Tiffany Franke, Co-Leader

Over the two weeks that followed, the large question mark that for me had represented the entire African continent started to diminish as our group learned of the rich and complex story of Sierra Leone, a country no larger than South Carolina, on its Western coast. In our extensive travels, we witnessed the country's rich cultural tapestry comprised of several ethnic groups which are united by a predominantly Islamic faith. We observed the legacy of a British colonial past and its social and political implications on the creation of local chiefdoms and a parliamentary system. We saw the devastation left by a brutal war where no one person was the enemy but everyone was a victim. We traveled through a country side where poor transportation inhibits progress, education is limited, and health care remains a distant dream for most. In all of these places, we experienced the warmth and generosity of a welcoming people who shared their plans for a more just future.

At the Liberian refugee camp where we joined CARE and the community members in the celebration of their Seed Day festivities, a boy passed me a letter before we climbed back into the CARE vehicles and moved on to the next project. I unfolded the note to find an eloquent and neatly written request for a pen friend, as he wrote, "in this dark continent of Africa." I realized that this boy, seventeen year old J. Victor B. Quetoh- despite being smart, capable, and eager to learn- had very little control over the course of his future. I wondered what solutions could possibly shine the light of promise into Victor's young life and progress into Sierra Leone as a whole. Over our two week visit, I strived to understand the role of an international agency such as CARE in this mission.

In our travels to CARE project sites and assisted villages, we found that progress is being made through the partnerships developed between the community members and a team of dedicated staff. Because the war stripped many Sierra Leonean people of their basic human rights and of a respect for self and others, CARE's "rights based approach" is critical to their holistic approach in helping rebuild a sustainable nation. Through educating people on their rights as citizens as well as their responsibilities as contributing community members, CARE is helping people reach common goals through communal strategies and problem solving. At several of the sites that we visited, villagers shared community maps drawn on sheets to indicate the progress made since the end of the war and the hopes for more development in the future. Symbols representing ventilated latrines, health centers, local markets, and new homes fill the drawings.

I was greatly impressed by the tremendous effort CARE has taken to best focus their skills and resources in helping communities achieve these desired goals. An emphasis on better farming practices through providing new tools and techniques has worked to re-mobilize the livelihoods of a predominantly agrarian society. Paired with the marketing and sales of this agriculture, these projects have allowed people to once again provide incomes for their families, and take pride in a sustainable livelihood. Some of the most successful projects we saw have started to mobilize marginalized populations- predominantly women and youth- to create small businesses through soap making and cassava processing initiatives. In village-based workshops and projects, CARE has helped people address malnutrition, poor hygiene, malaria, and the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

As a student dissatisfied with the glossy brochures filled with jargon that so often defines the face of development work from the States, I was gratified to observe the overwhelming success of these projects for myself. Over the course of our travels, it became evident to me that the key to CARE's success resides not in the material resources at its disposal, but in the dedication of its predominantly Sierra Leonean staff and the trusting relationships they have developed with each community member where they work. CARE's awareness of their own limitations as a development agency and their continuous self evaluation also impressed me. I gained a tremendous amount from an ongoing dialogue with several organization staff members who openly shared their visions for a more prosperous Sierra Leone.

Although great strides have been made since the war, I discovered that development has not been as fast as people would like, and many still suffer everyday. A paternalistic society with a rigid social hierarchy still suppresses women and children. A majority of the population cannot read or even write their names. Malnourished children with little or no health care and distended bellies must walk several miles to the nearest school. Thousands of families have lost their homes, their wage earners, parents, friends, children, and emotional scarring runs deep. There is virtually no industry, and very few economic prospects exist for the 70% of the population that is now idle for lack of work. Despite recent improvements in government accountability, the state system is still rife with corruption and people feel they cannot trust their representatives to provide basic needs.

What are the long term answers for Sierra Leone? In my opinion, in collaboration with agencies like CARE and bodies such as the UN, the government must work with people to create sustainable businesses that will mobilize the disenfranchised youth and maximize local resources- from tropical fruits to bauxite to diamonds. The NGO and foreign aid-dependent economy must shift to one that may grow from foreign private investment. On a national level, this will require better roads, medical facilities, and other modern amenities, matched with a more transparent government system. On a local level, this will require the kind of community cooperation that we saw in several CARE-sponsored villages. The conditions of extreme poverty can and must be overcome, and although it faces many challenges, CARE's work has served as a beacon of hope in this critical process.

During our home stay in Koromasilaya, a small village in Koinadugu district in the North-East quadrant of the country, I was inducted into the community and given the community-selected name of Nyale. That night, lit only by the moon and a few palm oil lamps, hundreds of community members and our small Yale contingent danced on the cement drying floor that CARE had helped the community to construct. Women clapped and sang to the bongo drum, feet stomped the earth, and I could feel the rhythmic pulse of the community through my body. I realized that night that this community is full of the life that I couldn't see or feel when looking down into darkness from our incoming flight. These are people that so few have the chance to know about where I come from, that so many disregard as lost in the hopelessness of the "dark continent of Africa." CARE and the vibrant country of Sierra Leone have given me the greatest gift a student can receive- an intimate understanding of a very special place and its people, and the power to contribute to its positive development through illuminating others.