Life in Sierra Leone's isolated jungle settlements

Hannah Strange, the Times Online news reporter, is spending a week in Sierra Leone, a country still racked by the aftermath of a brutal civil war in which tens of thousands were killed and a third of its total population displaced. Here is the third of her daily diary entries:

“This community says no to violence against women.” “Fighting for an end to gender discrimination and poverty.”  These are the signs that dot every village, few of them more than a collection of tumbledown huts, between Freetown and Kailahun, the former headquarters of the Revolutionary United Front just a few miles from the Liberian border.

In the past four days I have travelled from Sierra Leone’s coastal capital to Makeni, the largest settlement in the north, on down through Kenema, the heart of the country’s diamond trade, to Kailahun in the eastern rainforest. One of the things that has struck me most is the reach of the country’s burgeoning civil society since the end of the civil war.

In some of the most isolated jungle settlements, cut off from the capital by hundreds of miles of primordial rainforest, we come across the breezeblock offices of the UNHCR, Plan International, even Britain’s Department for International Development. These bolster a network of local action groups working on issues from human rights and conflict prevention to education and HIV. In some villages, signs declaring the community’s commitment to child protection or equal rights outnumber the dwellings themselves. Their residents may have little more than buckets for carrying water and machetes for chopping firewood and jungle fruits yet, determined to prevent their country from sliding back into the brutalities of the civil war, frequently seem to possess an awareness of such issues surpassing that of many in the West.

It is early days, however. Poverty is endemic, health and education facilities virtually non-existent beyond that provided by relief organisations and some, in this deeply traditional society, remain shackled to the beliefs and taboos that have seen victims of rebel sexual slavery shunned by their families and neighbours. Corruption is rife, even at the higher echelons of government, and the rivalrous and exploitative trade in diamonds, a potent force in the decade-long conflict, threatens to spill over into violence once again.

But if determination is a measure of future success, there is hope for Sierra Leone. A lush, fertile country with more than enough mineral wealth to provide for its citizens if it can be properly managed, a populace dedicated to a better future for its children and a civil society resolved to embed peace and progress in its furthest reaches, it could yet transform itself into one of West Africa’s brightest jewels.

Comments

[jay]

Its really crazy what has been happening there.

http://www.congoo.com/newssearch?query=Sierra+Leone&submit=Congoo+Search

[Sahr Fasuluku]

I always find these commentaries about my home country written by tourists on flying visits, very disturbing and patronising. While it's good to get some exposure, the lack of revelation or insight is missionary. Especially considering the plethora of educated Sierra Leoneans available and the number of websites and discussion groups devoted to our country. It would be much more interesting if you tried living in the country for a few months with some of the more public spirited of our population, someone who could translate the cultures and concepts both ways. That would be more revealing and worth the plane ticket. I hope Kono(pronounced Kohnoh), which is probably your next stop gets the write up it deserves. It has suffered the most because of the curse of those worthless stones known as diamonds.
S O Fasuluku
www.kono.org.uk