page 19
international legal partnerships
ILP: Defence for Children International, Sierra Leone
CASSIE STEFANNUCI, SUBBAN
JAMA, and ANEESHA LEWIS
Contributors
Project: We worked for an NGO called
Defence for Children International (DCI) in
Freetown, Sierra Leone. Our area of focus was
juvenile justice and we were tasked with producing reports relating to children in conflict
with the law, child labour and female empowerment. While on our fellowship, we visited the
various communities DCI worked with and participated in training sessions of children as well
as local chiefs who would work as advocates
and liaisons between the community and DCI.
We also visited courts to track whether accused
juvenile offenders had legal representation, and
canvassed police stations to ensure that children were not being unnecessarily detained.
Highlight: The Day of the African Child celebrations in which all three of us got to visit
three different communities in Freetown with
dozens of young women that DCI had selected
as part of the Girl Power Programme. While
it was an arduous and challenging experience,
it was incredible to see so many young girls
excited to act as representatives of their communities, going door-to-door cheering and
chanting messages of girl empowerment and
promoting education and access to clean water
over child labour and early marriage. In true
Sierra Leonean fashion, to wrap the day up, the
girls taught us the moves to the latest Azonto
SUBBAN JAMA, CASSIE STEFANNUCI AND ANEESHA LEWIS IN SIERRA LEONE
tunes and we bonded over delicious Sierra Leonean dishes, all while practicing our broken
Krio (language).
Challenge: A challenge was realizing that
even though English is the official language of
Sierra Leone, not many people actually speak or
understand the language. On the plus side, we
got to work on our Krio skills.
Craziest moment(s): A memorable moment
was getting caught in a torrential downpour
while attempting to get home from ????B??Y ? ?YH ??Y?HZ[?X] \?H ?]?\? ??] ??\??????? X??[ K H? H?\?X[ H ?\?\??Yx?&\??\ Y?? ???H ?\?\? H??K?\??YH[?[?Y\?H ?[?B??YZ?[?[?H [?? H\??\?[?[?\?[???Z[???\? ?\?H ^H ?]??[Y\??\?[??^\?[?] [\ Y ? ?YH Y?^H\ ??[]\?\??^H ?[??HZ?H ??Y? H?[??H[?B????[??H ?YH\??[? H\?[??\? ???????[\?[? ?]\? ?Z?\?B??\?\??Yx?&\??Y??B?\?\??Yx?&\? ?? ][??? ^??\???\?\?H??[?YX[?[?]?\??] H ?\???\ ?\?K??K??H?]\?X?BB?? Y\?^H H???\? MH H ? L??