The importance of Education in Sierra Leone

'I want to be a journalist. I have the potential, I am bold and eloquent and I want to serve the public.'

Rosamond was gang-raped and abducted by rebel fighting forces during the civil war in Sierra Leone. She managed to escape after three weeks. Upon return to her village, she discovered her house was looted and destroyed and only her uncle had survived.

'I still get nightmares about what happened and what I have witnessed and have difficulty concentrating in school but with counselling I am trying to cope. I believe returning to school has brought me back, not completely but a very long way, to normal life. Before the war started I was in 4th grade at school. The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and Plan helped me to get back to school.'

Rosamond returned to her original school where she succeeded in reaching the final stage of high school. She is now a senior secondary school student studying arts and she is also part of a group called 'Youths as peace builders'.

'We were the most affected by the war so we are the best people to promote peace and stability in our country. So far we have used a local radio in Freetown to educate people on where they can get help, on counselling and teaching adults to talk to their children about what happened, their feelings and emotions. We are now planning to go to rural areas.'

In the Moyamba Distrit of Sierra Leone on the West coast of Africa, children and teenagers like Rosamond are returning to school. In a country devastated by civil war, where people are slowly rebuilding their communities and their lives, schooling takes on a different, special meaning.

'After the loss of my parents during the war, life was hopeless. Thanks to school I can now have some hope for a proper education and a better future,' says Abu - 14 years.

Jenny Matthews

The atrocities children in Sierra Leone witnessed or were forced to participate in have had severe psychological effects. Returning to some form of education is vital in order to help children and the wider community address and cope with their experiences during the conflict and enable them to resume their normal lives again.

Comic Relief is assisting Plan by supporting a project to provide high quality primary school education for 16,320 children like Rosamond in 90 schools in the Moyamba District. The project aims to rebuild schools, equip them with teaching and learning materials and provide teacher training. In addition to formal schooling, the students participate in trauma healing and peace education activities as well as benefiting from health and hygiene education classes. Trauma healing assists children in coming to terms with the events of the past years. They draw pictures, play music and peform plays to help them express their feelings. By doing this, and by discussing what they have created, children stop hiding their emotions. Lessons teach children how to avoid showing their anger and pain through violence, encouraging teamwork and discussion instead.

'Me and my family fled our home and village and went into hiding to escape the rebels. When the war finished, with no money, no house and without work I did not have much hope of getting an education. It was difficult at first as I have been out of school for some time. But now I have been able to take the National Primary School Examination which I am sure I will pass,' says Abibatu - 14 years old.

Plan is working in partnership with the local Ministry of Education in Moyamba and also with local, specialised organisations, such as the Forum for African Women Educationaslists (FAWE), Pikin to Pikin Movement (Child to Child) and school management committees.