Sierra Leone: the diamond that saved a thousand lives

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0:47Nine years ago, 2017, in a small, remote and extremely poor West African community, I've joined a crowd of local villagers who've just broken out in song.

1:02There's unbridled joy.

1:07We be free joy, now we act. We dance, we dance, we jubilate, we laugh, we're glad to hear too much. We call it a big blessing from God. Why are they so happy? The villagers have just learnt that in a nearby open-cast pit, five of their kinsmen have just unearthed one of the biggest diamonds ever found in West Africa, one of the biggest ever found in the world. It's over 700 carats. It's the size of a large egg. Youth leader Daniel Thibau tells me the pit's owner, a pastor, is promising to spend some of the proceeds on the community. He made a lot of promise for this village to construct the road, building hospital, sending lights to this village.

1:52We have all these problems to give an assistance. There are a lot. I'm Ed Butler, and in this edition of Crossing Continents, I've returned to Sierra Leone after nine years to hear the intriguing story of what happened to this so-called peace diamond, to the money it raised, what it changed for the people of this village, Coriadu, and for some, what it didn't change.

2:21So let me describe this place. Around me there are lush green forests, palm trees, some mango trees. There are just mud houses with corrugated iron roofs, one or two room dwellings, chickens clucking on the ground around me. The main subsistence here is agriculture. That and the occasional digging for diamonds. Everyone knows someone who digs here in Conno. Sierra Leone's diamond district open pits men stripped to the waist toiling in the intense heat of the day Whenever we come we take the the soil and through it. It is the gravel there we find the diamond It's a it's kind of like a bright blue gray soil that you're crushing in your fingers now and inside You have the stones I'm fingering it.

3:20Yeah, sometimes the dam will lies in it The guys in front of me are digging gravel from a bank of sand I'm standing on now, and the two others are standing with sibs knee-deep in water, sifting, just to see if anything, any precious diamond, might be in this batch. So unfortunately, there is no diamond here. How much money do you make normally doing this work? For me, well, I have not made a lot of money yet. Sometimes for the whole of the year, you can't get anything. For the whole of the year, you can't get anything. It is not a sport. Why do you keep going if it's so difficult? Because it is a gift of God.

4:08All the time we're dreaming, really. We still have that hope. Diamond has done more harm than good to the people of Conor District. The reflection has been never seen in the life of the people. That's the voice of Emmanuel Momo. He is the central character of our story today. In his 53 years, he's seen firsthand the tough journey that this region has taken. decades of poverty and a brutal civil war in the 1990s that was partly fought over the control of the diamond trade. One of the objectives of the rebels was to capture Kono. Everybody wanted to go there and get diamond. I can remember when the war started in 1991, Kweidutan was attacked and they were able to kill many of our colleagues.

5:04You saw people around you being killed? Oh yes, yes, we saw people being killed. We are lucky, the rebels were not able to open the door. I escaped, but most of the women, they have children, they decided to sacrifice themselves. And some of them were captured by the rebels, few of them were killed. The rebels took some of them that they wanted to take. These people never come back. Did you lose members of your family? Yes, I lose my elder brother. I lose him. Yeah. After the war, Emmanuel Momo returned to the district. Though lacking a formal education, his work in church led him to be ordained as a pastor or lay preacher.

5:54And he was also entrepreneurial. In 2017, he had a business buying and selling peanuts. Plus, he had another plan. I was using the proceed from there for us to do mining. So I have to find five workers. My uncle was one of them. He was the foreman, right? Yes, he's the foreman of the mining. He was the one that came to me in the morning, 7 or 8 March. He was cracking a joke. He told me that in case you find a diamond, what would you give to me? I said, Uncle, you have to stop this joke. You're joking. I even promised him that I would give you... If that happens, I'll give you this, I'll give you that.

6:39And they said, now I will show you something that will surprise you. He showed me a colour-ish stone. What kind of colour? Like yellowish, as a little brown also. The stone had actually been discovered in the pit by a 15-year-old boy. His name was Kombajonbul. When we met this year, Kamba approached me with a ready smile, an easy manner. Life wasn't always quite this easy, though. He uses a mix of English and his native Krio language.

