Sr. Teresa McKeon,SJC
Sierra Leone
Sr
Teresa McKeon of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, describes the
work of the Sisters with their lay counterparts in empowering
disadvantaged rural people in the Kono district in Sierra Leone to
enable them to build a better future for themselves and their
families.
Kono district is located in the north-eastern part of Sierra Leone sharing borders with the Republic of Guinea. The 10-year civil war conflict in Sierra Leone took its most devastating toll in Kono District when various rebel groups fought for control of this diamond rich area to purchase its armaments. Hence the codename of ‘Blood diamonds’, as portrayed in the Hollywood film production. Thousands fled to neighbouring Guinea.
The focus of our programme was rights-based development, reaching out to marginalised families who are pushed out from mainstream society. All activities of our programme are geared towards the development and growth of poor people.
A training programme in Practical Business Management has proved popular amongst the women of the nearby villages. From the 140 women who were trained in practical business management and who received loans from the programme, 120 of them are now doing business. By being in business, these women are now able to meet the basic needs of their families.
The younger women, who missed out in education, come for skills training, literacy, with business and loan management and health education. These trainees get a hands-on experience in marketing their finished products and refunding the cost of raw materials to the programme. Their participation in functional literacy course has instilled a great sense of pride in these young women as they can now write their own names, do shopping lists for materials used in the skills learnt, and keep business records.
The establishment of our primary school has in no small measure helped to underscore the importance of education for children, especially girls. Village children can now access primary education within walking distances from their homes. Engendering a culture of peace and non-violence is impacting on the overall development of these children. We now have more than 440 students attending our primary school, 266 of whom are girls.
Awareness development education workshops in gender, cultural taboos and civic rights are mainstreamed into the various activities of the programme. These are very popular with all the beneficiaries, including the men, as the role-play methods used in addressing the issues provide not only awareness but also entertainment and make for good relationships. ‘This programme is holding up a mirror and we are seeing ourselves as never before’ are among some of the comments from the male partners! Of course change of attitudes does not always follow the awareness but it is coming ‘small small’ as they say here. As the village grassroots women regain their self-worth, they strive to consolidate the hard won peace in their communities.
Diomplor, as the programme is called, (a local word meaning togetherness, unity) developed a very distinctive family spirit with the characteristics of honesty, integrity, commitment to hard work and loyalty to the principles of transparency during their five years exile in Guinea as refugees. The work begun there continues in the same spirit enabling the rural poor to gradually lift themselves out of their poverty and to respond positively to the challenges of a country emerging out of civil war.