World Vision-organized psycho-social camp for 180 children ends in Child Rights March

One hundred and eighty children concluded a three-day psycho-social camp with Child Rights march past procession across Sierra Leone's second Capital City of Bo. The camp was timed at bringing children together and helping them relieve from their trauma during the Ebola epidemic that left 3,589 Sierra Leoneans dead.

 Theme  for this year’s camp was Life in all its fullness.

World Vision in collaboration with Mission for ‘Salone’  (M4SL) conducted the children’s camp targeting 180 children (both boys and girls) across its area development programmes in Bo.

M4SL is a voluntary and non-profit making institution that exists to share God’s love, in a Christian manner and available development resources with the less fortunate and deprived people in Southern Sierra Leone.

Mission for Salone’s major areas of partnership and collaboration with World Vision International include but are not limited to Advocacy, Inter-Faith Ministries, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Channels of Hope, Promoting God’s love for children with disabilities and facilitating Church Councils within the operational ADPs in the Southern and Eastern regions of Sierra Leone.

Ebola is gone but is leaving behind a lot of footprints in the minds of  Sierra Leoneans—women, men and children alike. Children experienced  a nine-month school closures during the hit of the Ebola Epidemic; lost relatives and friends, playing with friends was prohibited, and, research and verifiable statistics  has it that some got pregnant and could not go back to school, and sexual abuse especially of children, increased during and in post-Ebola Sierra Leone.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) mapping on pregnant girls accounts for14,386, with the youngest respondents being 11 years old. UNFPA further reports, ‘’11.3 per cent of respondents who had already delivered  stillborn babies—giving an extremely elevated rate of 113 per 1000 births; almost four times the previous published  rate of 30 in 1000’ (UNFPA, 2015: 19).

‘’This post-Ebola activity is premised on our Spiritual nurture for children. It is an intervention that is seeking to stabilize our children who have had adverse effects of Ebola,’’ says Reverend Thomas Beckley, Faith and Development Coordinator, World Vision Sierra Leone.

This year’s camp for children was also very rich in activities including: teaching of the word of God, singing, watching religious movies that helped nurture their spiritual lives, sports, teaching on Child Protection (CP) issues. CP issues stood tall amongst issues discussed as it couldn’t have come at a better time. The entire country experienced an upsurge of rape early marriage  and teenage pregnancy both during and post-Ebola era.

Children were intentionally grouped in houses, each house representing a color. There was Lilian House, Pink, Mattia house, blue, Grace house, orange and Leslie house, yellow. All houses are named after former and present staff of World Vision. Leslie is  erstwhile National Director of WVSL; Lilian is  currently Interim National Director; Mattia is Operations Director and Grace is Base Manager, WVSL, Bo.

All 180 children marched through the streets of Bo, with placards bearing handwritten advocacy campaign messages like: say no to child rape; say no to child neglect, stop child labour, we are girls not mothers, say no to early marriage, stop child trafficking, etc. This procession by children demonstrated unity and willingness to put a stop to harmful practices affecting their well-being. But it also gives them an authoritative voice  to express their disquiet over  a cocktail of issues affecting them.

'Get all the advice you can  and you will succeed, for without it you will fail.' (Proverbs 15:22), is a bible verse that will continue to linger in the minds of these 180 children, as it was the memory verse they took home.

‘’As kids Club President in my community, I will take my group through what I have gained in the psycho-social camp. The advice  we have had in Child Protection and rights; responsibilities of a child; the word of God etc. have  been very good. It is my responsibility as a child to teach my colleagues in school, brothers and sisters at home and my friends,’’ says 17-year old Issa.

‘’I have enjoyed all the activities during the camp. I will take all that I have been taught in good faith. When I return to my community, I will engage my Kids Club members in my community— including our President, on all what I have learned during the three-day psycho-social camp. Even before this camp, World Vision has been good to us. They have built schools, constructed water wells, given us books and bags,’’ says 15 –year-old Bintu from Tikonko, representing Leslie house.

Aminata, 16 from Bagbo ADP says, ‘’I learnt a lot during the three-day psycho-social camp. They taught us how to respect and honor our parents, Child protection, among many other things. Now that  I know how to advocate for my right. I will use all that I have learnt in this camp to correct some of the bad things happening in my community—especially on abuse of children. I do believe, that if I put all that I have learnt into practice, I won’t go astray.

''I have never witnessed a camp activity in which the children do not want to go back home after the final session, but were asking for an extension. This is how unique this year’s camp was,’’ reflects Thomas Beckley (on the corridors, chatting with a Communications colleague).