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.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
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.
Monday, November 24th
The day began at Mass with the Sisters. It was an intimate prayer moment with like-minded missioners who are doing their best to witness service and peace to a broken people. Our prayer supported our weak and struggling hearts.
After breakfast Emmanuel and I walked through the town to the Cathedral compound where the Youth Offices are. We walked because I have a firm belief that we never truly understand a situation unless we walk it where the ordinary poor walk. The conversations we overhear, the struggles, and the conflicts we see are part and parcel of the life they live. The poverty is by far worse than what I had seen in the past and it is oppressive.
I wanted to meet with the Youth Unit of the Diocese. I actually ended up meeting with most of the Development department for an ad hoc briefing on the work of AFJN and the restorative justice project. It was very well received and fits into some of their programming as well.
I walked over to the shrine near the Cathedral where two young Sierra Leonean priests I knew well are now buried. They both died after I left. Both were young and both died of diseases that better health care would have overcome.
In the afternoon I was able to take advantage of a ride to Freetown with Sr Therese and the nurse Katherina. Emmanuel and I joined them, ending a warm and wonderful visit to Kenema.
After breakfast Emmanuel and I walked through the town to the Cathedral compound where the Youth Offices are. We walked because I have a firm belief that we never truly understand a situation unless we walk it where the ordinary poor walk. The conversations we overhear, the struggles, and the conflicts we see are part and parcel of the life they live. The poverty is by far worse than what I had seen in the past and it is oppressive.
I wanted to meet with the Youth Unit of the Diocese. I actually ended up meeting with most of the Development department for an ad hoc briefing on the work of AFJN and the restorative justice project. It was very well received and fits into some of their programming as well.
I walked over to the shrine near the Cathedral where two young Sierra Leonean priests I knew well are now buried. They both died after I left. Both were young and both died of diseases that better health care would have overcome.
In the afternoon I was able to take advantage of a ride to Freetown with Sr Therese and the nurse Katherina. Emmanuel and I joined them, ending a warm and wonderful visit to Kenema.
Back at Holy Spirit Parish
Sunday, November 23rd
I participated in the 9:30 Mass at Holy Spirit Parish, a church I often helped out at. As I entered the church, a murmur could be heard… is it really him? Is Fr. Rocco back? People jumped for joy (and I did, too) and we had a great celebration of Eucharist. It was a true service of thanksgiving and praise for God’s goodness to us all. Fr. Matthew Lamboi, the pastor, invited me to preside and he preached. It was great.
Emmanuel and I had a long lunch with the new director of the Pastoral Center and our host, Fr. Augustine Berewa. He is also the superior of the Spiritan Missionaries in Sierra Leone. There are some 17 Sierra Leonean Spiritans who now service in Sierra Leone. We were able to fill him in on the various programs that we had at the center during my years. Many of the initiatives he is undertaking follow up some of our work. I promised to send him many of the narratives of programs we held there that got lost during the looting of the center in 1998. Now that there is relative peace, he hopes to get things moving again.
In the evening the Bishop hosted a supper for all priests, sisters, and brothers working in Kenema and the nearby towns at the Center both to welcome me back as well as hear about my work. I gave the same summary that I did at the seminary a few evenings before. The possibility of restorative justice becoming a central piece of our pastoral planning and action stirred a lot of enthusiasm. It was a wonderful evening of good food, fellowship, and challenge.
I participated in the 9:30 Mass at Holy Spirit Parish, a church I often helped out at. As I entered the church, a murmur could be heard… is it really him? Is Fr. Rocco back? People jumped for joy (and I did, too) and we had a great celebration of Eucharist. It was a true service of thanksgiving and praise for God’s goodness to us all. Fr. Matthew Lamboi, the pastor, invited me to preside and he preached. It was great.
