1. A Long Way Gone: Sierra Leone Background

2. BINGO
Choose any of the words below and fill them in on your BINGO sheet
Sir Milton Margai
Importing
Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh
Peace
U.S.
Ishmael Beah
Colony
British
Conflict Diamonds
Languages
Traders
UNICEF
Weapons
Power
RUF
Exports
Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Oberlin College
Slaves
Independent
Foday Sankoh
Africa
Rebel
War
Sierra Leone
Clean Diamond Trade Act
Coffee
Child Soldiers
Kimberly Certification
All People’s Congress
United Nations
refugee
Liberia
Blood Diamond

3. BINGO
As we go over the material, cross off each word on your BINGO sheet as they appear in our lesson
The first 2 students to get BINGO get a prize..

4. Interview with Ishmael Beah
What is ONE interesting or important thing Beah has to say?
What are your first impressions of Beah and his story?

5. Sierra Leone Profile Full Name: Republic of Sierra Leone
Population: 5.7 million (2009)
Capital: Freetown
Major Languages: English, Krio, and various African languages.
Major Religions: Islam and Christianity
Monetary Unit: Leone
Major Exports: Diamonds, Rutile (mineral), Cocoa, Coffee, and Fish

6. History of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Name means “Lion Mountains”
1500s-1700s: Traders stopped in Sierra Leone to exchange cloth and metal goods for ivory, timber, and slaves.
*Abolitionists later helped slaves return to Africa in what is now the “Province of Freedom” or Freetown in Sierra Leone. They came to be called Krio.

7. History of Sierra Leone
1808: Sierra Leone became a British crown colony
1951: A constitution is enacted by the British to begin the process of decolonization (or when a colony becomes self-governing)
April 27, 1961: Sierra Leone becomes independent with Sir Milton Margai as its first prime minister.
Sir Milton Margai

8. History of Sierra Leone
1971: Sierra Leone was declared a republic, and Siaka Stevens became executive president.
1978: Sierra Leone became a one-party state with the All People’s Congress as the sole legal party.
1985: Stevens retired and appointed Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh the next president. Momoh’s APC rule was marked by increased abuse of power.
Siaka Stevens

9. Civil War in Sierra Leone
March 1991: The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) began attacking villages in eastern Sierra Leone.
*Goal: To rid the country of the APC government
* Rebel leader: Foday Sankoh
April 1992: The National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) was established, but it proved to be as ineffective as the APC at repelling the RUF.
1995: The RUF held much of the countryside in their control.

10. Civil War in Sierra Leone
: Sierra Leone tries various campaigns to stop the RUF
1996: Signed a peace deal
1997: Peace deal falls apart
1999: The United Nations finally became involved in the effort to disarm the rebels
2001: A second peace agreement was signed that allowed disarmament to begin as the government regained authority in rebel-held areas.
January 2002: President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (elected in 1996) declared the civil war officially over.

11. Recovery in Sierra Leone
50,000 killed; 500,000 displaced
2002: British troops left Sierra Leone
and President Kabbah is reelected.
 Summer 2002: A Sierra Leone Special Court begins holding a series of war crimes trials that lasted until 2006.
2003: Rebel leader Foday Sankoh died.
Many child soldiers, like Ishmael Beah, also had to begin a personal healing process to restore their sense of humanity and to forgive themselves.

12. Ishmael Beah
At 15, UNICEF removed Beah from fighting and helped him begin rehabilitating.
In 1998 he moved to the U.S. and finished high school. He graduated from Oberlin College in 2004.
He is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee and speaks on behalf of children affected by war.
He began the Ishmael Beah Foundation to help former child soldiers.

13. The Diamond Trade in Sierra Leone
During the civil war in Sierra Leone, people who purchased diamonds in the West unknowingly funded the mission of Foday Sankoh and the RUF
These diamonds came to be known as “blood diamonds” or “conflict diamonds”
These diamonds were specifically mined in war zones of Africa to fund the invading army’s efforts.
Liberia would trade weapons and training to Sierra Leone in exchange of their diamonds.

14. Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
Created in 2002 to control the flow blood diamonds.
A Kimberley Certification must be presented by a gems owner before it can leave the country.
This forces the government to keep track of the diamonds they are importing and exporting and their value.

15. Blood Diamonds in the U.S.
Executive Order ( Jan 2001) and (May 2001) specifically ban the importation of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Clean Diamond Trade Act (2003): U.S. recognizes that as a major consumer of diamonds, it has a responsibility to severe its ties to any diamond trade that funds war and conflict.
This was crucial to the success of the KPCS.