1. Sierra Leone

2. Welcome to Sierra Leone!
Sierra Leone is located on the Horn of Africa, the part of Africa that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean
5.7 million people live there
They speak English, Krio (a version of English), and various African languages
Sierra Leone has many natural resources including various minerals, gold and diamonds

3. Beginnings of War
Because of many rich natural resources, the government of Sierra Leone became corrupt
They would not share the wealth of the country with the people
This lead to the people being angry at the government
Some people formed a rebel army called the Revolutionary United Front (or RUF) to fight the government and gain control of the resources for the people

4. The RUF attacked the government, starting a civil war that would last 11 years
The government could not stand up to the RUF and the RUF took control over the resources of Sierra Leone
But instead of giving money back to the people like the RUF promised, the RUF kept all the money from the resources for itself

5. Turning on the People
The RUF began to attack villages and abduct people to force them to fight in the RUF against the government
Many people were killed, and many children were separated from their families
People left their homes to try and find safety elsewhere

6. Child Soldiers
The RUF began to kidnap children to use them as soldiers in the war
They would teach the children they kidnapped how to do nothing but fight and kill
As many as 10,000 children became soldiers

7. United Nations
The United Nations (UN), an international council, saw that the RUF was committing many crimes against the people of Sierra Leone
They began to send UN soldiers to put an end to the RUF

8. War Over
In 2002, after 11 years of fighting, the UN declared the war officially over
Over half of the people in the country had been forced to leave their homes
200,000 people had died

9. Rebuilding
Sierra Leone and the UN are working hard to rebuild the country
One of the hardest things to do is to help the children who were soldiers
Many children saw horrible things in the war
In order to help, Sierra Leone has worked to build libraries and schools

10. E-luminate This is where YOU come in!
Through E-luminate, we will work to provide resources for the children of Sierra Leone who are still working to recover from the war
By providing different media materials, we will help the children have a better education and a brighter future

11. Thank you!