During a vicious civil war that lasted ten years, one of the standard punishments for being on the “wrong” side was the amputation of one or more limbs. Even young children suffered the same fate as a warning to their families. Part of the result of this conflict was thousands of boys and men feeling ashamed and isolated, unable to provide for their families or attend school.
Then a small group of people, inspired by seeing paralympic sports on television, decided to try and organise their own football game. The idea took off like wildfire. Although most players only had old, wooden crutches at first, just getting out of the house to join others like themselves to kick a ball around the beach led to huge improvements in the men’s mental and physical well-being.
“These items made a significant difference in our ability to overcome challenges.” NGO regional coordinator
The men started to advocate for themselves and do fundraising for prosthetics, wheelchairs and better crutches not only for themselves but also for other handicapped people in the community. This movement spread throughout Sierra Leone over the next several years, with amputee football players becoming local heroes.
With their work continuing to grow and now including adult literacy and vocational training programmes, they reached out to Crossroads for assistance.
It was a real privilege to do so and we are delighted to see this shipment lead to establishment of a new school library, computer training centres, and a gymnasium as well as providing mobility aids for more people to join sporting and other activities.
Broad smiles greet the arrival of goods including items ranging from laptop computers and school textbooks to sports boots and clothing.
Some members of an amputees’ soccer team take a break from loading the container contents into their local warehouse before further distribution.
Mohamad Kamara is the captain of the Freetown team. He expressed gratitude for the gym equipment in the shipment: the various machines help him and his team stay in good condition during the rainy season.
A wheelchair soccer game in progress. Crossroads’ shipment included wheelchairs and crutches that are benefitting amputee sports clubs in four districts of the country.