7:17So I was really suffering. I lost my mother in 2013 due to the Ebola outbreak. She died of Ebola? Yeah, she died of Ebola. and at that time I was really suffering. I didn't finish school. Since that time I've been hustling in the village, processing palm canal, etc. So age 11 you dropped out of school. Can you remember the day you found it? Describe the day. March, in the afternoon around 2 o 'clock, Sunday, they were finding them. There was a lot of joy at that time. I feel happy.

8:00We were digging, digging deep and clearing the debris at the same time. At some point I noticed this gem in the water and I carefully looked at it and I suspected it was a diamond because of the colon. They advised us to maintain sealed lips. I bet when you saw that diamond, you thought, I'm rich, this is going to change my life. Is that what you were thinking? Yes, the time we get the diamond, because it may not be the expensive thing in that kind of money. Yes, so when we found it, we were very happy. We thought this could bring about some change in our lives. Our first thought was to get a motorbike.

8:44That was our first idea that came to mind. A motorbike. That's a small ambition for a man who has a multi-million dollar stone in his hand. An official dealer had confirmed the value of the gem. The pastor then faced a decision. Should he declare his find to the government, or should he follow a well-trodden path and smuggle it abroad, thereby avoiding the payment of duties? The dealer recommended smuggling. The dealer was not in favour. that believe that we have to take this thing to the government. Governments never give them the confidence that government, it is only government that have the better offer when it comes into the pricing of diamond.

9:32So everybody has the perception that if you find a diamond, you have no alternative but to take it to international dealers. Do you think the government does have a better offer than the local dealers? Well, I'm sure if you have all your documents that allows you to mine, there's a laid down procedure. But a lot of people are not licensed and not registered. Including myself. I was not with a current license. So he preferred for me to sell the diamond to them. In fact, his father called me from Belgium at that particular fateful night. and his father told me that they can take me to Belgium the following day.

10:20But I said I would like the paramount chief to involve into this process. So you decided to be honest and involve the paramount chief, which meant involving the government, right? Yeah. We spent the whole night on that discussion. I think what we did was the right decision we took. Pastor Momo did formally declare the diamond discovery and he was determined that this unexpected windfall would prove a blessing not just for him and his diggers but for the community as a whole. I told the government that where we found this diamond there is no good school, no facility for education, no good road.

11:03So the government told me that they are going to step in to build schools, give good water, make the road and do other valuable responsibilities to the people of Koyado. They promised all of those things? Yes, they do. A school, a clinic, water and a road. There's a reason God gave these diamonds to the poorest people in the world. It made the richest people want them. This is making the world a better place. At an auction in New York in December 2017, the diamond attracted global publicity and the support of this man, Martin Rappaport. The chairman of the Rappaport Diamond Group, he's a dealer, a philanthropist and a campaigner for greater transparency and accountability within the diamond industry.

11:54This just isn't like any other diamond. This is a diamond that is going to benefit tens of thousands of people who are at the extreme level of poverty. So this diamond's very special because of the impact it's going to have. It eventually sold for$6.5 million. The deal was this. More than half the money would go to the government. The rest would be shared between the diggers and a community development fund. At least a million dollars would be specifically earmarked for the village itself.

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13:07So what became of that promised redevelopment? My journey to find out began with a bumpy road trip up the hill to Koyadu village itself. We're sitting in the back of the car now. We're travelling to Koyadu along an extraordinarily bumpy road, which doesn't seem to have changed much in the last eight years since I got here. And the sound next to me you can hear is a chicken because I'm travelling with a chicken and a lady who's going to visit her son in the hospital. What was your name, madam? My name is Jeanette. Jeanette, nice to meet you. Does the chicken have a name?

13:46So who's the chicken for? My son. You're giving your chicken to your son? Yes. Who's sick in hospital? Yes. OK. What's Koyadu like? Has Koyadu changed since they found the Peace Diamond? It brings a lot of changes now in the village. A lot of changes? Yes, a lot. School there, hospital, children go to school free. Your children went to the school? Yes, my grandpa came to the school. So it's a much happier place? Yes, happy. Happy town? Yes. Well, maybe not so happy for the soon-to-be-eaten chicken.