Emmanuel and I had a long lunch with the new director of the Pastoral Center and our host, Fr. Augustine Berewa. He is also the superior of the Spiritan Missionaries in Sierra Leone. There are some 17 Sierra Leonean Spiritans who now service in Sierra Leone. We were able to fill him in on the various programs that we had at the center during my years. Many of the initiatives he is undertaking follow up some of our work. I promised to send him many of the narratives of programs we held there that got lost during the looting of the center in 1998. Now that there is relative peace, he hopes to get things moving again.
In the evening the Bishop hosted a supper for all priests, sisters, and brothers working in Kenema and the nearby towns at the Center both to welcome me back as well as hear about my work. I gave the same summary that I did at the seminary a few evenings before. The possibility of restorative justice becoming a central piece of our pastoral planning and action stirred a lot of enthusiasm. It was a wonderful evening of good food, fellowship, and challenge.
Saturday, November 22nd
All the intense meeting and the traveling to Kenema caught up with me and I ended up spending the majority of Saturday resting. The old body just said enough is enough and I am trying to learn to listen to it, or else I pay the price!!
However, at lunch I met another guest of the center, Mr. Abraham John, who is the Executive Secretary of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone. As we chatted about our work he became very interested in our Restorative Justice Project and passed on to me three studies that he had on hand that support our work – it was welcomed documentation for Sierra Leone.
In the evening I also met Katherina Boehm, the German nurse who was with me during those frightful times of 1998 when I was wounded. If it had not been for her, I probably would be dead. She is here for two weeks, attending her annual check on the progress of the primary health outreach of the diocese through Panguma Hospital which is now reopened. Sr. Theresa Flynn is permanent in Kenema and supervises the development of that hospital and the primary health care outreach. It was a great reunion again.
However, at lunch I met another guest of the center, Mr. Abraham John, who is the Executive Secretary of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone. As we chatted about our work he became very interested in our Restorative Justice Project and passed on to me three studies that he had on hand that support our work – it was welcomed documentation for Sierra Leone.
In the evening I also met Katherina Boehm, the German nurse who was with me during those frightful times of 1998 when I was wounded. If it had not been for her, I probably would be dead. She is here for two weeks, attending her annual check on the progress of the primary health outreach of the diocese through Panguma Hospital which is now reopened. Sr. Theresa Flynn is permanent in Kenema and supervises the development of that hospital and the primary health care outreach. It was a great reunion again.
Arrival in Kenema
Friday, November 21st
Early in the morning I took the Government Bus with my friend Emmanual Roberts to Kenema. We arrived at the Kenema center around 11:30. The workers there welcomed me with hugs and great joy. I had been director there from 1995 until 1999 when we had to withdraw from the country. It was sad to hear of the six workers who have died in the last nine years. Most were still very young and died from diseases like typhoid that could be treated so easily if only the medicine were available. But those still there were a sight for sore eyes. Later in the afternoon I met with Bishop Patrick Koroma who only recently returned from Rome where he attended the Synod on the Word. While there in Rome he had a medical crises and ended up in the Gemelli Hospital with heart problems. He is glad to be home, but still on the mend. We had a long chat about AFJN, the Restorative Justice project, the support that the US can offer for pastoral projects, and the challenge of self reliance for the Church in Sierra Leone.
Early in the morning I took the Government Bus with my friend Emmanual Roberts to Kenema. We arrived at the Kenema center around 11:30. The workers there welcomed me with hugs and great joy. I had been director there from 1995 until 1999 when we had to withdraw from the country. It was sad to hear of the six workers who have died in the last nine years. Most were still very young and died from diseases like typhoid that could be treated so easily if only the medicine were available. But those still there were a sight for sore eyes. Later in the afternoon I met with Bishop Patrick Koroma who only recently returned from Rome where he attended the Synod on the Word. While there in Rome he had a medical crises and ended up in the Gemelli Hospital with heart problems. He is glad to be home, but still on the mend. We had a long chat about AFJN, the Restorative Justice project, the support that the US can offer for pastoral projects, and the challenge of self reliance for the Church in Sierra Leone.
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