'Dead' brother found in Sierra Leone

Aminata receives her brother's letter from the ICRC

By Tom McKinley BBC, Freetown

The rusted shanty huts of Freetown's Kroo town suburb provided the setting for a very special discovery - Aminata Kanu had just been told that her brother was still alive.

The news came as a great shock to the young woman, who had organised his funeral five years earlier.

I know that you think I am dead... But I am not, I am in Belgium

George

A programme to trace the missing relatives of people like Aminata has been set up by the Sierra Leone Red Cross.

Working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), it has established a tracing and message-delivery service.

Thanks to this service, refugees who wish to contact relatives at home are able to write messages for their loved ones or, if like many Sierra Leoneans they are illiterate, to dictate a letter to a Red Cross worker.

The ICRC then flies the message to the relevant country.

Disbelief

Johnathan Juana-Kamanda, a Red Cross volunteer in Sierra Leone, had been given the task of delivering a message to the right address - 26 Grances Street, Kroo Town, the home of Aminata Kanu.

The first problem for Johnathan was that there were four "Number 26 Grances Street".

That's not for me. I don't know anyone in Belgium. I don't even know where it is.

Aminata Kanu

But Johnathan, typically relaxed, set about delivering his "sensitisation message" anyway - explaining what he was doing here - before being told that he was not actually speaking to Aminata.

Finally, he struck lucky.

Inside a rusty old shack, the "real" No 26, sat Aminata, understandably confused.

After all, the postal service in Sierra Leone has been out of action for years, and here was a postman delivering a letter for her.

To make matters worse, when Johnathan explained that the letter was from Belgium, she shook her head.

"No - That's not for me. I don't know anyone in Belgium. I don't even know where it is".

Funeral

Unfazed, Johnathan persevered and explained.

"The message is from George Kanu, your brother," he said.

Then, equally unfazed, he quickly put his arm out to steady Aminata. The shock of the news that her brother was alive had made her faint-headed.

Aminata sat down on a rickety old stool, put her head in her hands, and burst into tears.

Red Cross volunteer Jonathan writes letters for illiterate people

"We had a funeral for him. We were told that he'd been shot dead by the rebels... Oh thank God, I don't believe it".

It was clear that George Kanu had expected this reaction.

"I know that you think I am dead," he had written. "But I am not, I am in Belgium".

Johnathan, the messenger, continued reading.

"I am safe now and hope to see you soon, but first I must ask you if our mother survived the war."

This set Aminata off again. Her mother had been shot dead by the rebels in 1997.

And now her brother had to go through the same turmoil that she had been through whilst mourning her death.

Standing in this dirty little lane, as the rain thumped on the corrugated iron roofs, the emotion of it all was overwhelming.

Then, Aminata sprang to her feet and dashed inside.

She reappeared with a beaming smile on her face and said to Johnathan: "Please can you give this picture of me and my small baby to my brother".

"Of course," Johnathan replied. "But you must also write to him with your news".

Reunion

So they sat down together whilst Aminata dictated the news of their mother's death to George in Belgium.

The mix of emotions, of sadness and of joy, made it an incredible day.

It is little wonder that Johnathan is such a cheery man.

Will Aminata's little girl meet her uncle soon?

"Everyday I'm reuniting families - just by delivering letters like this".

This small snapshot of one of the many ICRC programmes in Sierra Leone demonstrates its importance.

It is addressing one of the main humanitarian consequences of the long civil war: families torn apart.

After being displaced by 10 years of war, families need to be brought together again.

After all, how can a country rebuild itself, when the very fabric of its society, the family, is broken?

Through this very simple messaging service, the process of reuniting families can begin.

As we left, Aminata was busy borrowing money from friends to phone George in Belgium.

She was desperate to speak to a brother she had mourned and buried.