamy from the previous evening dialogue joined us. As the four of us reflected on their stories and the plight that they are now experiencing, I discovered something that I had not seen the last time. Ibrahim’s eyes looked as if they have cataracts. He shared with me that he is almost blind in one eye and finds it challenging to see in the other. I hope to find a way to have him checked at the eye hospital nearby to see what can be done. He shared with me that his eyes were affected by the flashes of the guns that he fired for all those years. Another unnecessary outcome of children with guns. I visited Ibrahim’s tailor shop and gave him an order for some clothes to be sewn. In any way I can, I hope to encourage this fine young man who is trying to improve his situation.
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