BBC NEWS | In pictures: [Sierra Leoneans] Disappointed [Over Progress]

There is much human tragedy in the aftermath of war--in Sierra Leone, the brutality, even on the children, was particularly ferocious.
And in the midst of recovery and reconciliation, there are important steps to take regarding owning responsibility and assisting victims (even if some of those victims are also perpetrators) take a peaceful path now. Helping amputees from the war is a particular opportunity that needs sensitive and deliberate action.

Another underlying goal of the Child Rescue Center is to raise up people of character, recognizing that--as it is everywhere--the children are the future leaders (I'm reminded of the joke about being good to your children because they are the ones who will be picking out your nursing home); we can take that to a larger, and less mercenary, scale and remind ourselves that it is the children of the world who will grow up to be stewards of the world and 1) what legacy of politics and the environment are we leaving them and 2) what are we teaching them about "long-forgotten words, like 'peace', and 'joy', and 'good' ", as the Chris DeBurgh song goes.