Ex-Combatants Employed through YMCA Skills Development

By Gil Harper
“I got no benefit from being in the war for almost 14 years. The war took away my development,” said Sheriff Fofie, who now has his own business through the Liberia YMCA’s involvement in the country’s post-war disarmament, demobilisation, rehabilitation and reintegration programme.

This promising entrepreneur has just won the contract to set up the structure to host a Y-Echo radio station at the Liberia headquarters in Monrovia, the capital city.

The YMCA began its skills training for ex-combatants in 2004, following nationwide disarmament and demobilisation. The intermittent civil war from 1989-2003 wreaked havoc on the nation and denied a generation of youth their adolescence, schooling, family and educational development. Sheriff was one of the first batch of the 1 000 ex-combatants to be trained by the YMCA in vocational and technical areas.

Funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the skills training involved masonry, auto mechanics, plumbing, carpentry, tailoring and metal working.

As the war had denied a whole generation of youth access to education, basic literacy and health education components complemented the skills training. Psycho-social counselling was an integral part of the training, as youth were traumatised by the war experiences: as victims, perpetrators or both.

From a Muslim family, Sheriff had completed Koran school in his home county, Lofa, before he enrolled in mainstream school in Monrovia. In 1990, his family was ambushed and he was captured by rebels. The 16 year-old, in grade three, was placed in the Small Boys Unit (SBU) and given a gun. “The commander gave us drugs to make us brave and active,” he said, adding that at the beginning he felt “bad and scared but then I just stopped thinking and feeling.”

In 1997, Sheriff disarmed but said, “When the war came back in 1999, I knew the forces were coming and there would be trouble so I had to join.” He joined the government militia, which comprised erstwhile rebels from forces such as NPFL.

After the final disarmament, Sheriff enrolled in the YMCA’s skills training. He graduated from this nine-month programme with skills and certification in carpentry and general construction.

He then set up a business with some other graduates in 2005, inviting others who had gone through similar training at the Monrovia Vocational Training Institute. The original team of 8 has now expanded and there are 16 people working with Sheriff.

“As part of skills and entrepreneur development, we trained the second and then third-phase ex-combatants through on-the-job skills training with successful graduates from the first phase of the skills training,” said Edward E Gboe, National General Secretary of the Liberia YMCA.

Sheriff trained 16 second-phase ex-combatants from 2006-7 and a further 12 from 2008-9. “I was proud to be chosen to be their trainer. I was also paid for this. From these people, eight of them have joined my team,” said Sheriff.

Momo Dunor, an ex-combatant on Sheriff’s team since 2006, said that he had practiced carpentry before, during and after the war, but the YMCA skills training “gave me an opportunity to advance my skills”. He was one of the people Sheriff trained as part of the second-phase of training.

He said the psycho-social counselling was an important aspect of the YMCA training programme. “When we were in the war we believed what we were doing was right. Through the counselling we were able to put all that happened behind us.”

When Sheriff was captured during the war, his commander told him he could not continue to use his given name as it would expose him as a Muslim. This would increase his chances of being killed as ethnic infighting among rival Muslim and Christian groups was common throughout the civil war, which turned tribes, neighbours and brothers against each other.

He was given the name Jeremiah Gray, and to this day this is his legal identification name as he had to use this in the disarmament and subsequent rehabilitation processes. All business is conducted under this name, but Sheriff uses his Muslim name freely again and is known by everyone as Sheriff.

“The YMCA is very open to people of other religions. We are all brothers – Christian and Muslim,” he said.

Sheriff won the contract to construct the radio station at the YMCA head offices in a fair bid, based on quotation prices. Work began at the beginning of the year and is scheduled to be complete by year end.

The Liberia YMCA ended its final phase of training for ex-combatants in May this year. Focusing on entrepreneurship skills, this training was aimed at ex-combatants who had completed the skills and apprenticeship training. In particular, the content was geared towards small business management, including establishing and maintaining a small business.

Sheriff has come a long way since his days as a vulnerable and manipulated young man with a gun in hand and mind clouded by drugs. 

“I wanted to finish school but the war changed that. The YMCA training gave me the chance for a better future. I have a trade and four children I am supporting. My wife learnt tailoring through the YMCA and she also now has her own business.”

“The YMCA must continue its work with the youth in Liberia, and support us ex-combatants. Although we are no longer ‘ex-combatants’. We now see ourselves as beneficiaries.”

Gil Harper is the Executive Secretary of Communications for the Africa Alliance of YMCAs.

This article originally appeared in Siyahamba (no. 16), newsletter of the AfricaAlliance of YMCA.