Rebuilding
h ough
l e ac
A
li e acy p ojec in Sie a Leone is
empowe ing communi ies and helping
ebuild a wa
-
o n, impo e ished land,
epo s
HELEN FALLON
I
ea iie his yea . This small Wes A ican
coun y had been my home o wo yea s,
om 1989 o 1991, when I wo ked wi h
Volun a y Se ices O e seas (VSO) as a lec u e
in lib a ianship. On e u ning o I eland, I
became in ol ed in an I ish- egis e ed cha i y,
he Sie a Leone I eland Pa ne ship (SLIP),
which seeks o c ea e links be ween I eland and
Sie a Leone and o highligh issues ela ing o
Sie a Leone in he media and elsewhe e.
h
he public ela ions o ice o SLIP, and
because o my pe sonal in e es in eco ding
people's expe iences, I decided o e u n o
Sie a Leone in a pe sonal capaci y in Ma ch
o his yea . My plan was o mee people
and o eco d hei expe iences du ing and
a e he en-yea ci il wa (1991-2001).
Th ough pe sonal acquain ances and SLIP
I
had an ex ensi e lis o con ac s, including a
man called Edison Bocka ie, a eache and
adminis a o wi h an adul li e acy
p og amme in he eas e n pa o he coun y,
he pa mos badly de as a ed by he wa .
O e wo weeks I alked o women in a camp
o displaced people, a Ca holic bishop, a
o me Kamoja (local a my) igh e , Holy
Rosa y sis e s in ol ed in a wide ange o
econs uc ion wo k, and coun less o he s
whose li es had been o n apa by a long and
bloody ci il wa . While he e was g ea sadness
and loss in he s o ies people old me, I was
e s uck b hei abili o mo e on
-
and. in
maky cases,' o o gi e ;he people who had
Ka''ahun
own
pe pe a ed he iolence
-
and by hei desi e o ebuild hei li es p ojec . His en husiasm and since e belie in he p ojec shone
bo h as membe s o amilies and as communi ies. h ough in my discussion wi h him and
I
hope ansc ip s o he
In wha ollows, I alk abou he Gene a ing Empowe men in e iew e lec hose quali ies.
h ough
Lea ning (GEL) p ojec
in
Uilahun, in eas e n Sie a In
July
1991
I
le
Sie a Leone.
My
las
weeks
we e
ma ked
by
a
Leone. I ha e le much o he in o ma ion abou he p ojec in he six o'clock cu ew in he capi al F ee own. A med Khaki-clad soldie s
oice o Edison Bocka ie, a eache and adminis a o wi h he pa olled da k silen s ee s whe e, p e iously, s ee
-
selle s, hei
OCTOBER
2006
ADULTS
LEARNING
21
ds li
by
cdndles
and
lamps,
@Ad
an
a ny
o
swee -smeu'i
ood
o ha
pa s
o
A ica.
ES ablished
by
an I ishman, Bishop Jowph
and household p o isions, aad
W ed
he
nigh
ai
wi h
noise and Shgnahan,
in
he
&
pan
d
he h en ie h cen uw, wi h
an
ini ial
-
laugh e .
ocus
on educa ion,
~~~'MSHR
has
expanded i s w&k o heal h and
llw
six o'dod
cu ew
was
he mul o an
w isii
in he eas e n pas o al
cam
and
cumn l~wo~ks
wi h
AIDS
ic ims,
upeeo
and he
pa o
Siem
Leone.
This
appea ed o be
a
s&lo&
6um he W=,
ins ipa ed
b
~~
%b .
in
minhbou ine
Libe ia.
Al hmuh
&hC
is
jna
he
&
size
U
gland,
hIb; eas e n p~ceCEis
a
long
jwmsp
along
po
-
holed
oads,
mm
F oe m. I
le
Siena
Leone sha ing my shldea s' conhdem ha
he
igh ing
would
doon
a op.
I
was
msmg.
The
ebel
a my,
calI~ng
i sel he RG olu iona y
Uni ed
Fmn
(IPUF),
made i s
wq
hugh he counuy, seizing he
diamond
ml cs,
bu ning,
kilhg,
aping and
maiming
he people
i
encoun e ed. I wasn' di icul
o
ge young
men
(and somc ies
women]
o
& .
The
&?ice
was
'IWI
o
be killed'. Ele en yea s
o
wa
lee
an
&a&
aaile
emnomy
in
&U,
wi h
numben dead
>isplaced
in
we , and sou h
~ia.
mei po i j is o p o
-
ide
and
suppon ehca ion
in
he wides
sense,
while add ewing
he
needs
o
&e pa icula
ime
and si ua ion.
One
b
he p ojec s
he
Holy
RoMly
Sisma
a e
in ol ed
in
is
an
adul
li e acy p og amme
cakd Gene a ing Empowe men h ough Lea ning (GEL). Insie a
Leone.
