USAID/Sierra Leone: School Reconstruction Persuades Refugees to Come Back

APRIL 29, 2004

School Reconstruction Persuades Refugees to Come Back

The reconstruction of a primary school in Koindu allows Matenneh Makasuba and her family to leave the refugee camps in Guinea and return to her community in Sierra Leone.

"I am happy to be here again to attend school," says Matenneh Makasuba, aged 13, who participated in the opening of the Kissi-Bendu Primary School in the border town of Koindu, one of six schools recently rebuilt in Kailahun District by community members working with the International Rescue Committee, with funding from USAID. Matenneh, once forced to flee Sierra Leone with her family and live as a refugee in Guinea for three years during the war, took an active part in the school's opening ceremony by singing with her classmates. It was, in fact, the opening of the primary school in Koindu that allowed families like Matenneh's to make the decision to come back to settle in their hometown in Sierra Leone.

Before...Koindu Primary School in ruins in 2003...the school was used as a training base for the RUF rebels during the war.

In March of 1991, the RUF rebel forces invaded Koindu and both the primary and secondary schools were virtually destroyed. The RUF used the ruins of the secondary school as its first training base for a number of years. Classroom books and furniture were gradually used as fuel for fire. According to Tommy F. TemngbehTemgbeh, School Principal of Kissi-Bendu Secondary School since 1982, community members fled to a refugee camp in Guinea only 2 ½ miles away. There, with sponsorship from IRC, TemngbehTemgbeh continued on as principal within the camp, and along with a number of teachers from the community, taught children like Matenneh to allow them to continue going to school.

the Koindu Primary School after rehabilitation

After...Koindu Primary School rebuilt by the community and IRC and opened in February, 2004.

J.J. Musa, Principal of Pendembu Vocational Technical Secondary School, another school in Kailahun that was recently rehabilitated through USAID sponsorship, says, "The reconstruction of this school was vital for the community. This is a big school. Before the war, we had close to 1,000 students attending this school. But during the war when the rebels came they used the school as their base and they were trained on this compound. And so there was a complete destruction of the entire facility here. So wWhenwhen we came back, it was really for us hard to get the parents to come back without having a secondary school facility. This is the only technical vocational secondary school not only in the chiefdom in fact but in the entire area. But now we are back, and we have 410 students enrolled. We are so thankful!"

J.J. Musa, Principal of Pendembu Junior Secondary School, Kailahun, Sierra Leone

Says J.J. Musa, Principal of Pendembu Junior Secondary School, 'Now we are back, and we have 410 students enrolled. We are so thankful!'

Kailahun District, a panhandle of land in eastern Sierra Leone that borders Guinea to the north and Liberia to the east, presents some of the greatest challenges in the country in terms of resettlement and reintegration of the population following the war. Of all districts in Sierra Leone, Kailahun sustained by far the highest levels of displacement, with up to half of its population (just over 87,000) displaced, either within Sierra Leone or over the borders into Guinea or Liberia.

As a former rebel stronghold under rebel control throughout the civil war, Kailahun was also the last district to be disarmed, in 2001. Two chiefdoms, Kissi Tongi and Malema, were the last to be declared safe for facilitated resettlement due to the civil war and frequent border incursions from Liberia. However, assisted resettlement to Kailahun District began in April 2002, and to date almost all 38,000 internally displaced people and approximately 27,755 returnees from other countries have been resettled to the district. From 2001-2003, USAID has spent approximately $3.5 million in the District of Kailahun in support of the resettlement and reintegration process.

David Atteberry, USAID Program Officer for USAID/Sierra Leone, says, "From talking to refugees and IDP's we have learned that physical infrastructure -- schools, hospitals, market centers, roads, etc. -- is one of the most important factors influencing whether or not refugees are willing to return to their communities and stay. After security concerns, the first thing returnees ask about their home community is, 'Is there a school for my children? Is there a health clinic?' As such we have made the rehabilitation of public infrastructure a major component of USAID's reintegration efforts in Sierra Leone."

Pendembu Vocational Technical Secondary School in Pendembu, Kailahun

Pendembu Vocational Technical School rehabiliatated and in operation. Pendembu is the only vocational school in the Kailahun District.>

USAID-sponsored rehabilitation of essential infrastructure such as schools, markets, roads, community courts, health post units, and a major District hospital in Kailahun is helping the process along. At the same time, USAID realizes that rehabilitation of infrastructure is only the first step.

Says Atteberry, "For almost 10 long years during the civil war, there was a complete absence of the State -- no police force, no schools, no hospital, no Government presence of any sort. The region was totally devastated, and more than 50% of the population was dislocated.

"Obviously, the recovery process will take many years. Reestablishment of the rule of law is essential right now for the country's long-term country security. Next comes the resumption of the wide range of basic social services like health and education, combined with economic opportunities so that returned families have the means of reestablishing their livelihoods. We are also focusing on the agricultural sector to help stimulate the economy, create jobs, and ensure food security."

A young school girl sings during the Koindu Primary School opening ceremony.

A young girl sings during the opening of the Koindu primary school.

As returnees struggle to reestablish their lives and livelihoods in their own communities, school principals TemngbehTemgbeh and Musa are working to resolve educational problems to ensure that the newly rehabilitated schools in Koindu function as they should. They both have a high number of Community Volunteer

Teachers on their teaching staff and would like to see them integrated into the formal state teaching system in order to receive salaries. Enrollment of young girls is also still low, at about 25% in the Kailahun DistrictoinduKoindu secondary schools.

Says Musa, "Before, parents thought they should just prepare girls to get married. These ideas are a stumbling block to our development. I tell parents that educated women become our leaders, and that the world will be open to a girl who is educated. I speak to parents often and encourage them to pay school fees for their girls as well as for their boys."

Complimentary interventions are working to resolve other problems. IRC had offered a refresher teacher training course for returnee teachers to help ease their way back into the classroom. Remedial classes are also being offered in the afternoons for secondary school children who are often behind their grade level in certain subjects.

A young man makes tables and benches for the Koindu schools. He has learned carpentry skills through a complimentary development project sponsored by USAID.

Training in carpentry for ex-combatants and war affected youth through World Vision has allowed a number of trainees to find jobs building desks and chairs to furnish the new schools. The Norwegian government (NRC) has given complimentary support at the secondary school level in Koindu in encouraging ex-child soldiers to go back to school by waiving their school fees.

Other USAID-funded projects are helping returnees and war-affected alike make ends meet through access to micro-credit, the creation of temporary jobs, and the knowledge needed to effectively manage self-selected community development projects such as the rebuilding of schools in Kailahun.

Through these community projects, USAID has been able to increase trust and unity, decrease fear and stigmatization, and help to unite ex-combatants and their larger communities in the common cause of community development.

Story and photos by Laura Lartigue