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Mama Ella builds peace and toilets in Sierra Leone

It is more than five years since civil war raged through Sierra Leone, killing thousands and devastating the country’s infrastructure. At the end of September 2008, the United Nations officially ended its security mission in the country and began its first ever peace-building mission.Two children stand in tall grass
Peace building is something that the residents of Manjama, in Pujehun, are familiar with. For many years, the towns’ inhabitants have been struggling with the effects of the war, which tore through this community wrecking the lives of all it touched.

“When my husband died I was left with five children, and I struggled to even get food for them. I was very discouraged and weeping all the time,“ says Alice* (35). “It was the same for many people; we were all fighting with each other. There was no peace here and when there were problems no one helped each other.“

A human face

The Sierra Leone Red Cross is supporting peace-building efforts here through the community animation and peace support programme (CAPS). The human face of this programme in Manjama is Mama Ella (39), a ‘Red Cross animator’.A smiling woman wearing a Sierra Leone Red Cross peace animator t-shirt

Alice recalls: “Mama Ella came to us and asked us about our needs and the first priority we highlighted was peace. And she went and brought it to us. She brought us into groups to talk about peace and to show us how to say no to confrontation.”

Red Cross animators like Mama Ella play a vital role in conflict resolution. She has organised community peace committees, made up of respected people in the community, and trained them to mediate in conflicts.

Working together

The Red Cross also helps people form work groups. Women work on vegetable gardening and men work on the bigger farms that produce their staple foods, rice and cassava. These groups have been key to rebuilding the community by developing their farms, constructing homes and building latrines.

“After bringing peace, the second thing Mama Ella did for us was to teach us about planting peanuts,” says Alice. “We keep half of the nuts for planting the next season and the profits from the rest are used for the community when someone is sick or there are educational problems.”

Michael* (41) was at home when fighters came to the village to recruit people. When he refused, he was beaten and flogged and his home was burnt down. He agrees that Ella has made a tremendous difference to the community. “Ella spoke to the women to show them how to contribute through microcredit and planting peanuts. She transformed them.

Proper sanitation

“Two or three times a week, Mama Ella is here for the community,” he continues. “Before her, we used to use the nearby bush for toileting. She talked to us about how to construct toilets and now we have proper sanitation.”

Since 2000, more than 150 communities and 200,000 people have benefited from the peace support, construction kits, farming tools, and water and sanitation assistance that have been part of the CAPS programme.

Asked how to sum up the work the Red Cross has carried out in this town, Michael is clear.

“Where there is peace, there can be development, and if you benefit today another person benefits tomorrow.”

*Name has been changed

More about post-conflict care in Sierra Leone

Find out about post-conflict care in Liberia
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