About Us

KABBA WILLIAMS

Co-Founder and Executive Director

Kabba Williams is a Sierra Leonean with more than ten years of experience working with children and young people associated with armed conflicts. His current engagements include helping to prevent children from taking part in armed conflicts and support for the reintegration of children and young people who have been recruited by armed forces and armed groups.

At a very young age, Williams experienced the gruesome realities of life as a child soldier. He was born in Koidu, in the diamond-rich Kono District of eastern Sierra Leone. He grew up in Kambia District in the north, and in Kenema District in the east, in the town of Weima situated in the Tongo Field area. He is the sixth of seven children. His father, who worked as a diver for a deep river diamond mining company, died of pneumonia when Williams was a young child. Following his father’s death, the responsibility of caring for Williams and his siblings rested solely on their mother who, with no formal education, struggled to provide food for the family and keep the children in school from the little she earned from her cookery business.

When Williams was about seven years old, his mother sent him to live with his uncle who was also a local diamond miner, living in the same village. Williams worked with his uncle as a child miner, but worked also selling kerosene and rice for his uncle’s wife, walking barefoot from village to village. After the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels launched their attack into eastern Sierra Leone in early 1991, they soon overran Williams’ village. Williams was returning home from selling rice in a neighboring village when he saw the corpses of several people he knew. He ran home, to discover that his uncle and three of his mineworkers had also been killed, and the rest of the family was missing. Williams hid in their house, but was discovered and captured by rebels during a house-to-house search.

The rebels took Williams into the jungle, where they gave him basic training with guns and they taught him to spy on government troops. He was with the rebels in their jungle base for several months. During that time, Williams witnessed many other children who had been abducted by rebels dying during combat. He said some of the child soldiers got tired of carrying ammunition and looted goods on their heads for the rebels as they crisscrossed thick tropical forests. Those who could no longer walk or who were terrified of heading into combat zones were simply executed by their rebel captors. Williams became so desperate and terrified of the brutality he witnessed that, one day, he took an opportunity to escape. He spent a night by himself in the jungle, and on the next day he followed the direction of the rising sun until he arrived in a town called Small Bo in the Kenema District, then under the control of the Sierra Leone government troops.

The soldiers accused Williams of being a rebel spy because he had come from a territory that was under rebel occupation. Williams was beaten and tortured by the government soldiers who did not believe the story he told of what he and his family experienced in the hands of the rebels. The following day, a senior commander arrived at the base and gave instructions for Williams to be transported to the military base in Tongo Field, which served as a sub-headquarters for government troops. Upon arrival, Williams was locked up in the guardroom for a week and then released, but instructed to stay on the military base. From then on, the government troops sent him on errands, such as fetching water and firewood for cooking, washing dishes, cleaning soldiers’ boots and washing their uniforms. As the RUF rebel forces intensified their attacks on the country from several fronts, the government troops were desperately searching for more manpower and they began to recruit many from the local community, including boys and girls. Williams and many other children underwent basic war training, which included the use of firearms and carrying out maneuvers during enemy attacks. Williams fought alongside the Sierra Leone government troops for two years.

UNICEF and the Government Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs rescued Williams from the combat zone in 1993, he went through a successful rehabilitation and reintegration program at the Children Associated With the War (CAW) project, operated by a Catholic Mission in Freetown. He was subsequently transferred into the SOS Children’s Village in Freetown, where he received his elementary education and also attended the Sierra Leone Grammar School. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Education from Njala University in Sierra Leone. He is currently resident in Des Moines, Iowa, United States.

Williams is a passionate youth advocate. He has been among Africa’s prominent activists and spokespeople for young victims of armed conflict. Williams often contributes to national and global events and provides inputs to documents on issues concerning children and armed conflict. In 2010, He contributed to the video documentary titled “Let Children Be Children” produced by WUOMI-Canada; and has been interviewed by many media outlets around the world, including the BBC World Service, Serbian television, and Australian newspapers. He has collaborated with UNICEF Sierra Leone and the National Commission for War Affected Children (NACWAC) in Sierra Leone on a number of projects. Williams also served as Coordinator at the Voice of Children Radio Sierra Leone (VOC), a project of the United Nations Mission. He helped coordinate the contributions for the production of Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) child friendly booklet. Williams was a founding executive member and Coordinator for the Western Area of Children’s Forum Sierra Leone. He also recently contributed to the documentary feature film “A Culture of Silence” by Worldwide Cinema Frames. Williams’s vision is to see a productive life for all children, through education and the transformation of their lives. He says, “Advocating for those caught in the cross-fire, and for children wh Kabba Williams is a Sierra Leonean with more than ten years of experience working with children and young people associated with armed conflicts. His current engagements include helping to prevent children from taking part in armed conflicts and support for the reintegration of children and young people who have been recruited by armed forces and armed groups.

