03 September 2000

Freetown, Sierra Leone: Francis Kabina was evacuated from war-wracked Sierra Leone three times, once after anti-government rebels beat him severely and stole his two-way radio unit and the vehicle he was driving. Shaken and disillusioned, the 33-year-old Tanzanian UN Volunteer nearly lost his life under the menace of armed guerrillas. But he learned to cope and resumed his work -- with the help of those he came to serve.

"I shared what the people are going through," said Francis, a UNV trauma and community reintegration specialist who has been in the West African country since November 1998. After being attacked, some of the 27 counselling and trauma associates he has trained so far came to his side and gave him the support he needed. "They helped me pull through," he says of his trainees. "They strengthened me."

Far from making him give up his training activities with Sierra Leone's National Commission for Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (NCRRR), Francis says the run-in with Revolutionary United Front rebels actually worked in his favour. Other traumatized victims of Sierra Leone's nine-year war -- fuelled by an international ring of diamond smugglers -- now stop and listen when he tells his story. The people can relate to it, as they have been through much of the same abuse, if not more.

Most of Sierra Leone's victims are civilians. Since war first broke out in 1991, an estimated 75,000 people have lost their lives. Tens of thousands of others relive horror stories they may never forget. They were raped and abused. Their homes were torched before their eyes and their life savings went up in smoke. Under some of the most ghastly circumstances imaginable, women, children and the elderly lost arms, legs, ears -- at the hands of ruthless armed gangs.

These are Francis' people. He sets up trauma counselling training sessions in schools, churches, mosques and refugee camps around the capital Freetown to help them. Those who take part in an initial, intensive two-week training session are sent out to train others, in a compassionate ripple effect. Francis and some of this trauma healing associates then supervise new trainees over a three-month period. Additional follow-up comes in the form of regular, two-day sessions where the counsellors exchange experiences and talk over ways to handle new or difficult issues.

The trainees -- social workers, teachers, church leaders, pastors and imams -- have formed associations within their communities to sustain counselling efforts now, and in the years to come. Francis supports the new associations by teaching community development and management skills for non-governmental organizations. Sierra Leoneans drive these initiatives already. "Most of the associates run the programmes themselves. They have been involved from the very beginning," he says.

Armed with his academic background in philosophy and counselling, the UNV tackles the unimaginable - reintegrating ex-combatants in communities with some of their amputee victims. Mustering up his skills in conflict resolution, Francis goes first to the communities, such as those in the Freetown districts of Calaba and Kissy. He sets up public meetings where victims can release their built-up anger in a controlled environment.

One technique to help people express and help deal with their experiences is drama. Villagers act out scenes of rebel atrocities, with amputees describing how armed gangs cut off their limbs. Victims act out their flight from the rebel incursions, and amputees carry out mock assaults on ex-combatants who earlier cut off their hands or legs.

"I've seen a lot of people going through a lot of suffering," notes Francis. "People are angry, and they have been hurt. If they keep that anger locked up inside, they will lose their balance and will start exploding from nowhere." Outbursts can come in the form of irrational domestic violence. When this happens, something within the person has not been addressed, he says.

Once he and his associates have helped community members realize the importance of not seeking revenge and instead, extending a "receiving hand", he advises ex-combatants to go back to their communities. Many of the former rebels make public confessions of their wrongdoings in such places as churches and mosques. Although the people are still coming to grips with a turbulent past, they are showing their willingness to listen, and even forgive. During a recent public meeting, the Kissy Trauma Healing Associates, among them an amputee, sang a reconciliatory song to the community.

"Slowly, slowly this approach is working," says Francis. "It takes a bit of time, as community members have been hurt by these people. The ex-combatants have left marks that the people cannot erase easily."

Taking this approach to trauma and counselling, Francis estimates that he and his associates have assisted more than 20,000 people in the Freetown area. Because of the fluid security situation in rural Sierra Leone, Francis has been unable to extend his trauma counselling services into the interior of the country. In towns like Moyamba and Bo in the southern region, his work to identify counselling associates has been "two steps forward, and three steps back", he says.

After making a few trips to the interior, the UNV and his associates set up training sessions that never materialized due to renewed attacks by rebel forces active in the surrounding areas. Potential trainees were forced to flee. "We cannot hold our ground in such a situation," he says. Through his programme, however, he has begun to identify refugees in the Freetown area who can be trained and sent back to their rural areas to continue the work.

Listening to countless tragic stories of the people of Sierra Leone can become overwhelming, says the UNV trauma expert. "As counsellors, we are certainly touched by what we hear," he says. "But we have to distance ourselves from these dramatic stories, and sometimes we have to take some time off."

According to Alfred Sesay, a former Sierra Leonean UNV who served Uganda in the mid-1990s and who is presently helping out at the United Nations Development Programme office in Freetown, UN Volunteers can "do a lot" in the present situation. "They are needed now more than ever before," he says.

Despite the current security situation, the UN can begin to carry out development activities, he suggests. "We cannot wait for everything to be settled," he says. "What people see in the Internet and what is on the ground is often something completely different."