Post-Conflict Setting

Remnants of the 10-year civil war in Sierra Leone.

It's important to remember that because of the war, an entire generation was denied even the most basic primary school education, a generation that came of age instead, fighting to survive, much of the time in the bush, either hiding from rebel groups or being coerced into joining the combatants. Even though peace has been maintained for five years, Sierra Leone today faces an approximate 70% unemployment rate contributing to the country's widespread poverty. Having been inculcated by the rebel troops, many youths were left with no other skills than those taught during the war: killing, maiming and struggling to survive. While people are eager to redirect energy into positive and peaceful pursuits, few opportunities exist for their employment. This means that that the government, local groups, and NGOs such as CARE face the challenge of promoting outlets for this energy and the cultivation of local talent.

Kabala youth work together to process and sell cassava through the CARE-sponsored Youth Rehabilitation Project.

Over our two week stay, we visited a handful of CARE projects that have promoted the development of small business and trade. One such project in Kabala, the capital of the country's poorest district, Koinadugu, has recently launched a cassava and juice processing cooperative for state-recognized "disenfranchised youth" in the area. Young men and women who may have once raised arms against each other are now working together to press ginger, lemon, and mango into juices, process cassava, and package products to be marketed and sold. The staff members on this nascent project currently work with 15 youth members under a barren iron-roofed meeting place, with access to various pieces of CARE sponsored tools and machinery. While the youth members are excited about these projects, they are eager for more skills training, access to equipment that will enable secure and sanitary practices on a larger scale, and for the incorporation of more youth into such projects.

CARE has also been working with several women-based cooperatives to encourage entrepreneurship and livelihood development through similar small businesses. In this village outside of Bo, CARE worked with a pre-established women's group to create cassava meal, starting from the seed itself. CARE staff first worked on field techniques and seed cultivation, followed by harvesting of these cassavas. Women wash, peel, and slice the harvested roots before feeding them through CARE donated grinding machines, squeezing excess water out of the resulting paste, and frying the dried root on a metal sheath over a fire. After this cereal is packaged, the women sell their products in the local markets. This supplements the women's personal income, giving them greater economic freedom and empowering them within their communities. The system is becoming sustainable as some of the money has been reinvested into the project and set aside for fuel costs to operate the machinery. This program provides women with a greater understanding of their role in the social and economic rights of their community and a belief they not only have the tools, but they are the tools, for creating a more sustainable livelihood.

These women sell hand-made soap during the day, and participate in a CARE-sponsored, basic literacy course at night.

The group of women shown here, also from a village near Bo, has joined to create a soap-making business with basic machinery and tools, using Palm Oil, an abundant natural resource in Sierra Leone. Several young women showed us how they work a metal pail with a crank in order to thicken the palm oil, how to poor the mixture into wooden drying blocks, and how to cut and package the final product. More than teaching basic soap-making skills, CARE has formed a curriculum for these women to whom staff members teach basic number literacy and arithmetic, as well as how to write basic words associated with the growing and selling of natural products. The women explained to us how these workshops have allowed them to make transactions without fear of being cheated their proper incomes due to poor basic skills. Through this basic training, CARE provides these women with a broader menu of options for income generating activities as each new skill is mastered.

It is true that despite the excellent quality of these projects, their scale is still small relative to the work that must be done to mobilize people all over Sierra Leone. While CARE may not have this capacity or be the rightful "duty bearers" of this responsibility, they are helping youth and women create a powerful precedent for the entrepreneurial ability of community members. We hope that CARE will continue to work with local people, NGOs, and governmental structures to foster this spirit of economic growth and implement much-needed reform while encouraging foreign investment, and private enterprise.