Remembering the War: A Child's Recollection

After researching the war that wreaked havoc in Sierra Leone for several weeks, one thing I read is still on my mind. A quote, from an article provided by the BBC. The quote is as follows:
"I wish I could use a bullet on him the same way one was used on me. I've never met Charles Taylor, but I know he's a bad man."
Charles Taylor was the president of Liberia when they decided to invade Sierra Leone. It took the United Nations five years after the civil war ended for them to finally capture and imprison Taylor. The words above are an example of how most citizens of Sierra Leone feel towards the man. The quote above was spoken by Abu Sesay; he is seven years old.
It's mind blowing how such chaos and violence can effect even the youngest generations; how much even the children understand. The war matured the children of Sierra Leone way past their ages, and took away part of their childhood. Something, that can never be given back.

You can read the article from which I pulled the quote, here.

Mining Conditions

While conducting my research over the past few weeks, I came a video on the conditions of the mining work place. Here are some of the things I found out:
1. Miners worked in the rivers, usually in waist high water.
2. They worked from sun rise to sunset, and sometimes even later.
3. Miners were no allowed to take breaks, or rest at any time during the day.
4. The river was also to be used as a bathroom so that miners would not have to leave their post under any conditions.
5. Due to the human waste polluting the water, disease was spread easily around the entire country.
6. If any worker stopped for any reason they would be shot down, tortured (via amputation) or killed.

These reasons caused many miners to suffer from malnourishment, and many died of starvation, or obtained HIV/AIDS.

The videos I found were provided by The History Channel, and can be found here.

The Snowball Effect.

I just finished reading an entry written by my classmate and partner, Kathleen Estrella, entitled, "Civil War: A Never Ending Cycle?". In which she wrote about the many staggering statistics about Sierra Leone. Things such as how the average citizen of Sierra Leone only earns about $0.20 a day, and over half the population is living below the poverty line. This is a country where over half the population is under the age of 14, and there are few schools to educate these children.
This really got me to thinking about the war that took place in Sierra Leone, and its after effects on the country. About the mass amount of people who were displaced from their homes, about the destruction of the villages and towns. Can a country ever recover from these things? Sierra Leone is known to be one of the poorest countries in the entire world. How could a country in such a situation ever make it back from such chaos?

(Sorry for the late post date, this was suppose to go up last night.)

A Long Wait For Satisfaction.

This week one of my big research topics was the end of Sierra Leone's civil war. It turns out that in 1999 the United Nations decided to intervene by sending in troops to aid the country. By 2001 the troops had begun disarming the rebels, and in 2002 the fighting ceased and the war was declared over. But the people of Sierra Leone still had to wait for true justice. It was not until 2006 that they were truly satisfied. First, in 2003 rebel leader Foday Sankoh died of natural causes whilst waiting to be tried for his wrong doings against Sierra Leone. The second act of justice was in 2006 when James Taylor, the president of Liberia, was caught and arrested.
But why did it take so long for the later of these men to be found and tried? Did they try any other members of the rebel party? Or was the blame placed upon just these two men?


Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1065898.stm
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2006-03-30-victims-of-sierra-leone-war-rejoice-at-taylors-arrest

Changing The World.

A couple weeks ago my group took off midday to interview a Sudanese refugee. As we walked into his office building we were giddy with nervousness. We fidgeted in the elevator, and timidly knocked on his office door. We were prepared with a page and a half of questions to ask him, and once the video camera was set up and a designated note-taker was appointed we began our interview.
Majur Malou arrived in New York City in 1995. His parents are not quite sure when he was born, so when he came to America he got to pick his own birthday: May 25th 1970 (an important date in Sudanese history). He began with telling us his memories he still has from when he was a child. He told us how his first priority in life was to get an education. He spoke of a dream he had as a child: a dream where he imagined himself becoming someone of importance someday. He became the very first person in his family to go to school; and once he got to America he was persistent in finding a job, and ended up as the director of St. Luke’s Refugee Network. He also mentioned that he is now eligible to get a license to become a pilot.
He then began to tell us about the violence he experienced in Sudan. Things such as the first time he saw a man get shot.
“The man was shot in the chest. The bullet penetrated his cheat and came out his back. But, amazingly, the hole from where the bullet entered was smaller; the place where the bullet went out was huge,” he stated.
He continued to tell shocking stories about the things he experienced in Sudan. He told us devastating facts such as how children kill people to pass the time, as a daily activity. How when in his refugee camp in Kenya, the Somalians (who the Sudanese shared the camp with) would call him derogatory terms and be violent with him due to the fact that he was Christian and they were Muslim. But the thing that had the most impact on me was when he showed us the scars that grace his arms.
“I was detained by the government. I was beaten by the government. I was put in a Ghost House. You know, a place where they torture people. I’ve been tortured.”
At this point, about two thirds of the way through the interview, tears spilled from Malou’s eyes. The room fell silent as he wiped he eyes and nose on a tissue. Tears were present in all of our eyes at this time, and we had to work hard to press on with the interview.
“If you want to help the people of Darfur, if you want to help the Sudanese people, you need to write a petition to the president [of the United States]… It will take all of us to change the world.”
These were some of Malou’s final words to us. It left me with an eerie feeling when I left his office after thanking him repeatedly for his time. As we road down the elevator, I tried to think; think about all he had said to us in the past hour. Thoughts about how fortunate I am and how motivated I am now, to try and change the world.

Life After War.

During the Civil War that raged in Sierra Leone a common punishment was amputation of limbs.

Here is an excerpt from an article; a quote from a boy named Suleiman Sesay:

"One day, Sesay says, he and his friends refused to do a chore, so the rebels decided to make examples of them. The rebels took them outside and in front of everyone grabbed axes and machetes and started hacking at their limbs.

"They gave us a choice," he says. " 'Do you want short sleeves or long sleeves?' "

He says he didn't know what the question meant and even thought it was a joke. He took a gamble and said short sleeves.

"They chopped my arm at the elbow," he says. "Six swings and my arm came off.""

The article from which this is from was not all as gruesome as this. The article actually focused on a lighter topic. The formation of a soccer team for amputees. In the beginning it was a mere team, for boys who played soccer before the war. Many of them never thought playing their favorite game would ever again be possible. But now, the team has turned into a league, in which 12 teams play and compete. Players have all lost a leg, arm, or even both.

I found the content of this article inspiring. After such horror and pain being inflicted upon these teens, they are able to overcome, and try to go back to normal. But is there a "normal" to go back to? How would one ever truly

Source:

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/04/03/btsc.koinange/index.html

A Change Of Topic.

This past week I decided to change my approach on my research paper from child soldiers to the blood diamond conflict. One of the websites I used for research was the History Channel website where I found multiple videos on the topic. Several of them had input from people who have experienced mining for diamonds, and the things I discovered were appaling.
Miners are forced to work by the "Rebels" and in conditions far worse than anyone could ever imagine. Miners are not llowed to leave the premises under any condition; not for food, water, even to go to the restroom. "Go where you work." they are told. Because the workers are forced to work all day in waist-high water disease is spread easily and quickly. HIV/AIDS and Malaria claim the lives of many people because of the water-bourne diseases.
These facts were shocking. Why torture your labor? These conditions hurt everyone in the country. Due to the fact that people are working in the rivers and streams, the water quality in Sierra Leone is very poor. That is why my group is planning on creating a water distiller for our project that could improve the condition of which Sierra Leone is in right now.

Source:
• http://www.history.com/video.do?name=worldhistory&bcpid=1681730306&bclid=1672160781