Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

Children in Robertsport, Liberia.

Children in Damballa village, Sierra Leone.

Freetown, Sierra Leone – Search for Common Ground staff editing a radio program. SFCG’s Talking Drum Studio produces current affairs, dramas and other programs aimed at building peace and social cohesion.

In Kpandebu village, Sierra Leone, farmer al Haji Jusu with bags of coffee beans ready for transport to market.

Segbwema, Sierra Leone was the scene of intense combat and heavy damage during Sierra Leone’s 1991-2001 conflict. Here, an idle army tank is being used to dry clothes.

A woman in Bo, Sierra Leone carries a load of laundry and bananas.

A man near Bo, Sierra Leone totes his daily harvest of palm wine, which is tapped from palm trees and sold at road side bars.

On the Makeni highway, Sierra Leone, a man and woman cart firewood to market.

Cell phone service is now available in most of the major towns in Sierra Leone. This enables better communication among families and business owners, and radio stations to conduct listener call-in programs on local issues.

A family prepares an evening meal outside the remains of a home in Kailahun, Sierra Leone. The town suffered severe upheaval and damage during the 1991-2001 conflict.

The community of Kandor, Sierra Leone celebrates the opening of a new school funded by Schools for Salone and FWA.

Edna and Hawa Bockarie, daughter and mother, in Bo, Sierra Leone.

Family in Kabala, Sierra Leone.

Mother and child draw water from a well in Damballa, Sierra Leone.

Father and son in Bo, Sierra Leone.

Firewood, used as a heat source for cooking daily meals, is sold on roadsides throughout West Afirca.

Fishermen repair their nets at Sierra Leone’s ‘River Two’.

Fishing the Moa River, Sierra Leone.

Gbessay M’Bayo during her first, post-war visit to her former home in Kailahun, Sierra Leone. Kailahun town saw intense combat and atrocities during the country’s 1991-2001 conflict.

In Damballa village, Sierra Leone.

Hair styling in Bo, Sierra Leone.

Hassan Koroma, station manager of Radio Gbafth in the town of Mile 91, Sierra Leone. “Gbafth” means “openness” in Temne, the local language.

Jahmi M’Bayo in Bo, Sierra Leone.

Jenneh Lananseh spins cotton into thread in Bo, Sierra Leone. She sells thread to a local blanket weaver to earn extra income for food, clothing and her grandchildren’s school fees.

Kabala, Sierra Leone.

Women selling vegetables in the market, Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

Billboards encourage voter participation in Liberia’s elections, November, 2005.

Election Day in Liberia, November, 2005.

Mantaneh Kamara and child in Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

Market woman in Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

A grandmother (seated) with her daughter and granddaughter in Bo, Sierra Leone.

From the Makeni / Kabala highway, northern Sierra Leone.

Children selling food and soda at Moyamba Junction, Sierra Leone.

Bustling market in Moyamba Junction, Sierra Leone.

Serrekunda market, The Gambia.

A woman sits outside of the family kitchen in Kabala, Sierra Leone.

A gas station in Kailahun, Sierra Leone. In 2007 gasoline prices reached $6 per gallon. A cellular tower is in the background.

A car full of people and goods travels on the Kabala highway in Sierra Leone.

In Kailahun, Sierra Leone, women clean separate rice from husk.

In front of war-damaged building in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, signs encourage townspeople to prevent violence against women and get confidential HIV/AIDS testing.

On the road in Sierra Leone.

Rubber plantation near the Liberia / Sierra Leone border. Liberia’s rubber plantations were a major source of rubber for the U.S. and its allies during World War Two. Soldiers from both countries served in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Kabala, Sierra Leone.

Saffiatu Bah, back home in Kabala, Sierra Leone, after being flown to Israel for an emergency heart procedure. Nurses at the NarSarah Clinic in Kabala cared for Saffiatu while Rhode Island families mobilized resources to pay for transport and medical care in Tel Aviv.

Foday Sajuma, station manager of Radio Moa in Kailahun.

Community leaders in Sinje, Liberia.

Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

On the Gambian coast, a woman turns fish in a smoke house operated by a cooperative. From here, the fish will be taken to market for sale.

Sneakers for sale in Makeni, Sierra Leone.

Washing clothes in Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

Election Day, November 8, 2005 in Gbarnga, Liberia. Officials count ballots by lantern light.

FWA’s Topher Hamblett and Mama Katumu Kamara reunite in Kpandebu, Sierra Leone, where Topher lived and worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer during the 1980s. Katumu fled Kpandebu during Sierra Leone’s conflict, and survived in refugee camps in neighboring Guinea.

Students in Bo, Sierra Leone.

Tailor in Damballa village, Sierra Leone.