wfn.org | ADRA Provides Relief And Unites Families In Sierra Leone

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

August 13, 1999
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

ADRA Provides Relief And Unites Families As Peace Resumes In 
Sierra Leone

Freetown, Sierra Leone/APD   The Adventist Development and 
Relief Agency (ADRA) is providing relief assistance to more than 
10,000 displaced people and is working to reunite families 
separated by years of fighting in Sierra Leone, according to Prince 
Cummings, ADRA country director. The recent peace agreement 
that was signed in Togo means a drastic increase in needs as relief 
agencies gain access to thousands of Sierra Leoneans who have 
been behind rebel lines for several months.

Many of these people are now relying heavily upon international 
relief agencies to assist in some return to normalcy, says 
Cummings. The present government and the Revolutionary United 
Front (RUF) are now working with relief agencies to facilitate 
humanitarian assistance to all areas within Sierra Leone.

ADRA is assisting nearly 11,000 displaced people at the Waterloo 
Village camp. ADRA is the lead agency at the camp working with the 
United Nations World Food Programme, UNICEF, and other 
humanitarian agencies. More than 10,000 people are receiving 
emergency relief assistance from ADRA. Emergency relief includes 
non-food items such as blankets, sleeping mats, lamps, and eating 
utensils, and daily feeding of malnourished children.

ADRA also operates a daily clinic for all registered people in the 
camp. The project provides for medical assistance for inmates at 
Waterloo Camp and displaced people living in other areas within 
Waterloo. More than 120 families are expected to benefit from a 
program to rehabilitate 100 houses burned by rebels in January. 

Funding for relief efforts in Sierra Leone is provided by ADRA offices 
in Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.

According to reports, the conflict in Sierra Leone has left an 
estimated 10,000 people separated from their families. 
Approximately 3,000 are children who are missing or have been 
abducted, Cummings says. ADRA, in partnership with UNICEF in 
Sierra Leone, is registering separated children and working to trace 
their relatives or parents so they can be reunited. Recently 162 
children were released by their captors. These children are now 
being reunited with their families.

Ten-month old Patricia is one of these children. When both of her 
parents were killed, Patricia's grandmother escaped with her into 
the bush. They spent four days with little food or water, and 
Patricia's grandmother became very ill. When ADRA's tracing staff 
found them, they rushed Patricia's grandmother to the hospital, but 
it was too late and she died en route. Patricia was placed in ADRAs 
interim care home for two weeks while ADRA staff tried to trace her 
family. When no surviving family could be found, Cummings and his 
family adopted Patricia into their home. Cummings two young boys, 
Sylvanus, 7, and Marcus, 4, have welcomed young Patricia into their 
family, and Cummings reports that Patricia is growing well and is 
taking her first steps.

ADRA has been working in Sierra Leone since 1986 and has been 
engaged in school repairs, agriculture support, and rehabilitation of 
hospitals.