World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008 - (Page 24)

for their lives and their own development. Not only that, as a result of this war, people are more tolerant. They are willing to change now. The animosity from the war and the political factions has reduced immensely. There’s a lot of hope. People are ready to accept one another based on the shared difficulties of their horrific past.” Isata Kanu, the widowed mother of six, is certainly ready to rebuild her life. She’s eager to receive training and prepare to receive her Heifer animals. “If I am given the opportunity to have crops and raise some livestock of my own, I think I will be able to gain some income and will be able to improve my household nutrition,” she says. “I will also be able to pay for my children’s school fees. Maybe with these extra crops and some milk to sell, I will get some shoes to wear because as you can see, I don’t wear any now.” A member of the Kamuyu Women’s Development Organization walks to the group’s collective garden in Port Loko. The members are able to realize higher food-production yields by working as a group. through the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone. The work stopped because of the war. Anthony said he believes Heifer will fill a great void in the country’s nonprofit landscape by providing livestock and training. “The food situation in Sierra Leone has been dire. During the war, the first people who were attacked were those with chickens or other animals. People were moving with just a bundle of clothing and no food to eat. Malnutrition was rampant,” he says. “If someone put up a fight for their land or their property, they risked being killed. When people are desperate, nobody is safe.” Anthony says he thinks Sierra Leoneans are ready to move past the war and rebuild their lives. “People are smarter now. They want to settle and they see the need to build on what they have. They want to take responsibility Port Loko District Traffic slows to a bumper-to-bumper crawl along Spur Road in Freetown, the gateway that winds over a steep ridge at Regent village and heads into the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. About 40 miles north of Freetown, the highway hits the saddle of a steep mountain pass known as Okra Hill, just before the town of Masiaka. The passageway is the only way to reach the north, and the sheer altitude slows many vehicles. During the height of the war, it was here at this ominous stretch of road that a notorious renegade militia called the West Side Boys took hostages and committed horrific crimes: robbery, rape and carjackings. Today, the road shows no trace of its treacherous past. The road leads to Port Loko Township, the location of another future Heifer project. Here, a cadre of women walk along a pathway leading www.heifer.org 24 November/December 2008 | WORLD ARK http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked and Answered Finding Peace in Africa Sierra Leone on the Mend The Roma: A People Apart Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit Calendar First Person

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008

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