I
con ac ed Wion
Bodu ie,
an adminis a o and &e
wi h GEL. He
agned
o
ake
me o
Kailahun
o
see
one o GELS
p ojec s and o
me*
pa icipan s.
When
he
wa
b oke
ou ,
EdMon.
hen a local
de ,
awsed wi h
housands
o
o he
Siam
Leonems,
in o neigh ou ing Guinea.
Th ee
nuns
ium
he Holy
&%my
o de
-
Ma y Coleman and
B enda L)'Sullwan
om
Jdmd and Siem Leonean
Aneela
Ka imu
es ima ed a som&m-be ween
50b00
and
400,WO,
and hund eds
-
nwsed wi h hem.
"
o housands maimed. homekss and des i u e.
The
eas e n
~ wince
The e
we e we
750.000
~eo~le in he
cam^.'
Edison
c ~lained
o Siem hone, home
o
he
diampd
mines,
was
pa i&lY
badly
a ec ed, wi h
he majo i y
o hospi als,
schools,
clinics,
libn ies
and
o he
&ociaI
S UDlne8
desaoged.
Rah ming
o
Sie a
Leone
On
em ning
u,
Sim
Lcwc
in
Apnl
o
&IS
yea ,
I
m eUed
o
Kailahun,
a
own
in
Eas e n
Sie a
Leone,
nea
he Guince
bo de .
Th ough
mx
SUE'
conncUien, I
hew
a
lii
abou
he
wo k
o
he
~issio~~@ e s
d
he
a&
&say
(MS=)
in
Sie a
Leone
and
. .
'Many o hese people we e om he
easia n
p o ince
-
Kono and
Kailahun.
In
hese
a eas
hue
has
adi ionally ken a
ay
high
le el
o
illi e y
-
abou
85
pe
cen .
Women ha e
been
ma ginalised.
I
you
ha e
wo
child en
-
a
boy and a
gi l
-
maybe
you
will
send he
boy o school, he
gi l
will emain a home. Thudon, he majo i y
o
ou
sism
a e
illi e a e.
The
ew
ha
wem
o
schml
s opped ea ly
when hey we= gi en o
husbands.
Thei
a he s would ha e
amngedma iaga d hem when
hey
we e
14o
15.
In
he
&g=
camp
mos
o he people
&d
no ead o w i e
and
we e
a aid
o
speak ou , especially he women and child en. E en he a ion ca ds
hey go , some imes somebody would ake
i
om hem and he e was
nobody o speak o hem. Some o us came up wi h he idea ha we
could ad oca e o hese people. A i s , he e we e six Sie a
Leoneans and six Libe ians. The au ho i ies we e suspicious o us
ini ially men he Holy Rosa y sis e s saw wha we we e doing hey
began o assis
us.
They p o ided
us
wi h he aining o become
,
.
-
li e acy u o s and o p o ide g oup counselling. We began o each
o he s. Some imes he pe son calling he a ion would skip a name.
A e he people lea ned how o ead and w i e hey could iden i y
hei name in he egis e and be su e o ge hei a ion. So hey we e
able o speak up and know hey a e somebody. People began o
.
ealise ha he age o humbp in is o e .
'Social analysis is he cen e o ou o oe amme.' Edison explains.
.
-
'As
well
as
being able o ead and w i e we wan people o speak ou
and o pa icipa e in discussion o issues.
We
aim a social change
h ough social awa eness. We do his h ough wha we call
"
he code
"
.
The code migh be a sho s o y o
a
d ama o a pic u e.
We
iden i y
he conce ns o he communi y. I can he
a
conce n like co up ion.
Then we design he code. We pe o m he code in he class.
We
lis
all he ocabula y ha gws wi h i . A e he language lesson we si
and discuss he issues aised and wha
can
be done o change hings.
Fo example, co up ion played
a
ole in b inging abou he wa We
wan people o look a issues a ound co up ion. The policeman
aking money om he bus d i e
-
ha becomes no mal, he pe son
ge ing he job he is no quali ied o , people say
"
no p oblem
"
. We
see hese hings happening e e y day, bu , ac ually, i is no no mal.
In his way we in eg a e li e acy aining wi h social issues. We wan
o empowe people o ha e a say in he decision
-
making o he
communi y. We
ha e
cul u al belie s which we ha e o look a and alk
abou . People a e no longe being o ced in o child ma iage. We
wan , h ough he code, o c ea e
a
socie y whe e gende is no
ba ie and he digni y o bo h women and men is main ained.
'A i s i was e y di icul . All o us we e auma ised because o
he wa . Th ough he p og amme people we e able o come ou wi h
so ow ul s o ies. They we e e y ea ul a i s bu when hey began
o speak abou hose hings ha happened hey began o ge back o
hei no mal human li e.'
