Serving Sierra Leone: DR. DEEN’S MISSION TO REBUILD A NATION
Sixty years ago, one of the preeminent educational systems in the world was centered on the west coast of Africa, in the nation of Sierra Leone. Its chief university, the University of Sierra Leone, was dubbed the “Athens of West Africa.” In the intervening years since the nation gained independence from Great Britain, though, education fell on hard times: government neglect, an erosion of standards, and declining enrollment. Then, from 1991 to 2002, civil war devastated the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Dr. Archie Deen, the Upper School’s social sciences teacher and a native of Sierra Leone, lived in London at the time of the Sierra Leone civil war and monitored the unfolding conflict with horror. “I was an active campaigner for peace in Sierra Leone and for awareness of the war,” Dr. Deen said,
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| ministrāre • SPRING 2019
showing a reply from the Queen to a letter campaign he led. “I wrote letters to 10 Downing Street [official residence of the British prime minister] and raised funds for war relief for children.” Through the “Walk for Sierra Leone,” a twelve-mile walk through Central London, Archie and his supporters were able to raise thousands of pounds for Catholic Relief Services and the Sisters of Charity, both working in Sierra Leone. In the intervening years since the end of the war and the reestablishment of a democratic government, Sierra Leone has wrestled to rebuild itself. Children conscripted as soldiers into rebel armies struggle with psychological trauma. The country faces high unemployment, especially among young people. Fifty-three percent of its citizens live in poverty.
