Rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers and street children into society

During the 10 years civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2000), many children and young people between the ages of 3 and 18 were abducted by different factions and exploited as child soldiers, cheap labour and sex slaves. They were trained to loot property, and to destroy their own towns and villages. This was usually done under the influence of heavy drugs such as cocaine, heroin and cannabis sativa. These children were being turn in to killers and were taught to hate even their own parents.

The Sierra Leone Scouts Association, through the support of UNICEF, established a 'Child Ex-combatant Rehabilitation Centre' in 1995 at the Scout training camp in Grafton (a vast expanse of woodland about 16 kilometres outside the capital city). With the help of UNICEF, they were able to improve the facilities in the camp by building six additional dormitories, toilet and showers a small hall, kitchen, a store and a playground. This facility was used to house up to 60 young boys and girls at a time, who had been involved in the war but had since either escaped or been handed over by the warring factions following negotiations. The project involved using the Scout Method to influence a positive change in the lives of these traumatised children, many of whom had been Scouts before their abduction.

Each former child-soldier stayed in the camp for a minimum period of 3 months, during which time they follow a rehabilitation programme. There were 12 professional Scout leaders involved in the daily supervision, supported by specialised personnel from UNICEF including counsellors and a medical practitioner. The daily provision of food, fuel, clothing, educational and recreational material was provided by both UNICEF and funds from the Grafton Scout Agricultural Project (being supported by Danish Scouts).

This project was first established in 1995 as a way of contributing to the search for peace in the country at the time and it lasted until 1997 when the Scouts were ordered to leave the camp-site and it became a base for first rebel, then government troops during another period of civil war. When the Scouts regained access, the site had been looted and destroyed. The project was dormant for many years, but the Sierra Leone Scouts have now started to rebuild it.

The second phase - a new beginning:

The war in Sierra Leone is now over, and many of the children who were involved in or affected by the conflict are now roaming the streets of the capital city and major towns in the country. They have nothing to do and no one to care for them. They have few skills, are desolate and pose a serious threat to national security as older criminals are influencing them to turn to crime, become gangsters and prostitutes. They have to beg for food and sleep in market stalls or in unfinished buildings with no one to take care of them. As such, they are also easy targets for HIV and AIDS.

The Scouts in Sierra Leone are contributing to the solution of this problem by re-establishing the rehabilitation and vocational centre for the marginalised children as their Gift for Peace. The project is in its initial stages, and requires further funding. The programme will include exchange programmes and joint projects and exercises with the Sierra Leone Scouts. As well as receiving food, clean water, clothing, cleaning materials, recreational materials, learning materials and health care, the young people will also be taught basic letters and numbers, before being reintegrated into the formal school system. They will be able to learn vocational skills such as tailoring, carpentry, soap making, gara tie dying, construction building, agriculture and food production, which will be of great benefit when they are eventually reintegrated into their communities as self-sufficient individuals.