Katrine Møller Voldby - Intern

 

How do you give someone their childhood back?  How do you take away memories of war, rape and constant fear?  I ponder this often while living in Sierra Leone. Regretfully my conclusion is always the same:  it is not possible!

 

One of my Sierra Leonean’s friends is 16 years old now. At the age of 3, he was captured by the rebels, and lived with them for the next 5 years until he was disarmed by the end of the war. After the war he managed to reconnect with his mom, but because of his past, they had to move to another town. Today he goes to school and have good friends, but he does not tell them about the times in the bush, as he says. Because of lack of money, he might have to leave school and find a job. It is hard for me to get my mind around the consequences of being brought up by men who were fighting a bloody war, the only thing that is clear to me, is that this guy like any other teenager of the world, likes to laugh, have fun and hang out with friends.

 

We can not offer my friend a different childhood, but maybe we can help him having moments of fun through his favorite sport: football, and maybe we can offer him good role models with a humanistic approach. It seems critical that children get the opportunity to be children, and youth and adults the chance to enjoy them self in peaceful interaction and interact in a joyful setting. Scientifically sport have been proven to be one of the most vital ways for children and young people to connect to a adult role model outside the family. In CCPA we focus on ‘sport for all’ (social inclusion), teamwork and democracy and train the couches to make use of healthy pedagogies and dialog in their relation to children. Taking into consideration the history of Sierra Leone positive adult role models and mentors is one of the key factors for chance in this country.

 

Despite this meaningful purpose there may be more perspectives in CCPA’s work in Sierra Leone.

 

There has been peace in Sierra Leone for 8 years, but the country (and each Sierra Leonean) is still licking its wounds from a decade of brutal war - between 1991 and 2001. At this moment Sierra Leone is number 180 out of 182 countries at the Human Development Index and one of the poorest countries in the world. Most Sierra Leoneans live without clean water, access to health treatment, education, and infrastructure.

 

Throughout the last 10 years CCPA has been working with children sport as a platform for different stakeholders to meet in post conflict country in the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East. During this time a scientific interest for sport have risen, and more and more studies points to that community sport based on good values have a fundamental role in peace keeping and development by being a primary generator of social capital. Realizing that neither development nor peace is something that happens in a single moment, but is a long term process, sport as a way to empower and bring together local stakeholders on a regular and volunteer basis, is proven to be an important tool.