Persons with Disabilities Struggle as Pension Promises Fade

By Brima Sannoh (ATJLF/MRCG Fellow 2025)

In the sun-worn town of Pujehun, in southern Sierra Leone, the rusting roofs of abandoned camps tell a silent story of neglect. Once built to house amputees and war-wounded survivors of the country’s brutal civil war, many of these settlements now lie quiet ghost towns where promises have long since withered.

Among the few who remain is Sorba Simbo, a 63-year-old amputee. He lives alone in what used to be a vibrant compound of survivors. Today, all seven of his original companions are gone, victims of age, illness, and the slow erosion of hope. With his left arm hacked off by rebels in 1997, Sorba’s daily survival now depends on frail health and dwindling community support.

“I didn’t choose this life,” he says softly, seated on a worn wooden bench outside his shared building on Tongay Road. “We were just harmed for a war we didn’t cause. Now, we’ve been left to suffer.”