OPERATION RISE – FINAL PHASE
The Peace Project’s most extraordinary goal for 2011 was to get over 10,000 of Sierra Leone’s amputees, war victims and children back on their feet by providing crutches and other mobility devices on World Peace Day, September 21, 2011, in an effort we called Operation Rise.
This effort was conceived because Sierra Leone is home to over 20% of the world’s amputees plus tens of thousands polio victims – a sobering reminder of their recent 10+ year Civil War. One of the first steps towards sustainable peace is the ability to provide for oneself and personal mobility is key in that. As importantly, we believed that an effort of this size (which we implemented by developing an incredible network of NGOs including UNICEF, local advocacy groups, medical professionals, war victims and concerned citizens) would engage and inspire people worldwide to rise up together to create a better world.
We have an equally ambitious agenda for 2012 and beyond, but first we must return to Sierra Leone in March for the final phase of Operation Rise. During this phase, we aim to ensure that every person that needs a pair of crutches in Sierra Leone (no matter where) receives them.
The cost of this effort is $20,000:
Hospitals & Rehabilitation Centers – $3,000
Distribution to all Hospitals and Rehabilitation Facilities throughout Sierra Leone, thereby ensuring that free crutches are available to those in need in the future.
Funded by: Eliza Wyatt, UK
Bo and Surrounding Chiefdoms – $2,000
Bo is the second largest city in Sierra Leone and the largest city in the Southern Province. Bo is home to one of the six amputee soccer teams that were created in the aftermath of the civil war.
Funded by: A coalition of marketing and communications professionals.
Freetown – $1,000
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. During the 10 year civil war, rebels forces conducted a widespread campaign of terror against the civilian population known as "Operation No Living Thing."
Funded by: The Waters Foundation, Harris D. Bass Trustee
Freetown Nighttime Mission – $1,000
The Peace Project and the Amputee Soccer Team will lead a nighttime mission, distributing crutches to Sierra Leone's most disenfranchised disabled people – many who are visible only at night on the streets of Freetown.
Funded by: Respond Academy, UK
Hastings – $500
Hastings is a suburb of Freetown, the nation's capital. Hastings in Sierra Leone includes an area known as Amputee Village which is home to dozens of people either suffering from polio or who were forcibly amputated during the civil war.
Funded by: Respond Academy, UK
Kabala – $500
Kabala is one of the main cities in the north and home to one of the major amputee resettlement camps. Although it’s temperate climate makes it attractive to foreign visitors, the road to Kabala remains unpaved making it difficult for aid to reach this area.
Funded by: Chicago natives who have relocated to Los Angeles and dubbed themselves the "Chicago Mafia.”
Kailahun – $2,000
The civil war began in Kailahun on 23 March 1991 in this eastern-most region of Sierra Leone. Many of the war-affected amputees in Kailahun have received little in the way of medical and financial support and are often forced to beg on the streets for money to feed themselves and their families.
Funded by: The Whole 9's Valentine's Affair.
Kambia – $1,000
Kambia is located in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone on the border with Guinea. In the early phase of the civil war, this border area functioned as host for a large number of internally displaced people and as a transit zone for refuges.
Kenema – $1,500
Kenema is the third largest city in Sierra Leone. Kenema is an area rich in diamonds and an estimated 5,000 child soldiers were forced or volunteered to join various armed factions and amputate the arms and legs of men, women and children.
Kono – $2,500
Kono is situated in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. This area of Sierra Leone is home to the country’s biggest diamond minds and was at the epicenter of the civil war.
Lungi – $500
Lungi is a coastal town in the Port Loko district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Due to it’s inaccessibility, disabled people in largely ignored.
Funded by: The Peace Family (a collection of families sponsoring children through The Peace Project)
Makeni and surrounding Chiefdoms – $2,500
Makeni is the fourth largest city in Sierra Leone and the economic center of the Northern Province. An amputee, Mohamed, who is a student in Makeni says that "the challenges we face as amputees are huge. Given the right opportunities we can share our voices so others around the world can hear us and know our plight.
Port Loko – $1,000
Port Loko lies on the main highway linking the country's capital Freetown to the Sierra Leone border with Guinea. The civil war forced almost half of the country's 5 million people to flee their homes to take refuge in neighboring Guinea and Liberia.
