Return to Kailahun
Caroline Thomas
The district of Kailahun is where Sierra Leone’s civil war began. In 1991, rebels crossed over from Liberia and began their attacks on villages. These attacks steadily spread throughout the region as rebels killed, mutilated, raped - and recruited. Thousands of people fled the violence, running into the bush, making their way across the border to Guinea, to refugee camps in Liberia and finally back to Sierra Leone, often ending up in the capital, Freetown. The war ended in 2002 but many people remain in Freetown, separated from their villages, their families and the lives they once knew. Most live in poverty in the eastern part of the city, making a living through petty trading and sleeping in overcrowded houses. The people from Kailahun want to return home but find themselves trapped. Transport costs are high and their old homes have probably been destroyed. Most would return to farming but need seeds, equipment and provisions to survive until harvest time. Faced with these obstacles many are in limbo: living an urban, unfamiliar existence that they hope is temporary. Recently, however, some of the displaced have found a way to change their circumstances. With the help of development organisations they have been given funds and support to make the journey back to Kailahun.
This process also represents a chance for the regeneration of the area. Once a major producer of coffee, cocoa, cassava and palm oil, Kailahun is now known as ‘the forgotten district’. By the end of the war many villages were completely deserted, the once fertile farmland had been overrun by jungle and few buildings remained. This former battleground has made a slow recovery from the devastation. But as people return, land is cultivated and seeds are planted. Families reconnect and homes are built on the ruins of the old. Children - who have never known this land – bring new life. Perhaps Kailahun will never go back to how it used to be. Evidence of the war is plainly visible - in bullet holes, graffiti and the charred remains of buildings. It is also present in Kailahun’s ex-combatants who, following a process of disarmament and reintegration, now live alongside those who were terrorised. But for those who have finally returned there is a sense that life can begin again. They are no longer running and no longer living a life in exile. Kailahun is familiar and it is where people belong but it is also layered with painful memories and reminders of those who didn’t survive. The people in this book are beginning again in old territory. They are rethinking their idea of home. Caroline Thomas
Left: Pendembu Road, Kailahun Right: Signpost in Kailahun
Right: Girl in Kailahun Far Right: Village of Bombohun
Above: Alhaji Dauda Sheriff, Mandopohlun Left: Smoke from fields being burned and cultivated
Above: Classroom in Folu Right: Bullet holes in the mosque in Potoru
Above: Shelter near Jemgbellu Right: Village of Mandopohlun
Above: Amadu Jalloh in his photo studio, Kailahun
Above: Arabic teaching boards, Mandopohlun
Right Top & Bottom: Derelict house, Kailahun
Far Right: Kailahun
Above: Alhaji Kanye, Mandopohlun Left: Boy playing in Bombohun
Above: Animals in Mandopohlun Left: Chief of Ngegebma at a community meeting
Right Top & Bottom: Graffiti written by rebels on Foday Sankoh’s house, Ngiehun
Left: The house in which rebel leader Foday Sankoh lived during the war, Ngiehun
Above: The path between Sengema and Jemgbellu Right: Rain in Kenewa
Above: Tenneh Musa with a fishing net, Jenneh Left: Inland valley swamp, which has been cultivated for rice production, Mandopohlun
Above: Mama Torma outside her new home, Mandopohlun
Right Top: Washing in Mandopohlun Right Bottom: Mama Torma walks on the remains of her old home, Mandopohlun
Left: Woman working near Sengema Right: Land being prepared for cultivation, Jenneh
Above: Graffiti in Mandopohlun Right: Tamba Tengbeh, Chief of Makor
Above: Children in Mandopohlun
Š Caroline Thomas