Liberian women on the mend
2005-11-10 16:06
Monrovia - A woman's hands that once cradled an AK-47 now caress an infant son and hem pants.
Two years since Liberia's 14 years of horror ended, some 20 000 female fighters - a fifth of all ex-combatants - have been demobilised and, like 34-year old Oretha Davis, are now being trained to re-enter society. The country's future may hinge on whether they succeed.
"I lost my head in that war," Davis said, looking at four-month-old Roland nestled in her lap.
"That AK was heavier than my baby. I don't want to carry a gun again," she said, as dozens of other ex-female fighters hunch over sewing machines, training for a new trade. "Now I just want this baby - and to learn."
Davis and dozens of other young women spend their days in classes down a potholed road in a poor neighbourhood of Liberia's battle-shattered capital, Monrovia. They earn $30 a month during training.
Teachers instruct the women in darning, sewing and hemming - hoping they will go on to help mend the torn fabric of Liberian society.
Picking up the pieces
"We've experienced the war. Now we want peace and to put the broken pieces of this society together, to have a better future for our families," said Lucy Page, director of Community Empowerment Programme training the women.
"If Liberia is to be developed, we need to develop the skills of these women who fought for 14 years, to bring them into the mainstream of society," said the 61-year old Liberian. "Society needs women to take part in community affairs. She'll be a better housewife, make better choices for her family, children and community."
But it won't be easy. Page said many of the former fighters suffer from behavioural or psychological problems stemming from the war - and its rampant sexual violence.
While no figures exist, some aid workers believe a large majority of Liberian women suffered rape during a conflict that saw marauding fighters given crack cocaine and told to fend for themselves.
Liberia, founded in 1847 by freed American slaves, was once among Africa's richest countries, with vast fields of gems and valuable groves of hardwood trees and rubber plants. Its descent started with a first coup in 1980, when the rapacious master sergeant Samuel Doe overthrew President William Tolbert.
Warlord Charles Taylor launched an insurgency against Doe in 1989. Elected in 1997 during a lull in fighting, Taylor saw many of his former allies turn against him and launch their own rebellion in 1999.
Survival of the fittest
Civilians, and women in particular, suffered greatly.
Taylor's loyalists killed Davis's husband and forced her to pick up a gun in 1991.
"Some of my friends were dropping from bullets, and they said: 'You die, or you no die,"' said Davis. "They gave me an AK-47 and said: 'When someone is in front of you and they want to kill you, you kill them."'
She fought with the government-allied Alpha militia for over a decade, during which Davis said she killed untold numbers of rebel foes.
Many women were forced by government forces and rebels alike to cook or carry supplies. Others became "bush wives", or sex slaves kept for years by commanders.
Still others willingly joined the ranks of fighters.
Following the lead of her girl friends, Helena Weah, 21, joined Taylor's Dead Crew militia in 2000 as part of its Wives' Unit.
"I had an AK-47 and we killed people, because if someone is coming for me, I'm coming for them," said Weah, whose entire family died in the war. She now lives by herself, but she, too, is learning to sew in hopes of starting a business.
Fighting ended in August 2003 when Taylor fled the capital for exile in Nigeria as rebels launched a blistering attack on his final stronghold.
Putting an end to war
Nearly one-third of the country's three million people were sheltering in relief camps, with others squatting in ruined government buildings. Beaches had become mass graves and latrines.
Two years later, 15 000 United Nations peacekeepers have arranged elections, with a new leader scheduled in early 2006 to replace a transitional government arranged under a peace deal.
Taylor is under indictment by a UN-backed Sierra Leone tribunal for war crimes he's accused of committing by supporting rebels in that neighbouring country.
Originally expecting only about 40 000 fighters to lay down arms, the UN finally disarmed 100 000 ex-combatants, whose reintegration into a viable economy is viewed as crucial to lasting peace. Unemployed youths are prime game for the warlords who have sparked Liberia's ruination.
After fighting that left some 200 000 dead, few Liberians wish a return to war. The women at the skills-training centre say all they want from the eight-month programme is a shot at normal lives. Over 100 have so far completed the course.
"I want to learn to be the best, get my own place, start a business," said Davis, whose toothy smile and smart, flashing eyes belie the brutality for which she's still infamous around Monrovia.
"During the war, we learned nothing, we thought we would die. We're old beyond our age," said the mother of three. "Now I'm happy. I want to learn and help my children."
- AP