SIERRE LEONE: RESPONDING TO THE LANDSLIDES

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1 SIERRE LEONE: RESPONDING TO THE LANDSLIDES Tearfund s Country Representative in Sierra Leone speaks of the destruction he has witnessed, following the terrible flooding and landslides as well as a great outpouring of love in the affected areas. Tearfund is currently working closely with its local partners in Sierra Leone to plan a response to this week s deadly landslides, which have killed hundreds, possibly thousands of people. Heavy rainfall caused severe flooding and significant landslides around Regent, a mountainous town 15 miles east of Freetown. 312 people are reported to have died with several thousand still missing. At least 2,000 people have lost their homes. Widespread destruction Gaston Slanwa, Tearfund s Country Representative for Sierra Leone, has spoken about the flooding: I drove around Freetown yesterday and saw several houses had disappeared, roads had completely gone. On one bridge I saw two people who were already dead being pulled out of the water then put in the ambulance right before my eyes. In just one of the church communities we work through, 60 people have died and 300 have lost their homes. We are working closely with all our partners 24/7 to understand how we can best support them. We are also liaising with the government and other agencies to carry out assessments of the major needs and coordinate our response. An outpouring of love We have seen a great outpouring of love. Hundreds of people have welcomed those fleeing the landslide into their own houses. We are looking at opening schools and church buildings to help those who are now homeless. Our priority will be to ensure people are adequately cared for, with food, clean water, mattresses, blankets, clothing and medication. Please pray for God s comfort for the hundreds of families affected, for our church partners who are working tirelessly to help local community members and for improved access to allow us to reach those are cut off and in desperate need.' This is thought to be the worst flooding in Africa for the last two decades. Further heavy rainfall is forecast for the coming days. A national emergency has been called in Sierra Leone.

2 Tearfund has been working in Sierra Leone since We are currently liaising with our partners to assess the most urgent needs and plan how best to respond. A NOTE FROM It s heartbreaking to hear about these landslides in Sierra Leone, especially as the Ebola outbreak, which caused such devastation, is only a recent memory. Sometimes these situations seem overwhelming, but hope is restored when we hear about the support from the community, and our partners working tirelessly to help those who are vulnerable. Thank God for this outpouring of love. - Julia Moss, Donor Care Team To support Tearfund s emergency disaster work please visit AT WORK WITH THE WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR I believe the children are our future, Teach them well and let them lead the way. (The Greatest Love of All song) This was the vision of Daphrose Muteho for her home nation, the Democratic Republic of Congo. But how do you lead the way for a generation who have grown up scarred by the brutality of war? Daphrose believes she has an answer... Daphrose remembers her spell as an RE teacher in Himbi Institute, a high school in Goma, Eastern DRC. A lot of the time they were so troubled that it was almost impossible to teach them properly. The teachers and masters were afraid of some of the children so we couldn t discipline them. War children Daphrose was dealing with a generation that had been born into war. The Second Congo War had lasted between 1998 and At its height there were over twenty different armed groups from nine nations involved. And in spite of the official end of hostilities, fighting has continued ever since in certain regions. For many of the young people in DRC, the brutality of war is all they have ever known. These were children that had witnessed the killing of one or both parents, some had experienced rape and sexual violence, others had left home to join armed militia. They often joined the militia to avenge the death of their fathers, explains Daphrose. So you can imagine 13 or 15 year-olds who had left home and were living in the forest. They ve been killing, even burning other people alive. And now they come back and join the school. Imagine all the troubles they have, all the needs Heart before head Daphrose also worked part time as the school chaplain. However, she just didn t have the time and energy to deal with the kind of emotional scars these children had. Before these young people could properly learn, they needed to heal. She says, as a teacher, she was offering head knowledge to a generation whose hearts were too badly scarred to learn.

