Sierra Leone Branch of FARDA
FARDA Sierra Leone seeks support for former child soldiers, and girls and women
in difficult circumstances in Sierra Leone. We undertake several programs
to assist our target groups. FARDA was established one or two years into
a war that eroded the poor people of all dignity. Some people called the
war a senseless war, others a curse. Yet others called it Blood War, referring
to the blood of children, women, and other poor people as gun men, hired
by bandits and selfish elite, fought government forces over diamond and
other mineral-rich fields of Sierra Leone.
An old saying goes: a stitch in time saves nine. If timely help is not provided
now that the guns have silenced, another grave problem is that the number of
children, teenagers and the youth who may go onto the streets due to social
and other problems would reach disproportionate levels. This in no doubt will
contribute to the spread of the killer disease (HIV/AIDS), and other sexually
transmitted diseases, and to banditory and other problems. Many of the children
and youth would in most cases become criminals, or victims of abuse and crime.
Thus a successful implementation of the projects would greatly contribute to
the prevention of a lot of undesirable situations that would befall our communities.
The ex-child fighters and many of the young ex-combatants who fought alongside
the rebels and local militia would find place in the (new) national army, now
that the war is over. But many may be abandoned. Those abandoned but wishing
to go back to school, or to participate in vocational skills training of some
sort, would benefit from our programs. A successful completion of our programs
would also decrease migration by students in search of schools in the country's
capital city where they think life would offer them more in the form of better
accommodation, food and living conditions, among other things.
Education and income
generation work group