We will no doubt come across many amputees while meeting with our sponsored children.
- 20% of the entire world's population of amputees lives in Sierra Leone… a country the size of North Carolina.
- 25,000 people suffered brutal amputations during the 10-year war… and of those, approx. 10,000 managed to survive
- After the war…
- The rebels were paid a couple hundred bucks to turn in their guns and given some training for a basic trade. (Unfortunately there are no jobs for them to utilize their new skills.)
- The Amputees, however, were given no significant assistance. Many have gathered in camps near Freetown but continue to live with little to no aid.
We will spend time with Greatest Goal Ministries… a Seattle based organization that focuses on working with those amputees (and has even created an amputee football (soccer) league).
We will also visit a church in Kono (the diamond district in south-east SL where the war began). Here we will meet with amputees who are living and praying alongside former RUF (rebels).
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