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Liberia is the first on a list of four destinations for a large-scale project encompassing child victims of war, with whom Athletes of the World and UNESCO are associated.

The WOCHRRIC Association (Women and Children Rehabilitation Resource Centre) is the first partner in the execution of this program. Its goal is to train ex-combatant, child soldiers, to become future specialized physical and sports educators. After a three year training period they will then in turn be able to teach other educators in the “war-traumatized children” approach. This project is in partnership with the Liberian government.

Historical context

The Republic of Liberia, an ex-colony of the United States of America, is situated between the Ivory Coast, Sierre Leone and Guinea.

• In 1822 Liberia was founded by the American Colonisation Society for the repatriation of liberated black slaves.

• In 1847 Liberia became an independent republic, but qualified suffrage meant the Americo-liberians maintained political power for over a century.

• In 1931 the Society of Nations (SDN) condemned the working conditions forced upon the indigenous people by the Americo-liberians in the lucrative multinational peanut industry. This pressure forced the government to resign.

• In 1960 Liberia entered into 20 years of prosperity.

• On the 12^th of December 1980 the government was overthrown in a coup d'état led by Samuel Doe. Doe's rule, however, quickly turned to a dictatorship.

• 14 years of civil war thus followed, led by warring faction leaders and resulting in terrible massacres and the enlistment of child soldiers. It is estimated that about 250,000 people died and 850,000 became either refugees or internally displaced persons.

• In 2005, elections were held and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected president, the first female head of state in Africa.

Current situation

Liberian society was crippled by the war. Its infrastructure is trying to develop but at this stage is still not able to provide the necessary health care needed for Liberians, NGOs have thus assumed this role. Life expectancy is only 42 years of age, unemployment is at 80% and literacy is at 57%, with a large disparities between men and women.

In terms of security, the country remains very unstable and criminality is widespread. A study done by the UN and Liberian NGOs in 2004 reported that between 60-70% of the civilian population had been subject to rape or other forms of sexual violence, for example some people were stripped and humiliated in public. The majority were women or girls, many of whom were victims of gang rape. This shows the extent of the war crimes committed in Liberia.

 

 

THE PROGRAM ATHLETES DU MONDE 2006                                               

WOCHIRRC Association and Athletes du Monde

Athletes du Monde works with the Liberian association WOCHIRRC (Women and Children Rehabilitation and Resource Centre), who, thanks to funding from UNESCO, has opened a professional education centre in Margibi county (thiry minutes away from Monrovia).

More than 150 people, between the ages of 14 and 62, come every day to take courses in carpentry, mechanics and sewing. The centre is open to both ex-soldiers and victims of the war, in the hope of working towards the social re-insertion of the ex-combatants (opening the centre solely to ex-combatants could be seen as an unfair advantage).

Stage 1 – Recruitment.

For the first two months the objective was to recruit 10 or so people who would make up, after a 3 year training program, the Athletes du Monde team.

This began in early July when each volunteer undertook a physical education course run by Athletes du Monde which included bodily expression, team work and wrestling. Physical tests and interviews allowed us to evaluate the motivation and interest of each person and thereby select 12 to undertake the program from the beginning of september. There were 4 young women and 8 men ranging between 14 and 33 years old and 6 of whom are ex-combatants.

Stage 2 – The program.

From September to March, from the centre in Margibi, Athletes du Monde taught the students how to give a physical education class themselves, and showing them how sport can be used as a psychological tool for social structuring. The 12 students on the program will thus become the future physical education teachers for the other students at the centre.

The first phase of the course was last week. It's main objective is to encourage team spirit, and it does this by working on collective distrust, a consequence of those who have suffered traumatic experiences. For example, the course includes games to understand the other, as well as visits to each person's family and home, and group discussions where everyone presents who they are.

This work will continue into the following weeks, with, importantly, a session of body expression based on one's feelings (reflecting the personal stories of each person).

In addition to the sessions on how to manage a group and physical education, Athletes du Monde will work, over the next few months, on the undertaking of responsibility and commitment, two problems characteristic of a post-conflict context. Essentially, the war has left people living day to day (which presents difficulties when trying to plan meetings and activities) and international aid often leads to a relationship of assistance that makes the people somewhat passive.