A year hiding in the bush . . .

Matagelema in the south of Sierra Leone was a prosperous town. People were employed by the mining companies, working on bauxite and rutile. The town was a commercial centre with a big market place. But the nine year civil war has destroyed everything. Now people are getting a new lease on life with the support of the Concil of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL), a member of the ACT alliance.

Edward was working in the mines when the rebels came in January 95. "We had to run away to save our lives, we could take nothing with us", the 52 year old man says. "About 100 people were killed", he adds. With his wife, his seven children and some other families he stayed in the bush for six months. "We lived like animals", Edward recalls those days when they had to sleep on the bare floor and eat raw food - they lived on wild yam and cassava.

But they couldn’t continue like this, so they made their way to the town of Bo, which was held by the Civil Defense Force (CDF). "Some of us slept on the streets, market places or in schools", Edward says. Later they could move to the newly constructed camps. "But we were not welcome, there was a lot of suspicion because we came from the rebel area", explains Edward as he describes the tense atmosphere in the town at that time.

When his hometown was liberated two years ago, Edward decided to go back. "When we returned we found nothing left – everything was razed to the ground, he says, pointing at some ruins. "We had to start from zero", he explains, "and learn how to farm. We are all farmers now". The mining companies are still closed, because the civil war has not come to an end and most of the 3000 people, who lived in the town, remain in the camps with only 200 returning so far.

ACT members CCSL’s Relief and Rehabilitation department in Bo helps the farmers begin a new life. CCSL distributes vegetable seeds, tools and twines for hunting nets. "They try to make ends meet", Edward praises the work of CCSL. Although the department works towards self reliance by telling the people to collect seeds and provide them for the following year, conditions in Matagelema are still difficult.

"We don’t have enough to eat", Edward says. He grows rice and cassava to keep their heads above water. Birds are eating the cereals, rats destroy the rice and some of the fruit plants are attacked with diseases. Now a group has started to produce palm oil, which seems to be more productive. What also concerns people is that there is no hospital within reach and no medicine available. "When you are ill, sometimes you die", Edward says, who points out that Lassa fever is spreading. Even for the CCSL staff it’s difficult to reach the remote villages as it takes a half day drive from Bo by car on the bumpy, muddy and unpaved roads.

CCSL is not only distributing seeds and tools. It also tries to improve the infrastructure. In the town of Gbangbatoke CCSL has built a primary school, a court barrie - the central meeting place of the town and drying floors for the corn. If there were more funding the department could start with its well digging programme. During the civil war electricity, toilets and the water system were destroyed. People use the stream to get drinking water and as a toilet. Subsequently water born diseases such as blood diarrhea are spreading. That has already caused 200 deaths in the area of Gbangbatoke, where about 4000 people live, chief Tommy Jannah says.

People in Gbangbatoke fled their homes in 95 when the rebels came. Most of them were farmers like Tommie Fobbie, who had a palm tree plantation. For more than a year the 60 year old man lived with his wife and five children and about 50 other families in the bush, where one of Tommies children died from fever. Then they sought refuge in other villages, where they got some food from the villagers. For seven month they moved around and some of them returned to their hometown which was still occupied by the rebels, who killed ten and harrassed the other people, Tommie says. Tommie started farming again, but the war has made him dependant on support.

Due to the bad road conditions nearly all the cars and trucks of the R & R department have broken down or are in very bad condition and there is no money for new vehicles. Lutheran World Federation (LWF), operating in the nearby Kenema district wants to support CCSL with transportation now - six new trucks for LWF have just arrived.

The LWF office is located in Kenema - a commercial center that has the atmosphere of a border town, because it is close to the rebel area. Many diamond dealers are in the town and members of the rebels are said to come regularly into the town. With an estimated 50,000 IDPs the town is overcrowded.

LWF distributes seeds and food for agriculture in villages near Kenema and is going to reconstruct the school in Konia soon. There the people have had their first harvest since 1993, when the rebels attacked and people had to flee to the bush. "It has been peaceful for about one year now", says Baindu Mohmoh, the 35 year old mother of six children who lost her baby when she fled: "The baby fell and died while I was running". With 60 others her father was killed in the attack. Seeds from LWF enable her to grow rice, bulgur, beans and groundnuts and she can even sell some of them to buy clothes for her family. What she fears most, is the war coming back. "We suffered a lot, that’s enough", she says.