Displaced persons still need help in West Africa, UMCOR says
Displaced persons still need help in West Africa, UMCOR says
June 8, 2004
By Linda Bloom*
A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin
John
Distefano has worked in Sierra Leone since October 2001 and says the
United Methodist Church has a �tremendous� institutional presence.
The
United Methodist Committee on Relief has been able to translate its
experience in Sierra Leone, which experienced a brutal civil war during
the 1990s, with reconciliation and the demobilization of soldiers to the
situation in Liberia, according to John Distefano, head of mission for
UMCOR�s nongovernmental organization there. In West Africa, UMCOR is
working both with displaced persons and ex-combatants who need to be
reintegrated into society. A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin. Photo number 04-208, 6/8/04
NEW
YORK (UMNS) – In West Africa, the United Methodist Committee on Relief
is working both with displaced persons and with ex-combatants who need
to be reintegrated into society.
The
agency has been able to translate its experience in Sierra Leone with
reconciliation and the demobilization of soldiers to the situation in
Liberia, according to John Distefano, head of mission for UMCOR’s
nongovernmental organization there. Sierra Leone experienced a brutal
civil war during the 1990s.
“They (the two countries) have a lot of similarities culturally,” he added. “But they have dissimilar histories.”
Distefano
has worked in Sierra Leone since October 2001 and added Liberia to his
portfolio last November. In both countries, he said, the United
Methodist Church has a “tremendous” institutional presence that “is of
such importance it can’t be overlooked.”
With
their social focus on education and health, the Sierra Leone and
Liberian churches have much to contribute to the rebuilding of West
Africa. In Sierra Leone, United Methodists are the second largest
educating body after the government. “In both countries, because of the
war, they are in a position to take a leading role in terms of
reconciliation, peace building and trauma counseling,” Distefano said
during an interview in late May.
Another
local partner is the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone, a separate
denomination also involved in community development projects focusing on
health and education.
UMCOR’s
work in eastern Sierra Leone has included providing seed, tools and
agricultural assistance to 4,000 farming families and giving shelter
materials to about 1,000 returning families whose homes were destroyed
during the war.
A UMNS photo courtesy of UMCOR
At the Kansas Tailoring Centre in Magburaka, ex-combatants learn job skills to help their reintegration into society.
This
is the Kansas Tailoring Centre in Magburaka. The ex-combatants learn
income generating skills to ensure their sustainable reintegration into
society. A UMNS photo courtesy of UMCOR. UMNS#240
In
Liberia, “after several false starts,” the process of the disarmament,
demobilization and integration of ex-combatants has finally begun,
according to Distefano. UMCOR is assisting United Methodists in Liberia
with this work so the church can provide skills training and counseling
to ex-combatants. Liberia’s civil war began in 1989. Although rebel
leader Charles Taylor was elected president in 1997, tensions continued,
eventually leading to Taylor’s ouster in 2003.
UMCOR
and the Lutheran World Federation, partners through Action by Churches
Together, have taken the lead in the reintegration process. By
coincidence, Distefano said, an old friend is the head of the Lutheran
federation’s office in Liberia and the two agencies also have worked
together at camps for internally displaced persons and on other
projects.
Distefano
is concerned that the recent emphasis on Liberia has shifted
international attention away from Sierra Leone. He said he is “not
optimistic” about getting enough funding to address problem areas, like
the Koinadugu region in the north, which has historically been
marginalized and remains in need of emergency relief. UMCOR is hoping to
partner with the European Community to address water and sanitation
issues in that region.
Because unrest can brew again in such marginalized areas, the region “needs to be addressed, it cannot be ignored,” he said.
Distefano
stressed that West Africa – including Guinea and the Ivory Coast, along
with Sierra Leone and Liberia – also must be considered in a regional
context when it comes to reconstruction and development. “Every one of
these countries impact on the others,” he explained.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer.