Catching up:

I know, I know… There haven’t been very many posts (or rants) in the last two weeks, but I’ve been working in the provinces and Internet access has been minimal. Lets recap, last post I was on my way to Pujehun and Bonthe for two district-level consultations.
Here’s a bit on that trip:

Miriam Abu, Mustapha (the driver), four-journalists (Sheku, Aki, Solomon, Abu Bakkar) and myself boarded the Toyota Prado for a three-day, two-district trip. We set off on the road to Bo, and then as usual, we spent the night at Salmin’s guesthouse. Bo is basically the half waypoint to any place in the east. At dawn, we ate Salone sandwiches, composed of 5-block Fullah bread (1-block = 100 Leones), sardines, margarine, warm mayo and several slices of luncheon meat. The Pujehun and Bonthe consultations were held at Barri Islamic Secondary School in Potoru, and Tihun village. In both of these settings we began by affixing the Fambul Tok Banners to nearby trees, arranged forty-fifty wooden chairs into a large circle as the participants began to trickle in on the back of okada’s (motorcycle taxies).

All of the consultations are structured in more or less the following manner. The facilitator first introduces the chairperson for the event, who in turn presents all of the members of the high table (a traditional authority i.e. section, or paramount chief, a spokesperson from local government, a religious leader, and two representatives on behalf of women and youth). We then move to a general introduction of participants, followed by Muslim and Christian prayers. Next, all of those sitting at the high table provide five to ten minute statements. There is usually a short tea break at this time, then a facilitator sketches out the overall project framework. As I’ve said in previous posts, Fambul Tok stands for family talk and it’s designed to be locally owned, and community driven. We begin with a conversation about reconciliation and an open forum to discuss ongoing disputes at community levels. The conversation begins with the participants defining reconciliation, forgiveness and identifying barriers to sustainable peace in their communities. We then move towards identifying possible solutions and existing peace building structures that can assist in mitigating and resolving conflicts. Each consultation is organic in the sense that the issues discussed and proposed solutions are slightly different in each case. Lastly, all of the participants (2 representatives from each chiefdom) select a district executive, bearing in mind the proportional representation of women and youth.

Group Work

After two-days in Freetown, inevitably we were off again to Bo for a one-week training for the Kailahun District Fambul Tok Executive. The training was held at Manjama Institute of Agriculture, and was facilitated by Amy Potter (Associate Director for the Practice Center at Eastern Mennonite University), Ebun James (Council of Churches, Sierra Leone) and Francis Onyekwue (Forum of Conscious). This five-day workshop introduced the representatives from Kailahun to the Truth, Justice, Mercy and Peace model of reconciliation. We discussed trauma and its long-term effects, as well as the various approaches to restorative and retributive justice. The training also involved numerous focus groups, roleplays and other team building exercises. This workshop aimed at building the capacity of the 35 participants (Peace and Reconciliation Monitors) to serve as catalysts for peace in their communities. The idea is that this district executive will coordinate the various reconciliation activities taking place at chiefdom levels.

Kailahun District Fambul Tok Executive & Facilitators