Creative Arts and Sports Programme

Creative Arts and Sports ProgrammeSierra LeoneCountry background The Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa is a former colony of Britain and is one of Africas smaller states. The countrys history is characterized by substantial political instability and economic underdevelopment. This is in spite of the fact that the country is rich in mineral and agricultural resources. Lack of good leadership, combined with a host of other factors, both internal and external, culminated into the outbreak of a disastrous civil war in March 1991 between the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the government army. Tens of thousands of people have died and more than two million people have fled, many to the neighbouring country Guinea or to safer areas in Sierra Leone. In July 1999 a peace agreement was signed. The fighting has not stopped since then, but with the help of the United Nations (UNAMSIL) the RUF is gradually moving out of occupied territories and releasing more child combatants. Children in the conflict The children have had to pay the dearest price. Both the rebels and the army recruited and abducted children. A large portion of the rebel army are child soldiers, while the government side also had sprinklings of child combatants. Many of these children were forcefully conscripted without the knowledge and consent of their parents. Drugs, threats and intimidations forced children to fight and kill. Under pressure from some NGOs the government decided in 1994 to disband all child combatants from the national army, followed by a gradually increasing number of surrendered and released rebel child combatants. Many of these children have never been to school, while those who did, dropped out of school at a very early age. The future of these ex-child soldiers has become an important subject on the agenda of some organizations, providing and helping them with accommodation, rehabilitation and schooling. Many have problems adapting to the normal society again and not all have been able to return to their families. Many families still live in rebel occupied areas, other families have problems accepting the crimes their child has committed. Many former child combatants are ashamed of what they have done to others or feel humiliated. War Child activities in Sierra Leone After an exploratory mission in November/December 2000, War Child Netherlands started a project in Sierra Leone in January 2001. The project aims to help former child combatants and IDP-Children (Internally Displaced People) cope with the mental and social affects the war had on them. Both groups cope with feelings of fear, loss and guilt and homesickness and have problems adapting to normal community life. For many child combatants acceptance by their family and community is a problem, as well as lack of self-esteem. War Child uses creative arts workshops and sports programs to strengthen the childrens mental and social development and well-being. Music, drama, arts and sports release tension, help children to express their emotions non-verbally, give children a chance to relax in a safe environment, play with others and build self-confidence. Creative activities and sports are also very useful means to reunite different groups of children, for example child combatants with other children. Training local workshopleaders An expatriate team of two creative therapists and a psychologist trained sixteen national trainees to become War Child workshop leaders. These trainees graduated in June 2001 and are now working with groups of children at schools, in interim care centers and in IDP-camps. Workshops run by qualified national workshop leaders are more effective because of their knowledge of the culture and the language. War Child is careful with the appropriateness and feasibility of its approach and activities in relation to the local conditions, context and environment. In the second half of this year and afterwards, the workshop leaders will continue to conduct workshops with different groups of children in different parts of the country. There is a great need and demand for the kind of activities that War Child is offering and we therefore intend to gradually expand our operation i