By Mohamed Nabieu, HCW Director of Mission Advancement and Partnership

The Mattia children’s parents died shortly before the Ebola outbreak, from the type of chronic illnesses that take the lives of so many Sierra Leoneans.  Left alone in a crumbling and frequently flooded mud hut, the pitiful condition of the four children captured the sympathy of a caring neighbor, who referred their case to the Child Reintegration Centre.  The CRC did an assessment including family tracing, and found out that the children’s auntie Monjama was living in a nearby village.  With her own children grown and married, Monjama was happy to come care for her late sister’s children at the CRC’s request. 

With the CRC’s help, Monjama moved the family from the dangerously dilapidated house near the swamp into her brother’s house in downtown Bo.  “My sister had a dream to move out of that unsafe house, but when she got sick, the little money they were saving for a new place was spent on her medication. But she did not survive and then the husband also died soon after that,” she explains. “The CRC came in at the right time when we needed help desperately. My heart jumped for joy when I heard that CRC was going to help me support my late sister’s children.”  

Monjama and the children now share a four room dirt floored house with her brother’s family; hardly grand, but much safer and bigger than their previous home. Monjama has one room where she sleeps with three of the children and the older child, Brima sleeps in another room with four of his boy cousins.

Before her family's enrollment in the CRC, Monjama found it nearly impossible to make a profit in her work as a petty trader. She was about to give up when the CRC suggested she join the microfinance initiative. “Before taking the CRC microfinance classes, I was really getting frustrated with the lack of saving even when I was pouring in my best efforts. My money was just disappearing into thin air with nothing to account for. It was like I was doing business for nothing. I was about to give up,” she says.

“Everything about the microfinance classes is good. But one of the things that has changed my life is the aspect of budgeting and saving. Before, I was not saving any money I was making from my little business. With the microfinance classes, I have learned how to budget, and I have learned to save my profits. I have joined the local savings group called the osusu. This has helped me a lot. Now I have been helping my neighbors with these skills.” 

Monjama started out selling palm oil and charcoal in the market and neighborhood, but eventually decided to focus on charcoal.  As she explains, “With the palm oil business, I had to go out of town to get the gallons of palm oil. And that was keeping me away from having quality time with the children. I was not able to look after them especially after school.” Now she can ply her trade around the neighborhood and stick close to home. “I am home when the children come from school. I feel good when I get to ask them about their day. I also feel good when they get some food at home to eat after school,” she says. 

Before enrolling in the microfinance program, things were really tough for Monjama. She used to borrow money from her neighbors to put food on the table, driving her deeper and deeper into debt. “I no longer [borrow] money from anybody,” Monjama says. “I feel good that I can take care of my own children without being worried about paying my neighbors back.” 

Neither Monjama and her husband attended school, nor their parents and grandparents before them. She and her sister wanted to get an education, but their parents could not afford it, and they were sent to work on the family farm at a young age. “Even though we did not get the opportunity to go to school, we are all very convinced that education can help us out of poverty. That is why we are so grateful that through the CRC our children are able to access good education,” she says.

Even now, education remains a luxury for more than half of the population in Sierra Leone. Although the government has promised to pay tuition, poor families can’t afford the required uniforms, books, supplies, and additional fees, all of which the CRC provides for the children of enrolled families.

The CRC’s goal is not only to send a child to school but to help them stay in school, mentoring and supporting the families through attentive case management. “Before the CRC, the children and I were struggling for everything. They were not even going to school. But through the CRC, they are now going to school. They get all their school supplies. They are doing well, and we are all living well,” Monjama says.

Monjama has also attended the CRC’s Attachment Theory and family mentoring classes, to learn how to provide the emotional support her adopted children need to grow up stable and self-sufficient. 

The children love playing with their friends on weekends and after school. Brima, Aliyya, and Saidu like to play football (soccer) and Emma plays volleyball and stone ball with her friends. They all have big dreams to help others and support their country. “These children know that there is so much need in this country. And they see that every day. We talk about it a lot. They have expressed that they would like to do something about it when they finish their school. And I believe in them, so I am looking forward to that,” Monjama exclaims.  “As a mother, it brings me great joy to listen to these children sharing their dreams and goals to help others.”

Oldest son Brima wants to be a journalist. “There are journalists in the country who fail to spread the right message. This is because they add to the corruption. I want to be a sober journalist who can spread the right message about stopping corruption,” he says. 

