| Koidu, Kono May 2002- Jan 2003 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Koidu, May 2002 |
| For 12 months of the my contract in Sierra Leone, I worked in Kono District. Kono is renowned for its wealth in diamonds. The years preceding the war, people looked at it as special place in Sierra Leone. It was a boom town. There were huge houses, a thriving market area, and hopping night life. A lot of people told me that few Konos went to school during the boom years because people thought that they could get money quicker through mining than by spending so much time in school for government jobs that weren't necessarily paying. |
| Koidu, Jan. 2003. Photo by Brad Arsenault |
| Because of its diamond wealth Kono District was often at the center campaigns and atrocities committed by the RUF rebels, the Civil Defense Force (Kamajors), the SL Army, and West African (ECOMOG) Peace Keepers. Koidu town, the district capital, changed hands many times throughout the war. Most of the time, it was controlled by RUF commanders who held it using terror tactics. They tended to use the equivalent of slave labor to extract the diamonds -- "You dig or we cut off your hand or kill you. Your choice". The government used other tactics to get the diamonds. At one point they hired South African mercenaries to swoop in on gunships and control the city. The mercenaries were rewarded the rights to mine two kimberlite diamond pipes which the state gets revenue through taxes. The ECOMOG Peace Keepers also held the town at one point. Unfortunately their efforts are more remembered for their plundering and looting. By the end of the war Koidu was devastated. One of the many RUF campaigns was to burn down the all the houses in the town. The place was basically gutted by the time the UN force lead by the Pakistani Battalion (PAK BAT) entered the city in late 2001. IRC followed the PAK BAT and started establishing programs. Some of my colleagues who first arrived in Kono in Jan. 2002 told me that basically the only people living in the burnt out shells within Koidu were young men, mostly ex-rebels. There were very few children and women (unless they were the captives). The first time I visited the Koidu was in May 2002. At that point my colleagues were telling me how much the place had changed. I, however, was astounded by the devastation and the air of desperation. (This feeling is repeated by everybody new who comes to Koidu ..... to this day) Even when I moved there by October, things were slightly better but most houses were still roofless and people were doing what they could to get by. There was an obvious housing shortage. Families would double up in one room of the burnt out home using plastic sheeting or anything they could salvage as roofing Throughout my time there, Koidu was constantly changing. As people felt the situation was safer and improving, more and more people started to return from Guinea or refuge areas of Sierra Leone. You could go away for few days and by the time you returned more kids would be running around, more homes were renovated, and more women were selling boiled sweet potatos and grilled corn. You shuddered that the number of crazy motorcycle-taxis you try to avoid doubled as did rickety cars you needed to pass. There was even a couple of restaurants that would pop up and hostels to stay in. By my last month we even had mobile phone service....Exciting! |
| Girl in Door, Koidu Nov. 2002 |
| Boys hanging out Across form Office, Koidu Nov. 2002 |
| Old Woman Across from Office, Koidu Nov. 2002 |
| Coping, Koidu Nov. 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Old Woman, Koidu Nov. 2002 |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |