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 You are in: Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs: Electronic Information and Publications Office > Photo Gallery > Photos by Regions and Topics > Africa > Photos Before 2006 > Sierra Leone 

Compassion and Personal Sacrifice

Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
May 8, 2003

Etta ToureEtta Toure is a program officer in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and a native of Sierra Leone who has lived in Washington, DC for some 30 years. She is also a compassionate employee who wanted to do what she could for her war-torn country. The rebels in Sierra Leone had been randomly amputating the arms, legs and ears of innocent victims. From thousands of miles away,  outrage and concern turned to activism.  

Etta started carrying the message everwhere she could.  She joined Friends of Sierra Leone, an organization founded by former Peace Corps volunteers who wanted to increase American awareness of the suffering and to lobby Congress to bring peace to Sierra Leone. 

She also took 6 weeks of leave without pay to travel back to her home to assist UN efforts to promote peace. Then she helped raise funds to bring eight Sierra Leone amputees to New York to accept the help of a New York prosthesis maker.  "I couldn’t ignore them,” she said. 

Great job, Etta.

Read the rest of the story in State Magazine, May 2003


Released on May 14, 2003

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