Background and Significance:  

The civil war started as a small incursion in 1991 by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) from neighboring Liberia and grew into a brutal campaign of terror against civilians that cost an estimated 50,000 lives.  At its height, the war forced almost half of the country's 4.5 million people to flee their homes. According to Save the Children (SCF), women and children were the most vulnerable and constituted more than 60 percent IDPs. 

 Thousands of these women and children were subjected to widespread and systematic sexual violence during the conflict in Sierra Leone (Human Rights Watch, 2003). These crimes of sexual violence were generally characterized by extraordinary brutality and frequently preceded or followed by other egregious human rights abuses against the victims, their families, and their community.

The signing of a ceasefire agreement in Abuja in November 2000, and the completion of disarmament in January 2002, marked the official end of the civil war. While the stability in Sierra Leone has improved, several causes for concern remain. Given the compounding problems of unemployment, poor education and health care, and crushing poverty in Sierra Leone, opportunities to enhance the reintegration of amputees and other IDPs remain inadequate.

Objectives:

FPU focuses mainly on giving back hope to the displaced amputees at the Murray Town Amputee Camp, where about 700

amputees with their families live.

The direct beneficiaries of this project will be the amputees and their families, who were exposed to the horrors and devastation of a senseless rebel war that took away their ability to function as normal people .Many are traumatized.Some are widows who carry the brunt of their families; others are orphans with no one to look up to.Until they get help, their lives remain very fragile. 

FPU-Georgia embarked on this project since September, 2003 to collect used clothing, prostheses and other domestic items to be distributed to the men, women and children at the amputee center.

Funding and Management:

FPU manages and funds the project with the help of generous contributions of its members and the Georgia community. It is coordinated from our Atlanta office through our official representative, Mr. Sulaiman A. Bah,  in in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Time Frame:

This project will continue through December, 2004.

Results:

Our first shipment of clothing, estimated at $6000, arrived in Freetown on January 10, 2004. The local FPU establishment in Freetown, together with Mr. Sulaiman A. Bah, undertook the responsibility of transporting, distributing the items to the Murray Town Amputee centre. The next shipment is scheduled for December, 2004.

Future Commitment:

FPU-Georgia intends to expand it's amputee project by:

• Seeking material and humanitarian support from other non-profit agencies like Handicap International (HI), World Rehabilitation Funds, (WRF), the International Limb Project and other amputee support centers in the US and around the world.

• Forming strategic alliances with churches, mosques and other charitable organizations that support war victims around the world.

• Seeking opportunity from specific non-profit amputee centers to provide the Murray Town Center amputees with orthopedic and prosthetic support in the form of artificial limbs.

Donation:

FPU welcomes donations in the form of cash or items to make this project a success. Please help to make a difference in the lives of these amputees and their families. All donations will be tax-deductible.

For further information on this project, please contact:

FPU-Georgia

8390 Roswell Road, Suite H

Roswell, GA 30350

Email: info@fpugeorgia.org

Phone: 404-299-1385

For credit card donation online to FPU, please go to our secure site (hyperlink to site).

 Click here to learn more about the amputees in Murray Town, Freetown, Sierra Leone.