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From Ritual to Recovery: Spirituality As a Tool for Recovery Among Women Recovering from War-Related Trauma in Sierra Leone.”

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From Ritual to Recovery: Spirituality As a Tool for Recovery Among Women Recovering from War-Related Trauma in Sierra Leone.” “From Ritual to Recovery: Spirituality as a Tool for Recovery Among Women Recovering From War-Related Trauma in Sierra Leone.” B.A. August 2000, University of Maryland by Sariane Leigh A Thesis submitted to: The Faculty of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts May 17, 2009 Thesis directed by Daniel Moshenberg Associate Professor of English and Director of Women’s Studies © Copyright 2009 by Sariane Leigh All rights reserved ii Dedication The author wishes to dedicate this thesis to: The Dead My grandmother, Lee Pearl Cooper, you resolved that you would never let a traumatic experience alter your spirit for success My mother Heysette E. Leigh, you often fell off the balance beam of trauma, coping and healing but always pulled yourself back up for a stunning finish. My cousin Deborah Renee Turner, you overcame the odds through unconditional love My father, Dr. Johnnie S. Leigh, your love and care as a father was short-lived but your commitment to Sierra Leone and your legacy will solidify your footprint in this world The Living My siblings, Yahya-Johne, your patience, strength and discipline is unmatched Amandae, your generosity and humility continues to ground me and reminds me of my own humanity Anita, my baby and sister, you have taught me the pain and joys of learning to cope and survive on your own iii Acknowledgment The author wishes to acknowledge the encouragement, supportive guidance, limitless vision and honesty of Professor Dan Moshenberg. Dr. Nemata Blyden whose poise and intellect serves as a role model for the African Women’s movement in documenting history about the Diaspora The Sierra Leone Youth Empowerment Organization and the strong determined women of the 50/50 organization have always accommodated my requests for information about Sierra Leonean women. The unwavering support by my employers at The George Washington University for offering opportunities me to flourish economically, academically and professionally. Dr. Syreeta James, PhD of Howard University for her persistence, commitment and intellectual stimulation, without whom, I may have given up before I even began. iv Abstract of Thesis During the Sierra Leonean civil war, women’s bodies were repeatedly used as a weapon to terrorize and oppress civilian communities. Attempting to recover from trauma in Sierra Leone is a gendered, collective and spiritual experience as many women were violated within the same time period by familiar community members. While academic research and humanitarian aid has brought attention to the traditional culture recovery techniques, my thesis considers the gendered spiritual recovery methods women use during and after conflict. The research highlights the commonly used techniques, distinct modes of spiritual expressions, activities, and social outlets employed by Sierra Leonean women in order to initiate healing. This thesis will argue that women in Sierra Leone are on the pathway to transformational healing from war- related violence by utilizing three distinct modes for spiritually induced recovery; ritual, social navigation, and personal power. The data is based on interviews with women who lived in Sierra Leone during the war and excerpts from war narratives. We learn that even in post-conflict women’s spiritual activities are vital to their resiliency and capacity to regain normalcy in their lives. The research establishes a foundation and a gendered reference point for Sierra Leone’s spiritual recovery and the tools that women use to reclaim their identity during and after the impact of war related trauma. v Table of Contents Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................. iv Abstract ............................................................................................................................... v Table of contents ................................................................................................................ vi Illustration: map of Sierra Leone ...................................................................................... vii Personal background ........................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3 Data collection and selecting interviewees ........................................................................ 9 Documenting and naming spirituality as recovery ........................................................... 14 Cleavages of war and spirituality ...................................................................................... 18 Spiritual expression during times of normalcy ................................................................. 26 Postcolonial spiritual practice and historical spirituality .................................................. 29 The analysis of coping and healing ................................................................................... 37 Transformation .................................................................................................................. 40 Spiritual transformation through ritual ............................................................................. 41 The social aspect of recovery ............................................................................................ 45 Personal recovery and collective power ........................................................................... 50 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 56 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 59 vi vii Personal Background I initially chose to investigate spirituality and recovery in Sierra Leone as an attempt to piece together fragmented parts of my identity that are linked to my families' memory of separation, death trauma and ultimately transformation. Post-conflict war recovery is an important starting point for change and allows women to begin the conversation of personal, social and political change. My father, Dr. Johnnie Samuel Leigh was a Mende and Krio agricultural researcher studying at Njala University, located in the center of Sierra Leone about 125 miles from the capital and coastal city of Freetown. He met my mother, an African- American, Heysette Elain Cooper, while she worked as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer. She requested a site change closer to Njala University, a school that allowed her to exercise her teaching skills. Their union was fast and adventurous; marked with getaways to Liberia and Guinea and shortly after they met and married in 1977, I was born. I have fading memories of living in Sierra Leone with my father's family in the busy and bustling city of Freetown where crowded streets were lined with wooden flats and concrete structures. My father tried to escape the hustle of downtown Freetown by treating us to vanilla ice cream and biscuits every Sunday at the posh Cape Sierra Hotel. From Freetown, we often traveled hours along the bumpy and dusty roads to the province of Bo. In Bo, we lived in a rural town called Njala, where my younger brother and I curled up in the quiet, secluded, clay two-room sanctuary. The shift from city life to rural isolation also created a shift in our realities. While living in Freetown, our family enjoyed western comforts like "Wonder Woman" cartoons and Fanta drinks. In Njala, my wonder 1 woman was an eight year-old girl named Bebe Boza who liked to climb up termite hills and run barefoot through bushes haunted with owls. These are just a few of the memories that I struggled to keep alive after we returned to the United States. Our family abruptly separated in 1984, prompting my mother to suddenly carry us out of Sierra Leone to Baltimore, Maryland. We never saw his side of the family again until 1992 when we learned of his death during the initial stages of the Sierra Leone civil war. The early trauma of loss and separation combined with the brief but vivid childhood memories made it necessary for me to ask many questions about the Sierra Leonean side of my family. I wanted to know more about how my father's family interacted with one another, who were my new cousins, how did the family celebrate, worship and communicate with one another? Even more, I wanted to learn about my family’s feelings concerning the civil war, how were they coping with losing my father, their son, uncle and brother? My interest in researching the recovery of Sierra Leonean people is a direct result of the traumatic incidents in my personal life and my passion for learning about women's recovery under difficult and extreme circumstances. My personal experiences reveal that spirituality and religion function as vital sources toward recovery for women in the African Diaspora. I acknowledge that my personal narrative of trauma, memory, recovery and transformation frame the context for my analysis on women and spirituality. However, the purpose of the research is to use my recovery experience as a springboard toward understanding how African women use spirituality to cope
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