The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

V PAGE 4 THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, OCTOBER 22,2003 www.durhamregion.com Innocent victim of warfare Durham fund-raisers held to assist Mariatu Kamara By Roland Rutland Special to the Statesman DURHAM -- Mariatu Kamara is much like any other 17-year-old girl. She enjoys shopping, loves to dance and listen to top modern artists such as LL Cool Jay, Ashantie and Nelly. But, behind the happy, teenaged exterior lies a nightmare of human suffering. Ms. Kamara is an innocent victim of the decade-long war in the West African country of Sierra Leone. Two concerts will be staged in Durham in the coming weeks, by Multicultural Durham, to assist with her medical expenses and to improve her quality of life. In 1999, at age 13, Ms. Kamara was brutalized by Revolutionary United Guard soldiers, who since 1991 have been waging a campaign of terror against Sierra Leone's civilian population in their efforts to overthrow the existing government. government. In 1999, she was held hostage for more than 10 hours. She was beaten and raped. Then, the rebel soldiers brought out a machete. "They didn't tell me why they chopped off my hands," she says. "They just said, 'You go to President President (Ahmad Tejan) Kabbah and ask him to give you new hands.' I replied, 'You have just done this to me - why? I do not even know who this man is.'" After her ordeal, Ms. Kamara, wandered in the bush in shock for two days until villagers found her and took her to a hospital in Freetown. Freetown. After a month, she was moved to a refugee camp, where she gave birth to her son Abdul, who was conceived as a result of the rape. Baby Abdul died eight months later of malnutrition. She remained in the refugee camp until September 2002, when benefactors in Ontario and the United Kingdom paid for her to come to Canada. Pickering resident Abou Nabe and his wife ICadijatu currently care for Ms. Kamara. While she tries to move forward from this horrible violation of human rights, there is no jüstice. She knows her attackers will "never be found or made accountable for their crimes against humanity. It has been reported that over 20,000 civilians, half of them children, children, have had their limbs severed in Sierra Leone. This figure is just a fraction of the children injured and killed in recent conflicts around the world. The percentage percentage of child casualties has been spiralling upwards since the turn of the 20th century, while the number of soldiers dying has been steadily dropping. It has been estimated that today 90 per cent of war fatalities fatalities are civilian; of those, about half are children. Ms. Kamara has now been in Canada one year and is currently taking English as a second language language through the Durham Board of Education. "Her story personifies the strength of the human spirit over great cruelty, suffering and trauma," trauma," says Kadijatu Nabe, her ' guardian in Canada. "She is a loving loving young girl, who cares very much To have your flyers delivered by Durham's #1 Carrier Force! Call 905-579-4407 ïSüSïsw? ei-VEBS Wednesday Oct. 22, 2003 • Bay* •SAAN* • Sleep Factory* • McGregor IDA* • Sport Chek* • Millwork* • Oudit Rai* • Forum Restaurant* • Leon's* 1 FI vers mil nvcessiirllv in nil papers Itvinvnibvr, nil inserts, inelmllng llio.se nil gloss' paper, enn lie recvcled with Hie rest nl vour nevispuper through your llliir Itox Iteeyellng program. for her mother and seven brothers and sisters she left behind. "Mariatu is enthusiastic enthusiastic about getting an education, and that she has learned to cope with her disability," disability," says Ms. Nabe. "All she aims for is to learn to read and write so she can write a letter to lier family back home." The Sierra Leone Immigrant Settlement Centre, formed in 2000 by the Nabe family iià i Mariatu Kamara and members of the Sierra Leone community in Canada, have been helping Ms. Kamara over the last year. Multicultural Durham, through its Peace and Community Harmony public education program, are organizing organizing two multicultural fundraising fundraising benefit concerts. Revenue raised from the concerts, concerts, along with contributions from the community earmarked to her trust fund, established with the Royal Bank, will be used toward the cost of fitting Ms. Kamara with prosthetic hands. The first concert is at the Picker ing Town Centre on Saturday, Oct. 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The second concert will be held at the Caribbean Cultural Centre, 600 Wentworth St. E„ Oshawa, on Saturday, Saturday, Nov. 15 from 3 to 5 p.m. Anyone can make a donation to this fund-raising effort by visiting any branch of the Royal Bank in Durham. Organizers have set up a bank account account under the name of the Sierra Leone Immigrant Settlement Centre Centre In Trust for Mariatu Kamara. The bank account number is 1018001 Transit # 3832. If a receipt is required for income tax purposes, call Roland Rutland at Multicultural Multicultural Durham before making a donation. donation. In addition to the two concerts, Multicultural Durham will be working working with different schools throughout throughout Durham to promote human rights education initiatives for a three-month period beginning in October. For further details contact Andrea Andrea McFater, events and publications publications manager, Dynamic Publishing and Consumer Shows at 138 Commercial Commercial Ave., Ajax. Call 905-426- 4676, ext. 222 or e-mail amcfater@durhamregion.com. f ... ■ 0 . i kv / K-j ; ' j. r j ; jÿ.y Fiji É llf 4A iK! i: ™- tegSfe| k ; v ■ i V V v ;, ^ii ~0> Cel Microsoft '° 3 In-store October 21st! '°tpQU> rv T V? f/ °0K / '«L. -W Professor Teaches *** Office 2003 (522224) scr and McAfee Virus 8.0 (520462) E if 3 jX X : Ld | V\ with the purchase of Office 2003 Standard, Small Business or Professional Versions in Full or Upgrade. «: 66086/66088 Retail Value 83.70 Sk 9 Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook! Also includes a 'home license ' provision which allows up to 3 PCs in the same household to use the software! Ill : "1 Lt Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher and ^ Outlook with Business Contact Manager Office 2003 Standard Upgrade 518231 CS53 'm Office 2003 Student and Teacher Full Version 518230 M 518240 •>> e :k .. !>;■ « Includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Publisher and Outlook with Business Contact Manager sr PtofeèSk I On'^page2003 Office 2003 Small Business Upgrade 518243 jà (• O') "f. :) ,. v ■> - V - ' ' Office 2003 M O Professional Upgrade Full Version 518242 £23.33 518236 m i ; FrontPage 2003 Full Version 518235 518238 Canon BCI-21 TWIN-PACK INK CARTRIDGES • 2 Black 455431 Piice After Rebale Our Price 18.96 Instant Rebate -$3 Coupon Code: 65887 fg§ri§f . Üialii r, Üfe v bF" ■■ iTt ,,ir ^1-"- " Canon Canon BCI-3e COMBO BCI-3e BK TWIN PACK ! INK CARTRIDGES INK CARTRIDGES I • 1 Magenta, • 2 Black 1 Yellow Price Aller Rebate 1 Cyan 501002 Price Alter Rebate ! 501001 : - Our Price 54.72 Inslant Rebate -$5 r ... ■ ' . Our Price 36.72 Instant Rebate -$4 : Coupon Code: 65891 Coupon Code: 65893 Kodak . [friuht Wbv■' • Msm-.rn.u3. llwtc bnïlm ilSf® zuk/f/ral-w *1 lili'.if //r/IM' :,yulÿ/ior Kodak BRIGHT WHITE INKJET PAPER • 24-lb. • 110+ bright • 500 sheets/pack 427833 jgf I Price After Rebate Our Price 13.95 Instant Rebote -$4 Coupon Code: 60659 TN250 465267 d . ■II' @ brother • k , MFC6800 LASER ALL-IN-ONE • Printer, copier, scanner, fax • Prints 10 ppm black at 600 x 600 dpi • 30-page aulo. doc. feeder • Fax memory up lo 500 pages 466173 Price Aller Rebalcs CopyCentre Our Price 599.42 Moil-In -$100 and Instant -$50 Rcbales Coupon Code: 65955 Digital Print & Copy Centre Oiler valid until Hoveinber 31, 2003. Save $ spend *20 for full-service B&W or Colour Copying or Finishing Order! 6575700000000000 3 CONVENIENT WAYS TO SHOP! [\-jj IN-STORE 1 210 atoms uml still rjrowing! CATALOGUE Citll 1-I100-GG8 GDB8 ONLINE www.stniilus.cn For the neorest STAPLES® Business Depot and store hours, «all: « ! i ; j'i'lt. . ' : : X [} A ' >'A [ ' - ! i -1 • i ; M ' / ' Some Homs limy not lie iivuiltililo through delivery or online, Vnlid until Oilolici 25,2003, or while i]uiinlil!cs lust. isinedsDEP®T that was easy. TM