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Winds Japan 2-11-5 Sakurashinmachi, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 154-0015 Japan Telephone: +81-3-5451-5400 Facsimilie: +81-3-5451-5401 www.peace-winds.org meet@peace-winds.org |
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| Top Message from chairperson Summary of 2004 Iraq Mongolia Indonesia East Timor Sierra Leone Liberia Afghanistan Iran Nigata Strengthening Ourselves and Our Civil Society Major Activities in FY2004 Organizational Time Line Organizational Structure Financial Statement PWJ English Top |
Republic
of Sierra Leone The
activities of Peace Winds Japan (PWJ) in FY 2004 can be summarized in terms of
two major projects. Management of the two Liberian refugee camps, which have been
in existence since 2001, and assistance for the rehabilitation of Sierra Leonean
returnees resettled in the Kono District. The population of Liberians living in
the two camps, Bandajuma and Jimmi-Bagbo, totaled 10,513 (as of December 2004).
PWJ has built facilities including homes, schools, roads, and recreation centers
in the camps to provide as much comfort as possible to the residents.Various other forms of support were also given, including water supply, better hygiene and education, and the distribution of everyday supplies. Following Liberia's stabilization, the influx of new refugees has ceased, while those already in camps have started returning to their homeland. PWJ has assisted with the registration and repatriation of the returnees. Although the speed of the repatriation was slower than initially expected, there is an air of cheerfulness in the camps. gThere is no place like homeh has become the favorite phrase for these people. In the Kono District, on the other hand, PWJ continues its activities to facilitate the permanent settlement of the returned villagers. Among those activities, PWJ put most effort into to the drilling of wells and the construction of a gravity-driven water supply system.  A total of
22 wells in nine districts, mainly in the northern part of the country, have been
drilled. The success of the drilling in Kamiendo Village, where the construction
of the well was most arduous, became a particular focus of attention, and helped
to strengthen people's trust in PWJ. As Kamiendo is located far from a water source,
the villagers needed to walk nearly an hour to draw water in the dry season. For
that reason it was said that no one from other villages would come to marry anyone
in Kamiendo. The villagers celebrated with dances of joy when the well was completed.The gravity water supply system can supply water to eight villages in the southern area of Kono, by utilizing the undulation of the land and the setting of a sluice gate at a water source located in higher land. This project had originally been undertaken by another organization, but was interrupted by the worsening of the civil war. PWJ relaunched the project in November 2004, aiming for completion in the latter half of 2005.  In areas
without schools, PWJ provided non-formal education. PWJ also furnished villagers
with construction materials for building schools, as well as teaching materials,
furniture and stationery to enable them to hold their own non-formal classes.
About 1,000 students were able to receive an education. Signs of rehabilitation
can be seen in Koidu, the center of Kono, but more time is still required for
other villages, far away from the center, to recover from the devastation caused
by the long war. In 2005, PWJ will continue to manage the refugee camps that are
expected to be closed in 2006, and to provide assistance to the returnees in the
Kono District, by responding to their changing needs, as Sierra Leone shifts from
a state of emergency to the reconstruction phase. |
