Perspectives from Sierra Leone's Youth
Photo Essay
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3750344 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dixon, Dixon Dixon (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 152 |
| Publication date | 2011-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2156-7263 • E-ISSN: 2156-695X |
| Publisher | Indiana University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2979/africonfpeacrevi.1.1.152 |
| OpenAlex | W1501279511 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
Throughout the 1990s, West Africa witnessed protracted, intertwined, and mineral-fueled conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Although Sierra Leone’s civil war was initially a battle for control of the government and the diamond fields, the conflict soon devolved into acts of brutality against civilians perpetrated by all sides. After several collapsed peace accords and a failed Nigerian-led intervention, a fragile peace was finally established in 2000 by the British military (Keen 2005). The United Nations assisted with the rebuilding of the country and oversaw democratic elections in 2002. In Sierra Leone, the tragedy left nearly 50,000 dead and scarred the minds, and often the bodies, of the living (Hirsch 2001). Since the war, several local and international organizations have worked to rehabilitate and assist war-affected individuals. One such organization is iEARN Sierra Leone, which seeks to empower war-affected youth through creative expression while also providing training in practical skills. As part of a 2007 collaborative effort between iEARN and the Art Department of the University of the South (USA), I taught a “Literacy through Photography” (LTP) course at the iEARN youth center in Freetown, Sierra Leone. LTP was developed by Wendy Ewald as a means for facilitating critical thought and self-expression by enabling students to portray, and reflect upon, their own lives and communities in photography and writing (Hyde 2001). LTP is a form of art therapy, an approach to rehabilitation that uses the creative process to enable catharsis and healing, especially in traumatized populations (Eaton 2007). During iEARN’s
Art · Development economics · Economics · Political science · Sierra leone · Sociology · Art Education and Development · Art Therapy and Mental Health · Participatory Visual Research Methods
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |