United Methodist helps Liberian children victimized by war
11/20/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn.
This
story is part of a weeklong Close Up series on how the United Methodist
Church is helping Liberia recover from war. Photographs, video reports
and other features are available.
By Joni Goheen*
Children
at the Findel Internal Displaced Persons camp near Monrovia, Liberia,
play with soccer balls provided by a United Methodist counselor. The
14-year war in Liberia has spawned a generation of young people who have
no life experiences apart from armed conflict. Some young people helped
support their families by carrying arms in the war; nearly all of them
have been victimized by the conflicts. A UMNS photo by Joni Goheen.
Photo number 03-470, Accompanies UMNS #CUL008, 11/18/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
Children
at the Findel Internal Displaced Persons camp near Monrovia, Liberia,
play with soccer balls provided by a United Methodist counselor. The
14-year war in Liberia has spawned a generation of young people who have
no life experiences apart from armed conflict. Some young people helped
support their families by carrying arms in the war; nearly all of them
have been victimized by the conflicts. A UMNS photo by Joni Goheen.
Photo number 03-469, Accompanies UMNS #CUL008, 11/18/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS) - The 14-year war in
Liberia has spawned a generation of young people who have no life
experiences apart from armed conflict.
Some young people helped
support their families by carrying arms in the war; nearly all of them
were victimized by the conflicts.
An effort to provide normal
life activities, recreation, and counseling for former victims and
victimizers is a daily challenge for Sabah Thomas Dweh-Chenneh, director
of youth and adult ministries for the Liberia Annual (regional)
Conference.
Dweh-Chenneh works at places such as the Fendel
Internal Displaced Persons camp, where more than 60 percent of the
residents are young people. The United Methodist program at the facility
some 20 minutes from Monrovia includes opportunities for recreation,
study and counseling.
On one recent visit, Dweh-Chenneh brought
two soccer balls, one for the girls and one for the boys. "Sometimes by
just creating a situation where the children can play, the energy
release alone can be therapeutic, especially when activities are in the
context of Christian love and care," he explained.
"Expending
this kind of energy was previously only accompanied by violence," he
said. "The balls that we bring to them symbolize that we Liberians need
to play together and not fight each other.
"Sports and study
create an environment in which we can help the young people deal with
the trauma most of them experienced in war or in running away from
conflicts," he said. "Most of our counseling is done in groups where
young people share similar experiences."
Dweh-Chenneh said his
ministry is less tangible than others that offer material goods. "We
don't have a warehouse full of food. We want to be their friends, to get
to know them, to know their problems, to play with them, to pray with
them and see how we can help them through counseling.
"A lot of
these children have been through terrible times that interfered with
normal developmental stages, and sometimes the violence messed up their
self-esteem," he said. "We are helping them learn that the future is in
their hands. They can't rebuild our country by simply sitting in a camp
for displaced persons."
Rebuilding a war-torn country can be a
lengthy enterprise, noted James Oliver Duncan, president of United
Methodist University in Monrovia. A rehabilitation program established
in Nigeria in 1969 operated until 2000, he said.
Following the
war, the government established rehabilitation centers, counseling
centers and extensive psychiatric services. "Liberia has quite a great
task before it," Duncan said. "Our concern should be with the children,
the young folks, who have not learned anything else or seen anything
else for the past 14 years but war (and) violence."
While Dweh-Chenneh understands the daunting task that lies ahead, he is undeterred. He has seen success firsthand.
"About
seven years ago, I was languishing in a refugee camp. While I was
there, people from this department conducted these same ministries with
young people in the camp," he said. "Due to their exercises and
information in their workshops, I started to think about how I could
come home to make contributions in my own country."
After four
years of study in the United States, Dweh-Chenneh returned to work with
young people who are wrestling with problems similar to those he had in a
similar camp. "I have been there," he said, "and I know exactly what
they are going through."
# # #
*Goheen is a freelance writer living in Morrison, Colo.
Korean News
