Victims of Sierra Leone's rebel terror campaign are being employeed by international agencies to help care for the flood of refugees returning home from camps in the unstable border area of neighboring Guinea.
Three amputees, two men and one woman, are currently working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to help with the reception and processing of Sierra Leonean returnees arriving in Freetown, the capitol.
One of them is twenty-five year old Mohamed Bah, who began working last month. As soon as he arrived in the early morning, Mohamed plunged into assisting 347 people disembarking from the MV Overbeck, a trip chartered to transport the returnees.
Jean Philippe Chauzy, an IOM spokesperson who was in the region to monitor the process, tried to speak with Bah about his work. That proved difficult. "He was rushing back and forth," Chauzy says, "from the ship's gangway to the dock where the returnees belongings were piling up."
The next morning, Chauzy had better luck, when he called on the new employee at the small place he calls home in the Murray Town camp for amputees. He learned that Bah is from Koidu, a town in Kono District, where he once worked as a hairdresser.
In April 1998 his life was shattered when unidentified rebels severed his left hand with a machete. He told Chauzy part of his story: "They said I had to be punished for not supporting them," he said. "They were like madmen and I was lucky to survive the attack. After the amputation, I somehow managed to walk to a town called Yengema, where a doctor working for the West African Peacekeeping Force (ECOMOG) treated me for my injuries. I then fled Kono district and settled in Waterloo camp for displaced persons in Freetown. On 6 January 1999, the rebels attacked the capital and my father was shot dead during the fighting."
For months on end, Mohamed had been looking for a job, but things weren't that easy. "Short of begging, there are very little opportunities for people like us. We amputees feel useless, rejected. That' s why I couldn't believe it when I was told I could get a job. It's great to feel useful and help the community. And with the 11,000 Leones (US$7) I receive for a day's labour, I can support my four brothers and sisters."
Bah says he doesn't expect to resume his hairdressing career because of his injury. But now that he has a job, he hopes to save enough money to start up a small business. "I'll try my level best, " he said.
Foday Kamara also began working on the refugee return project on 12 January. Born in Freetown in 1970, he made a good living for years as a trader. "I was a happy man," he said. But in early January of 1999, rebels fighting the government for control of land and diamonds, tried to storm the capital. "They captured me in Kissy," Kamara said. "After having chopped my left arm, they let me go. Médecins Sans Frontières (the international medical aid group, known in English as Doctors Without Borders) treated me in Connaught hospital."
Kamara said that after leaving the hospital, his life was very difficult. "I ended
up in Murray Town camp for amputees where I received help. But I needed to work, to regain my dignity. That' s why I'm thankful to IOM. With the money I earn, I look forward to returning to my old job, trading."
By mid January, IOM Freetown had hired Karatu Bangura. This 35-year-old mother of three worked as a trader in Kamaquay, a town some 190 miles from Freetown. On September 6 1998, she was ambushed on her way back from the market. "The firing started all of a sudden. There was little place to hide. Before I knew what was happening, my right arm was completely smashed by bullets."
Like so many other survivors, Bangura feels fortunate to have survived the attack. "Many of my companions were killed," she said. After that, she spent several days in the bush before being rescued by ECOMOG, the West African peacekeeing force. Later, she was taken to hospital where her right arm was amputated. The local Red Cross made arrangements for her to be transferred to Freetown.
Meanwhile, Bangura's husband had gone back to Kamaquay to collect some of their belongings. She never saw him again. Karatu was left alone with her three young children.
In January 1999, when the rebels attacked Freetown, Karatu was forced to flee Sierra Leone to seek refuge in neighbouring Guinea. Later on, she returned to a devastated city. She soon found herself in the Murray Town camp for amputees. "Life there was pretty dismal. I felt so frustrated. It was difficult to take care of my children. Luckily, I managed to find my younger sister, who helped me a lot with the daily chores."
Earlier this year, Karatu heard from the local Red Cross that IOM was recruiting people to work at the harbour. "At first, I thought I had no chance of getting this job. But a friend of mine who works for the Red Cross encouraged me to apply. So I went and much to my surprise, IOM hired me. My job is to make sure that returning families stay together once they have disembarked from the ship."
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Karatu's primary concern now is to give her children a good education. She is very proud to have been entrusted with this job. She is the first woman amputee to be hired by an international organization.
As of the middle of last month, Murray Town camp sheltered some 330 amputees and their families. Victims of the terror campaign are still arriving, albeit in smaller numbers. On 5 January, three amputees arrived from Kambia district, after having been treated in Freetown's Connaught hospital.
Amongst them was three-year old Hassan, who had his left leg chopped off during a rebel attack last November. He also lost his father and three of his siblings during the attack and is now alone with his mother.
(The International Organization for Migration provided the material for this story. IOM is a Geneva-based body with 79 member states and over 43 observer nations. Begun as a post-World War II initiative to resettle European refugees, it has now assisted more than 11 million migrants worldwide.)
