Wow. This morning has been crazy. We are finishing our second week of training, and the sessions are getting more difficult as well as more intense. I'm sure that most of you are aware that Sierra Leone had a civil war that lasted for 10 years, and only ended 11 years ago. This morning our trainers, who are natives of Sierra Leone, talked with us about the war. They tried to explain why it started, how things were during the war, and what impacts the war has had on the country. In 1980, when their economy failed, the currency in Sierra Leone was worth more than the American dollar. The country had an economic collapse which lead to making the country susceptible to the war that came in the early 90s. That blew my mind. I guess after only hearing about one part of a devastating and confusing war I hadn't thought about the other aspects. I can't tell you how strange it is to be in a room talking to people who have been touched by something so terrible, in the place where it happened. It's hard to even imagine the things that were done during that war, and it's even more difficult to accept that it happened to people you now care so much about.
Today I found out that Sierra Leone is the second poorest country in the world, for some reason this was shocking to me. I think we have all heard the horror stories from the war, but no one seems to know about the terrible affects the war had on this country as a whole. Aside from all of the death, amputations, mental and physical injuries affecting people all over the country, the war all but destroyed Sierra Leone. Infrastructure was destroyed throughout the country, including schools and many other public buildings. The majority of the population was displaced inside and outside the borders. Finally education, possibly the most dangerous issue remaining, was crippled. During those 10 years many, many people could not go to school. The war lasted for so long that there is now a generation of uneducated people, who are not able to join the workforce. Now there are not enough schools, resources or trained teachers to meet the needs of the youth population. The country is doing really well for now, considering where they are coming from, but the uneducated youth population will be a huge problem for the country in the not too distant future.
Here's a crazy thought, the teenagers I meet around town, it is safe to assume, were born and spent their early childhood in the bush. People everywhere, my host family included, had to abandon their homes and run for their lives in to the bush (jungle) where they had to find a way to survive. My host sister, for example, is 18. Chances are the first 8 years of her life were spent scared and struggling to survive. They have really gone through hell here, and the rebuilding process sounds depressingly complex and difficult. The people here do not talk about the war though and it is not something I can ask about without being extremely insensitive.
Here's the craziest part of all. These people are OK. They are happy. They have forgiven each other, really forgiven. They have moved on. The people here do not want to talk about the war, not in a repressed way, they say that it is in the past so bringing it up does no good. The people here aren't stupid, they haven't forgotten what happened or the loved ones they lost. They have simply decided not to put energy in to remembering the bad, instead they want to help the country recover. They are very aware of the countries shortcomings as a result of the war, and they want to work on fixing it rather than placing blame. I don't think there is any way I can adequately explain this kind of forgiveness to people back home, or ever really understand how it's possible myself. Something very special and inexplicable exists in this culture and these people that our own culture just doesn't posses.
Today was a very intense reminder of why I am here and how much work there is to do. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated by how big my new job seems. More importantly today was a very intense reminder of how lucky and happy I am to be here, and have the chance to help these people in whatever way I can.
xoxo
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