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A 8 - The Oakville Beaver, W e d n e s d a y O c to b e r 10, 2001 Children become sex slaves, fighters (Continued from page A 1 ) A bout 85% o f the tow ns w ere destroyed and m ore than a m illio n p eo p le w ere internally d isplaced. Tom m y u n d e rsc o re d his n a rra tiv e by tellin g 11-year o ld stu d e n t C h ristia n B reu k elm an that over 10,000 child ren in S ierra Leone his age and y o u n g e r have been fo rc ib ly re m o v e d from villages then co n scrip ted to fight, com m it atro cities o r beco m e " w iv e s ," a local euphem ism fo r sex slaves. "It has been a w ar on y o u th ," said Tokar. "T h ese c h ild re n have been w itnesses to extrem e w ar-related v io le n c e ." O nly a d d in g to the m isery is the fact that d if fe re n t fig h tin g fo rc e s c o n sc rip te d in d iv id u a ls from the sam e village or even the sam e fam ily to w age w ar on each other. N ow th ey m u st re tu rn hom e and try to put that behind them . A verage life ex p e c ta n cy is 45 years and the in fa n t m o rta lity ra te is am ong the h ighest in the w orld. H ousing, d rinking w a te r and a g ric u ltu re resources are also at crisis le v e ls. In c o m p a riso n w ith C anada, w hich often finds itse lf at the top o f the U nited N a tio n s' list o f best places to live, Sierra Leone is dead last. A t p resen t, an eig h tm onth cease-fire ex ists in the country and d isarm a m ent has begun. E lections have been sch ed u led for M ay 2002 and civ ilian s have started returning to th eir hom e villages. W hat they find w hen they get there and w hat shape their future takes is o f grave concern to the Red C ross. "We believ e in peace, h o w e v e r f r a g ile ," says Tommy, w ho develo p ed a series o f p ro g ram s that are now bein g im p lem en t ed at a g rassro o ts level. "B ut we need su stain ab le, long-term su p p o rt." T h ese p ro g ra m s, geared m ostly for those aged 10 to 18, are designed to d e-trau m atize the ch ildren and re in te grate them into th e ir com m u n itie s. E s s e n tia l to th eir surviv al, o f course, is e d u c a tio n (re a d in g , w ritin g , m ath) and skills tra in in g (so a p -m a k in g , tie -d y e in g , ta ilo rin g , n eed lew o rk , b lo ck m ak ing and brick laying). C o u n se lin g to o v e r com e years o f traum a is also vital. To accom plish th is, aid w o rk ers and c o m m u n ity le a d e rs em ploy local custom s and trad itio n al rites o f c le a n s ing and fo rg iv e n e ss. P lenty o f d ialogue is also used to help the children u n d e rs ta n d how they arriv ed at th is p o in t in th eir lives and w hat they e n v is io n as a p ea c e fu l fu tu re . A fte r e ig h t m onths, T okar said p ro u d ly, m any c h ild re n can w rite th eir nam es rather use a thum b print. "I strongly believe in th ese p ro g ram s and the su c c e ss w e 're h a v in g ," she added. "W e're w ork ing to g e th e r to re c o n stru c t the co u n try from zero ." A lth o u g h m oney is integral to con tin u ed su c cess, T okar said, aw are ness and a sense o f global citizen sh ip m ust also be fo ste re d . She h o p es C a n a d a , w h ich to o k a lead role in the landm ine issue, w ill take a sim ilar stance o v er the p lig h t o f child so ld iers and Sierra Leone in general. "T he m ood in the cou n try is one o f cautious o p tim ism ," says Tommy. "The factio n s are d isarm ing and there is no active figh tin g . T here is an air o f h o p e." B u o y in g T o m m y 's sp irits are young people like M acL achlan student B ronw yn W illiam son, 11, w ho said she found Tokar and T om m y's story very touching. "It co u ld happen to us so m e d a y ," she said . " I feel re a lly lu ck y liv in g h e re ." 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