Saidu’s dream is to become a teacher. “I see many other children on the streets that are not going to school. If not because of the CRC, maybe I would have been like them.  If I become a teacher, I can help teach even those children on the streets even if they can’t pay me.” 

Aliyya wants to become a contractor after he finishes school. “I want to be able to build better houses for even the poor people. People should not be living in the swamp house like where we used to live with our late mom,” he explains.

Emma, the youngest, wants to become a nurse “to help treat my people.”

The children enjoy doing domestic chores together. “They are really helpful at home. They help do chores around the house, especially on weekends and after school,” Monjama says.  Emma loves cooking and helps clean the house. Brima splits wood and bags charcoal for Monjama to sell around the neighborhood. Saidu and Aliyya fetch water for bathing and cooking, and also help tidy the house.

Monjama is a woman with a big heart. She has a strong faith.  Even though she has experienced great deprivation and suffering, she believes that God is always in control. “When you have nothing, don’t do bad things that betray you and your faith. Just be patient and pray. Be hopeful that God will not let you down,” she says.

There are many children like Mattias in Sierra Leone. They have reached the age to start school, and they want to go to school, but they lack the support to make their dreams come true. Some are now youths and young adults with no education. Some of them are exposed to child labor, picking scrap metal from dump sites to sell. Some are involved in inappropriate behaviors as they roam the streets. 

The CRC is reintegrating children from the streets, reuniting them with families and putting them into loving families, providing them with access to education, healthcare, and quality case management. Through faithful partnership and generosity from donors, the hope of many vulnerable children and youth are restored daily through the services provided by the CRC and Mercy Hospital. 

Reported by CRC Case Manager Victor Kanu

Over the course of several weeks, the CRC case managers rescued ten boys from the streets of Bo, with the assistance of Street Child UK.  The boys' families were traced and contacted about being reunited with their children.  During a stay in the CRC's interim care home to stabilize their situations, the boys were prepared for reunion.  The CRC brought the families together for special counseling sessions before they were reunified.  Going forward, the families will continue to be mentored by their CRC case managers, and will receive support for their children's education and health care. 

These are some of the boys' stories.  

(*Names have been changed to protect the identity of these children.)  

Theo*- age not known.
“I have been on the streets of Bo for three months. I was attending school in Junior Secondary School and I was supposed to take the BECE exam. I survived by finding scrap metal and selling it to people in the market. The CRC recommended that I go back home, but I was afraid of my father. Fortunately for me, my father has gone back to [another village] and I can now go back home,” he shared.

Theo wants to go back to school and sit for the BECE exams. He promised to cooperate with the CRC and take his schoolwork seriously.  “We have tried our level best to get Theo out of the streets, but we could not,” his grateful mother told CRC Director Olivia Fonnie and TCM Senior Consultant David Musa.

​Tony*- age 18
“My father is dead, and my mother is alive, but she is deaf.  We stayed with my grandmother in the same house.  I decided to go to the street because I was afraid of my late father. When my father was alive, he would go to the street and bring me back home anytime I ran away. Finally, when my father got sick and taken to the village for medication, I decided to stay on the street.”
 
“Life in the street was very difficult.  To have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a place to sleep was a challenge. After the CRC identified me, I decided to go back home to reunite with my family. At first, I was not too sure of the CRC’s support, but I have realized now that it is beneficial to me and my family. I am currently at home with my beloved family and also helping with domestic work.”
 
Tony told his case manager George Kulanda that he wants to go back to school and retake the BECE exam, so that he can advance to Senior Secondary school. He says he is happier at home than he was on the street and hopes to help other street kids understand that the street is not a good place for them and that they should go home.  
 
John* - age 16 
“I went to the street because my parents got separated, leaving me and the other siblings all alone to cater for ourselves. No caring, no food, no proper shelter; no one was there to take care of us. I was in class six but because there was nobody to take care of my needs, I had to drop out of school and join the boys who are on the street.”
 
“I have been on the street for over five years. Fighting, stealing, doing many filthy things just to survive. I also sell old metals to survive. I am happy that CRC came and rescued me from the street. I am ready to go back home, I want to go back to school to acquire some skills. I want to become a tiler in the future. I thank God and thank the CRC for that.”

Kenny* – age 14  
“I was selling food on the street to help my family when I lost the money I had made.  So I was afraid to go back home because I knew my mummy would flog me. I found some boys who are living in the street and they told me to stay with them,” Kenny said.
 