Sa e
o
e u n
Edison explained how he li e ac p og amme sp ead h ough
a
..
numbe o e ugee camps in Guinea. men he wa was decla ed o e
in
2001.
he e u ned om Guinea o Sie a Leone o eeis e he o o-
"
g amme as a non
-
go e nmen al o ganisa ion (NGO) and o ind an
o ice. Following egis a ion, Edison con ac ed he Holy Rosaq sis
-
e s in Guinea, elling hem ha i was sa e o he aine s o e u n
o Sie a Leone. T aine s e u ned o he dis ic s hey came om o
wo k wi h hei own communi ies.
Wi h he assis ance o he Holy Rosa y nuns who sou ced unding
o he p ojec ,
15
cen es ha e been es ablished in Kailahun and 15
in Kono, a neighbou ing dis ic o he no h.
The
p og amme is now
beginning in Libe ia.
Whe e a li e acy p og amme is es ablished, he pa amoun chie
and local people a e e y ac i ely in ol ed.
The
women in he illages
a e in i ed o come o he aining sessions so ha hey can sp ead
he wo d h ough he communi y. Edison explains: 'The p og amme
can only be sus ainable i he local people
a e
inside. I hey a e
ou side he will say,
"
This is no ou conce n
"
.'
The locdl peopl; p o ide he land, labou , and sand and s icks o
buildine wo k. Bo h Muslims and Ch is ians a e welcome. GEL
oa
U
.
,
he aine and he p og amme is ee. Class uns om se en un il
nine each mo ning. A e ha , pa icipan s go o wo k in hei homes
and a ms.
So a
750
people
ha e
lea ned how o ead and w i e,
o e
350
women and men ha e been ained in soap making and we hope o
soon s a
a
sewing p og amme. People can ge micm
-
c edi once
hey ha e acqui ed
a
skill.
'We a e seeing g ea chan~es,' Edison explains. 'Women a e
. .
coming oge he o o ganise hings, a ending mee ings. Now we
ha e chai ladies as well
as
chai men. The women
a e
sa ine hines o
,"
"
hei husbands hey would no ha e said be o e. Child en a e going
o school. E cn he husband says:
"
My daugh e
has
o go o school
"
.
The i s boy child, u ho used o go o he ields o help he a he , he
is going o school and men and women a e deciding- oge he on he
educa ion hey wan o hei child en. The p og amme has had
a
pe sonal impac . When you a e discussing issues and conce ns ha
a e
elel,an o you, you you sel will e lec and a he end o he day
you
see
you sel changing.'
While Edison and his colleagues acknowledged he suppo o he
Holy Rosa y sis e s, hey emphasised he Sie a Leonean people's
owne ship o he p og amme.
.
..
A ew days la e , back in F ee own, I a end a ecep ion hos ed by
he l ish Hono a Consul o ma k he isi o Cono Lenihan, I ish
Minis e o S a e o Fo eign Al ai s. The whi ing o
a
helicop e in
he nigh sky b ough
a
loud chee om he ga he ing. Cha les
Taylo , Libe ian wa lo d, was being ex adi ed o Sie a Leone.
I
am
back in I eland when
1
ead ha he will be ied in The Hague, o
wa c imes commi ed in Sie a Leone.
I'm le wi h a g ea sense o hope o Sie a Leone and o he
Gene a ing Empowe men h ough Lea ning p ojec . GEL is one o
he mos success ul p oiec s I ha e seen in Sie a Leone.
l
belie e ha
.
"
i is he in ol emen o local people in all aspec s o he p ojec , lead
-
ing o hei eeling o owne ship o he p ojec , and he ac ha he
li e acy p og amme is embedded in and ela ed o
people's e e yday expe iences, ha has helped make i success ul.
The o igins o he p ojec in
a
e ugee camp and he ole o he Holy
Rosa y sis e s in helping sou ce unding illus a es how, wi h
app op ia e suppo s, adul li e acy ini ia i es coming om he
people hemsel es, and embedded in hei li ed expe iences, ha e
he powe o b ing abou change in his, he second poo es coun y
in he wo ld, and, indeed, in o he coun ies, ich and poo .
Helen Fallon
is
Depuly
Lib anan, Na ional Unilie sily
o
I eland
Maynoo h,
Co.
Kilda e, I eland. Email: helen.b/[email p o ec ed]. Edi on
Bockn ie
can
be
con ac ed
al
GEL,
PO.
Box
3,
Kenema,
Easle n
P ouince,
Sku
Leone,
Wes
A ica,
email:
gel
-
[email p o ec ed].
P ac ical suppo
o lea ne s
OCTOBER
2006
ADULTS
LEARNING
23