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Sierra Leone's amputees: A refugee in Chicago
BY MATT RUSLING, MEDILL NEWS SERVICE After a decade long war, many of Sierra Leone's war wounded still slog through life, depending on handouts for survival. These two companion stories contrast the life of one amputee who has made it to the U.S. with the lives of his counterparts - disabled people who are left struggling for survival in his native Sierra Leone. Photos by Matt Rusling and Florent Blanc On a basketball court in Rogers Park on the North side of Chicago, Victor Saidu, 32, looks up and takes a shot. Whoosh! Nothing but net. On any court in urban America, that would not elicit even a yawn - except that Saidu is shooting with two stubs where his hands used to be. Saidu is a victim of the civil war in Sierra Leone, which was known for its particular brand of barbarity, perpetrated by the Revolutionary United Front, a rebel group that used amputation as a means to terrorize the public. The conflict, which ended in 2002, displaced two million people, or one third of the population. (More)Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) Filed under: Africa, Profiles, Sierra Leone
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