“The CRC found me and helped me go home to my mother.  It was very difficult for me to go back, but I am really tired of the street life and I want to stay with my mom and go back to school.  I want to become somebody and help other kids living in the street, because it’s really not easy living in the street.” 
 
“I have not seen my child for about two years,” Kenny’s mom told the case managers when they located her.  “I appreciate you very much for finding him. Please bring him home, I want to see him,” she said gratefully.   
 

Musa* – age 14
“My parents are dead. I was staying with my grandmother and we only survived by selling vegetables in the market. Unfortunately, my grandmother got sick and she was not able to provide food for the home. That’s what drove me to the street.  I was the one providing food for myself and my grandmother at home, by picking up scrap metal to sell.”    
 
Musa was in class 5 when he left school in 2017.  He had spent four years on the street.  “Musa wants to go back to school,” his case manager Deborah Kanneh said.  Musa promised that if the CRC helped him return to school, he would stay home and not return to the street. 

Mohamed* - age not known
“I was staying in Moyamba with my grandfather when my mother brought me to Bo.  More than twelve years ago, my father went away to work in a diamond mine to support the family, but he never returned. We were not getting any news whether he was alive or not, and my mother was finding it very difficult to take care of me and support her other kids. I was 9 years old, in class 3 when I went to the street and have been there ever since.  My mother sent me to sell cakes on the street but I lost the money I made, and I was afraid to return home, so I never did.”    

 Ansumana* - age 16 
After Ansumana’s father died, things were really difficult for his mother.  He dropped out of school to help the family make enough money to survive, his case manager Adie Abu-Mattia explained.
 
“I started working for people just to get food to eat, and I made friends with those street boys.  One day I moved to the street and stayed there for over six years.  While staying with those boys in the street, I was going through difficulty, not enough food to eat, no place   to   sleep.  At night they asked me to go out and steal   people’s property and when I got caught, I got a serious beating.  I am so tired of being on the street   I want to learn how to become a driver,” Ansumana explained.   

Alpha* - age 14
“My parents are alive.  My father is a carpenter, and my mom is a petty trader.  I was attending primary school in class 5.  I decided to leave school and told my father that I want to become an electrician.  My father  
agreed that I could go learn a trade.  But only a week later, I dropped out and went to join the boys on the street,” Alpha said.  
 
“When Alpha was on the street, his parents were searching for him, but he was nowhere to be found,” his case manager Amie Nallo explained.  “Life was not really easy for him. He became sick and had no medication and no proper care on the street. So he has already made up his mind to go back home and continue to learn a skill.”    
 
Munda* – age 15 
Munda’s father is a retired soldier and is mother is a petty trader.  He was attending primary school when his father remarried and took him to Freetown to continue his education there.  He took the NPSE exam to promote to Junior Secondary but dropped out of school.  “I was staying with my stepmother and the suffering was too much,” he says.  “I don’t know the whereabouts of my mother.  My friend influenced me to go to the street and stay with him.  I was on the street for more than three years.  When my father went out to look for me, I hid because I didn’t want him to find me.”
 
“But there were a lot of challenges.  At night, the older kids asked me to go and steal people’s property and when I got caught, I was seriously beaten.   No good food, no place to sleep, and when I got, sick no medication for me.  I had already made up my mind to return back home so that I can continue my education.” 

​WORLD SOCIAL WORK DAY

March 16, 2021 is World Social Work Day, the annual celebration of the accomplishments and contributions of global social workers in meeting the unique needs of children, families and communities around the world every day of the year.

This year's theme is "Ubuntu: I Am Because We Are – Strengthening Social Solidarity and Global Connectedness."  Ubuntu originates from the indigenous peoples of South Africa and was popularized across the world by Nelson Mandela. 

Ubuntu: ‘I am because we are’ is a philosophy that resonates with the social work perspective of the interconnectedness of all peoples and their environments. It speaks to the need for global solidarity, and also highlights indigenous knowledge and wisdom.

Please join us in honoring the dedicated and resourceful social workers of the Child Reintegration Centre, who provide care for more than 500 children and youth from extremely vulnerable families. The CRC social work team provides case management, mentoring, and counseling to help families challenged by extreme poverty to become stable and self-sufficient. 

Every day, the CRC team is searching for lost and abandoned children on the streets of Bo so they can be rescued and reintegrated with caring families.  

The CRC's Transition Coaching and Mentoring department is helping orphanages throughout Sierra Leone make the transition from residential to family-based care, so that children can grow up in a a home with parents.