The Future of Africa is in the faces of its Children – Boutique Mix Fundraising

The future of Africa is in the faces of all the children on the continent. The innocent children in Sierra Leone do not deserve their current situation. Sierra Leonean children are yearning for a safer community. They yearn mostly for basic necessities such as a home, food, education, clean water, clothes and peace of mind. Sierra Leonean parents yearn for growth, stability and economic prosperity, for a country where they can grow old, for the Sierra Leone that Milton and Albert Margai envisioned, the Sierra Leone the freed slaves imagined when they returned to Freetown.

Radical rebels have destabilized an entire economy and dehumanized an entire generation. The stupidity and lack of character or integrity exhibited by the people that have systematically destroyed Sierra Leone is unbelievable. The issue facing us now is where do we go from here? How do we begin to heal? How do we begin to forgive? How do we move on and rebuild the land that we love?

We start by taking responsibility for our actions. We cannot blame this one on the illicit diamond trade or on any individual. We did this to ourselves. We woke up one day and decided this is what Sierra Leone needed – Murder and Destruction. Tribesmen against tribesmen. Neighbor against neighbor. Countryman against countryman. Brother against brother. Cousin against cousin. We decided to literally cut the hand that feeds us by hacking off limbs; perfectly good limbs. We cut our nose to spite our face. For what? For greed? For politics? For change? Well, what happened to showing dissatisfaction for government by rallying in front of the state house or house of parliament? What happened to peaceful demonstrations? Why is it that we are so quick to use machetes on our neighbors’ limbs instead of on our farms?

What was the thought process? Was there one? Did we think “ok if we hack off limbs, burn down the buildings, kill innocent people and rape and torture women and children, we will be heroes? Did the perpetrators even think before acting? Why did we think it was ok to give guns and drugs to 7 year old children and ask them to fight? Why?

These former child soldiers are growing up in a society that does not have the resources to adequately address the psychological impact of these actions on our children. Children who have been forced to grow up, to endure the worst form of human degradation and abuse. Children who have never been joyful. Children who don’t even know how beautiful Sierra Leone can be. The Sierra Leone we grew up in. Our worst problems were lack of adequate transportation and currency inflation.

Now we have bigger problems. Problems that we must take responsibility for. Problems the international community alone cannot fix. Let us make a pact. Let us strive toward upholding basic human dignity. What worries most of us is that amid this flurry of rebuilding, we still have too many people who are angry. Too many people who don’t believe we can rebuild in peace. With war comes destruction and a high degree of idleness and unemployment. This creates a hearty breeding ground for bored individuals, who are lurking around in the shadows waiting for an opportunity to make even bigger asses of themselves. Waiting to destroy what their counterparts are working so hard to rebuild. Waiting to rape. Waiting to destroy. Waiting to kill.

We must hope. Hope for a better Sierra Leone. Hope for a better life for the innocent children. With the commitment of Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad we can move mountains and make Sierra Leone stronger than it was pre-civil war. Hope trumps despair. The beauty of our children is that their innocence keeps them strong. The hope and joy in their hearts keeps alive the love and freedom that burns in the hearts of all Sierra Leoneans.

For those of us who live outside of Sierra Leone, we have a responsibility to help rebuild our nation. It is easy for us to look the other way because we live abroad and do not face the daily struggle of the refugees and survivors. Let us invest in our home. Let us not forget where we came from. Let us tap into that strength instilled into us by our parents and teachers and work together. Most of us have no incentives to go back to Sierra Leone either because we’ve made new lives for ourselves abroad or because we have given up on Sierra Leone. Don’t give up on the innocent children!!!

Matt. 19 v. 14 – Suffer the children to come unto me for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God.

Innocence

Innocence is as sweet and as pure
as the full blossom of a first love
It is as beautiful and as precious
as the sunrise and the sunset

Innocence is as simple and as clean
as a joyful and a hearty soul
It is as peaceful and as tender
as a gentle breeze in spring

Innocence has a beautiful and receptive soul
that knows how to accept and how to love
It is as wonderful as a forgiving heart
that cannot hurt or destroy

by Mimi (dedicated to the Future of Africa – our wonderful children, full of love, hope and innocence).

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