Amputee employment scheme launched

An employment scheme for amputees in Freetown, launched on Monday, has already resulted in the recruitment of six men, each with at least one limb missing, as security guards for private companies. Launched by the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) with support from the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), the scheme involves registering the amputees and recording such information as their prior experience, qualifications, their disability and the type of work they prefer. The information is then sent to potential employers who select those they wish to interview. "The response from the government and the business community has been very positive," Steen Wetlesen, Head of the IFRC Delegation in Freetown, told IRIN. "Amputees can get jobs as security guards, teachers, meter readers, guards and gatekeepers and in other areas," he added. Steen said that obtaining employment helped the reconciliation process as it was easier for amputees to forgive and forget if they had a job. He said the six who had already found work were very happy to be employed. "They see themselves as the icebreakers for all the other amputees," he said, adding that 200 amputees in Freetown had registered for work during the past three weeks. The possibility of future employment was also encouraging amputees to register for prosthetic treatment as some felt that it boosted their job prospects, Steen said. At the Murray Town Limb Fitting Centre in Western Freetown Handicap International (HI) has fitted more than 80 limbs since April 1999. The centre houses more than 150 amputees, including some ex-combatants who had been through Sierra Leone's Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process. Amputees spend on average 3-4 months in the centre, Kombah Pessima, HI's Programme Director in Sierra Leone, told IRIN. Most of the time is spent preparing the stump for prosthesis, Pessima said, and operations are often required. Another two weeks is spent training recipients in the use of artificial limbs. Psychological counselling is also provided when needed, Pessima said. Both arms and legs are made at the centre's orthopaedic workshop, where up to 12 limbs can be produced per week. This includes "aesthetic prosthetics", where limbs look normal, and "functional prosthetics" were amputees are given the use of aids such as hooks to enable them to perform basic tasks, Pessima said. Hundreds of Freetown residents - and many more in the rest of the country - lost limbs during the RUF's occupation of the capital in January 1999 and, to a lesser extent, in February 1998 when retreating AFRC/RUF fighters mutilated people as ECOMOG took Freetown. In the countryside, the first such cases were recorded in 1992, according to Handicap International.