Sierra Leone Amputee Regional Chairman in Kenema

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Sierra Leone Amputee Regional Chairman in Kenema

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sourced by Global Action Foundation

John Daniel Kelly interviews the Amputee Regional Chairman in Kenema, Sierra Leone.

Dan asks "Have ngos ever come to you and made promises?"

Chairman answers "Well, a lot of them asks, in fact as you are doing me now....I am a victim of them of those kind of things.....People come, they give you a lot of promises like those politicians are doing....they say "blah, blah, blah"....they say all your needs, oh, we will come and help you, don't worry...we will get back and they will call you and they will come..and after this day, you will never see them again...but we get tired....so we first made a resolution that we won't allow anyone to come and take snapshots ...in fact, for me to do this kind of thing...because I did that with action aid a long time and they show me on television...."

Dan asks "Did Action Aid ever help you?"

Chairman answers "No they did not."

Dan asks "Can you explain why there hasn't been any help up to this point?"

Chairman answers "The organizations, they have their mandates....and before you come in here, you have your own mandates. They say, "We want to work with you people...but we want to work with amputees, but this is where we want to start...food, medical, and then blah, blah, blah"

The Chairman continues, "They come and they say, 'We want to come and build houses for the amputees' but they have that mandate just as I have said........'okay, our mandate is we will cover that some part in the north, some part in the southand then the entire western area...and then the east' ...maybe that is their mandate...please consider us in your program."

Dan found many ngos or international relief agencies came to Sierra Leone with their own agendas. The agencies did not ask the Sierra Leoneans what they needed or wanted. Soon the 3 years of international relief agencies will end and the agencies will leave. Who wil take their place? International relief lasts for a limited time. It is not meant to be a permanent measure.

Who will take their place? When will the Sierra Leoneans have a voice of their own?

Who will become the next President of Sierra Leone this summer and what will he do to help the Sierra Leoneans become self-reliant?

Will the amputees and war wounded ever receive the help they need? Or will they die and no longer represent a segment of the population in need?