Civil war trauma

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Victor Mondeh-Gbegba’s life was turned upside down in 1998. Tortured by rebel fighters, he sought refuge in a displaced people’s camp near Freetown. For eight years this former primary school teacher has been working alongside Handicap International.

Victor speaks of the trials he has been through:

“I was 32 years old when war broke out. At that time I had been teaching for several years in the Kono region in the East of the country where I grew up. I have always loved working with children. In 1998 I was captured by the rebels. They tortured me, lacerated my body, cut off pieces of my ears... I had to be hospitalised for one month. Today I still suffer from acute back pain as a result of the brutal treatment I received at their hands.  Finally I found my way to a displaced people's camp near to Freetown. There I met Handicap International’s team who were looking for psychosocial facilitators. The team offered me support and a new meaning to my life.”

How do you find the strength to help other victims?

At first it was very difficult. Due to my own personal experience I couldn’t bear the suffering of others. I was unable to get involved. The team psychologist helped me and with her I was able to engage in a real therapeutic process. I found the listening ear and attention I needed. This helped me to release my anger and my desire for revenge. I also learned that the torturers were often victims themselves and had no choice in what they did. In time I was able to offer to others the same kind of psychological support that I myself had received. In the camp we welcomed people of all ages, all traumatised and often amputated. Gradually the activities we organised helped people to tell their stories and accept their past in order to be able to project themselves into the future. This is a crucial process and takes time.

How has your work within Handicap International evolved?

Today I lead a team of around ten psychosocial facilitators. We have opened two new centres for street children. Many children were separated from their parents during the war. Others have been orphaned or are former child soldiers, rejected by their families and their village because of the acts they committed in the past. Today peace has come to Sierra Leone but the war wounds are still visible. With the gradual withdrawal of international aid, we fear that victim support will disappear.

Football, my passion

“Several years ago when the rebels attacked my village I was hit in the leg by a bullet.  To escape I hid in a bush for several hours.
When I arrived at the Freetown hospital it was too late to save my leg and the surgeons had to amputate. It was a huge shock for me, but I was alive.

Handicap International immediately took up my case. Once the stump had been prepared and the measurements taken, the technicians soon made me a prosthesis.  It took me some time to get used to it but the hope of one day being able to play football again gave me wings. I was one of the best defenders on the pitch and I intended to stay that way. Today, thanks to my prosthesis I have been able to recover my dignity. It allows me to work, in a country where jobs are rare, and to live my passion: football.

As part of the orthopaedic technician training programme I was asked if I wanted to test a resin prosthesis. I agreed without a second thought! I was pleased to be able to help. On the one hand I was helping them to improve their technique and on the other I had a more solid and lighter prosthesis. The technicians were fed up of repairing my prosthesis which got damaged in football matches!
Today, with my “new leg”, I am even quicker on my feet and most of all I feel equal to any other man!”