3 Daphrose asked to take on the role of chaplain and counsellor full-time at Himbi Institute at first on a voluntary basis. The school agreed and she embarked on a remarkable work. Now she had the time to offer to them, she found the young people opening up in a new way. One girl came to school with a knife in her bag and she was planning to to kill herself. Her friends saw the situation and they brought her straight to me. And I had a really powerful session with her, helping her to see that she can survive and didn t need her to kill herself. She belongs to God now. Meanwhile children who had been fighting in militia would specifically come to Himbi Institute having heard that they could find healing and escape violence. Otherwise they would have just gone on to fight in the army. Open doors Daphrose developed her work at the school and set up Gracia Counselling Centre, offering young people what she calls a redemptive model of counselling. Our counselling method is centred on solutions and not problems. Together we co-create a solution for their problems. I don't sit alone in that session, because God, the wonderful counsellor is always at work. She talks the young people through a series of five doors ; different ways of approaching their problems and looking at them in different ways. The first door to open is to see God's grace in the life of that girl, explains Daphrose. She can cry, but often she will say, I know that God cares about me and he s able to change this situation. The fifth and final door is to give up on any hope of change, but Daphrose says that the young people never reach this stage. News has spread fast across the region about the centre s work. Daphrose has already trained hundreds of other schools and chaplains to implement this process in other schools. She has now pioneered eleven high school based counselling centres in the North and South Kivu provinces. A nation at the crossroads Daphrose has a pressing vision to offer healing to a whole generation of war children around the nation. With two thirds of the population under 25, this is the generation that will grow up either perpetuating war and conflict, or building a more peaceful future. She is also involved in mentoring some of the young people and believes that she has already met some of the the country s future leaders and peacemakers. I want to prepare them as leaders, as models, and also to be a solution for the challenges we are facing now in our country. This generation are the future life of our nation. She talks about one young person she calls Arthur, who had joined one of the militia groups as a teenager. He got saved and was able to confess the sins he made when he was in the rebel group, killing people, burning some alive. And he went on to get medical training, and now he has a degree in helping people. And when he was being trained, he was sharing a healing session with former rebels who were in the hospital. Now we have a team of 10 ex-members of other rebel groups who meet each Sunday, all thanks to Arthur and his testimony. We are leading healing sessions with them so that they can also find forgiveness and help others like them, in turn.

4 This generation are like a fire. If they are healed and mentored, this fire can be used to prepare food and we will all eat as a nation. But if we don't protect or guide the fire it will just destroy. Pray that Daphrose s vision for the future is the one that wins out as a generation of war children takes the reins of power in years to come. Daphrose Muteho is an Inspired Individual. Tearfund s Inspired Individuals programme exists to identify, develop and connect new leaders who are aspiring to live like Jesus and whose dreams have the potential to transform some of the most needy places and people in our world. UGANDA HOSTING A MILLION SOUTH SUDANESE REFUGEES The UN has declared that there are now over a million South Sudanese living as refugees in neighbouring Uganda. This is in addition to a similar number displaced within the borders of South Sudan. Reverend Dr. Silvester Arinaitwe, Secretary General of the Uganda Joint Christian Council said: We have welcomed them as brothers and sisters who are experiencing troubled times in their homeland, but most people naturally want to return to South Sudan, their home. We are praying for the restoration of peace. A total of 1.8 million people have fled the country since December 2013 when the latest conflict began. Violence against civilians and disruption of livelihoods are the main drivers of the exodus. Loved by God According to UN officials, refugees are already only receiving half the standard food rations of 12kg of maize a month. Bishop Arkanjelo, Secretary General for the Evangelical Alliance for South Sudan, recently visited the Adjumani camp and says that some refugees are considering returning to South Sudan just to harvest their crops to then bring back to the camp. Earlier this month the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, also visited a camp in the Moyo district where he gave voice to their plight. The Bible tells us that the refugee is specially loved by God, said Welby. Which means you who are refugees are specially loved by God, that Jesus himself was a refugee and he loves you and he stands with you and the suffering that you have is the suffering that he knows. So I pray for you, I will advocate for you. Praying for peace Uganda also hosts over 275,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and over 52,000 from Burundi. Tearfund s partner in Uganda, Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG), is arranging health education and sanitation projects in the refugee camps. Meanwhile partners in South Sudan continue to address the needs of those displaced within the country, particularly assisting with food relief.

5 Andy Morgan, Deputy Head of Tearfund s East and Southern Africa Team says, The humanitarian and security situation facing the people of South Sudan has forced up to 25% of the population to flee their homes both internally and into neighbouring countries such as Uganda. We join Christians across the region to continue to pray for peace in South Sudan essential to allow people to be able to return home and live dignified and peaceful lives in the long-run. PLEASE PRAY Please join with us in praying for peace in South Sudan. Pray for our partners as they seek to love and serve the people of South Sudan both in country and in the camps of Uganda. Pray for all who have had to flee their homes because of the conflict pray for comfort, protection and provision. PRAYER POINTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD Pray for all those affected by the Burkina Faso terror attack, which killed 18 people last week. Ask for peace between different faiths and for the safety of our team in the country. There has been extensive flooding across parts of Nepal, India and Bangladesh. Please pray for the rains to stop, for wisdom for the authorities in how to respond, for comfort for those who have lost their homes and loved ones, and for our partners: that they will be protected and that they will be able to help those who are in need. The situation in Yemen is continuing to deteriorate. Please pray that international efforts will be stepped up to help stop the spread of cholera, and get vital aid to the people who need it most. Please continue to lift up our partners in the country, that they will be kept safe and strong.