At a very young age, Williams experienced the gruesome realities of life as a child soldier. He was born in Koidu, in the diamond-rich Kono District of eastern Sierra Leone. He grew up in Kambia District in the north, and in Kenema District in the east, in the town of Weima situated in the Tongo Field area. He is the sixth of seven children. His father, who worked as a diver for a deep river diamond mining company, died of pneumonia when Williams was a young child. Following his father’s death, the responsibility of caring for Williams and his siblings rested solely on their mother who, with no formal education, struggled to provide food for the family and keep the children in school from the little she earned from her cookery business.

When Williams was about seven years old, his mother sent him to live with his uncle who was also a local diamond miner, living in the same village. Williams worked with his uncle as a child miner, but worked also selling kerosene and rice for his uncle’s wife, walking barefoot from village to village. After the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels launched their attack into eastern Sierra Leone in early 1991, they soon overran Williams’ village. Williams was returning home from selling rice in a neighboring village when he saw the corpses of several people he knew. He ran home, to discover that his uncle and three of his mineworkers had also been killed, and the rest of the family was missing. Williams hid in their house, but was discovered and captured by rebels during a house-to-house search.

The rebels took Williams into the jungle, where they gave him basic training with guns and they taught him to spy on government troops. He was with the rebels in their jungle base for several months. During that time, Williams witnessed many other children who had been abducted by rebels dying during combat. He said some of the child soldiers got tired of carrying ammunition and looted goods on their heads for the rebels as they crisscrossed thick tropical forests. Those who could no longer walk or who were terrified of heading into combat zones were simply executed by their rebel captors. Williams became so desperate and terrified of the brutality he witnessed that, one day, he took an opportunity to escape. He spent a night by himself in the jungle, and on the next day he followed the direction of the rising sun until he arrived in a town called Small Bo in the Kenema District, then under the control of the Sierra Leone government troops.

The soldiers accused Williams of being a rebel spy because he had come from a territory that was under rebel occupation. Williams was beaten and tortured by the government soldiers who did not believe the story he told of what he and his family experienced in the hands of the rebels. The following day, a senior commander arrived at the base and gave instructions for Williams to be transported to the military base in Tongo Field, which served as a sub-headquarters for government troops. Upon arrival, Williams was locked up in the guardroom for a week and then released, but instructed to stay on the military base. From then on, the government troops sent him on errands, such as fetching water and firewood for cooking, washing dishes, cleaning soldiers’ boots and washing their uniforms. As the RUF rebel forces intensified their attacks on the country from several fronts, the government troops were desperately searching for more manpower and they began to recruit many from the local community, including boys and girls. Williams and many other children underwent basic war training, which included the use of firearms and carrying out maneuvers during enemy attacks. Williams fought alongside the Sierra Leone government troops for two years.

UNICEF and the Government Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs rescued Williams from the combat zone in 1993, he went through a successful rehabilitation and reintegration program at the Children Associated With the War (CAW) project, operated by a Catholic Mission in Freetown. He was subsequently transferred into the SOS Children’s Village in Freetown, where he received his elementary education and also attended the Sierra Leone Grammar School. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Education from Njala University in Sierra Leone. He is currently resident in Des Moines, Iowa, United States.

Williams is a passionate youth advocate. He has been among Africa’s prominent activists and spokespeople for young victims of armed conflict. Williams often contributes to national and global events and provides inputs to documents on issues concerning children and armed conflict. In 2010, He contributed to the video documentary titled “Let Children Be Children” produced by WUOMI-Canada; and has been interviewed by many media outlets around the world, including the BBC World Service, Serbian television, and Australian newspapers. He has collaborated with UNICEF Sierra Leone and the National Commission for War Affected Children (NACWAC) in Sierra Leone on a number of projects. Williams also served as Coordinator at the Voice of Children Radio Sierra Leone (VOC), a project of the United Nations Mission. He helped coordinate the contributions for the production of Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) child friendly booklet. Williams was a founding executive member and Coordinator for the Western Area of Children’s Forum Sierra Leone. He also recently contributed to the documentary feature film “A Culture of Silence” by Worldwide Cinema Frames. Williams’s vision is to see a productive life for all children, through education and the transformation of their lives. He says, “Advocating for those caught in the cross-fire, and for children who face the precarious situation of war is his ultimate challenge.”