14:35Well, as well as the road, some things haven't changed much since 2017. The villages of Korayadu are, it seems, still singing.

14:53To me, there has been tremendous change since we've come here because before this time, there was no school here. I came, I started with 16 kids and now we have got 227. So that's a very good change that has occurred in the village. Abubakar Amara greets us and leads us to the 200-student primary school that he now runs here. We want to make the future bright for the people, especially the kids that are going to school now. With education, they can change this community.

15:33With multiple classrooms and solar power, it does feel like a world away from what I saw last time I was here.

15:45A shiny zinc roof on the new maternity clinic also speaks of progress. Can I come in? At the clinic, the village midwife, Judith Sia-Lamin, introduces me to Koriadu's most recent arrival, a newborn infant. Mr. Mann, you have a visitor. From London, England, you have a visitor. So this is a little baby boy. Little baby boy, two days old. Yeah, he looks very wise. Very handsome. Then who's the mother? Congratulations. What's your name, madam? That's Sabao. Nasubau. This is your first baby. Yes. How long was the labor? Fifteen hours. Fifteen hours. She endured. She endured. Yeah, she endured the pain.

16:41It was tough. She's still laughing about it. Very tough. She's a tough woman. So how far is your town from here? One mile. So she came one mile on foot to give birth here. We are not rich people. We don't even have bikes on our own. So you just have to endure it. Some come as far as nine miles off. Just when they are in labour they come. That's far. The maternity clinic feels like a real success story. Midwife Judith describes how it used to be for expectant mothers before the clinic was built. In the past, women are dying in labor during childbirth. Women are dying. They will die on the road.

17:27Sixty of any one thousand were dying during childbirth. Sixty out of every thousand were dying. Yes, of every one thousand childbirths. The mothers or the children. That's tough. Yes, very, very tough by then. Now it's much better. Not a single maternal death here since the clinic was built, she says, although emergency cases do still require an ambulance to the main town. But for all the progress, there's an inconvenient truth behind all this. The diamond money may have paid for much of the infrastructure, the buildings, the water wells, but not for their upkeep. Judy's salary and that of all the teachers, the necessary supplies, well, these are now being covered by an international charity set up to support the Peace Diamond Project.

18:18It does beg the question, did the government really deliver on its promises? We have the school. We have the hospital. They actually graded the road to the village. They did a little bit of everything. Yes, yes. There's something to write about. But not enough. Yes. They know that what they promised, they have never met the promise. Pastor Emmanuel Momo is bitter about what he sees as government failures. I told them that this is the first time an artisan of mine have found a diamond and he took that diamond to your office. I have done something remarkable. I would like you guys to come and join me so that we can celebrate.

19:07Nobody showed up. Nobody cared? Nobody cares. I am not in their memory. Nobody ever realised that I have done something good for this nation. Despite repeated requests, the Minister of Mines declined to speak to us for this programme. Some, though, do defend the government's record. When you look at development, getting the money is maybe one third of the story. That's Martin Rappaport, philanthropist and campaigner, who since 2017 has more than anyone championed the Peace Diamond Village. He accepts that his foundation's money has been crucial to keeping it going, but he says it was still state money that got it started.

19:48So the idea was you're going to get a road, you're going to get a medical facility, you're going to get schools. And the government was 100 % respectful here because they still got the money to go to the village. The road isn't great, though, is it? You know, yeah, the road to the village is very difficult. Now they're going to have to make and figure out how to redo some things. But we were providing rice. And now the government is providing the food for the children, which is an amazing thing. So what happened is we hooked them into the development cycle and environment. Now we're identifying people.

20:23So what's happening is you're kind of moving the community up a level. And you've got to understand how difficult that process is when you're dealing in a place like Koyadu, when you're dealing with absolutely starting from scratch. Tell me then, what would you say the legacy of the piece Diamond has been? It's created a shift in thinking. And it's showing that resources like Diamonds can have a real impact on the local communities. You have to have patience to do development properly. And you have to let the people do their own development. But you know something? They're smart. They're very smart and they're survivors.

21:08The legacy of the peace diamond is, in fact, the people. Martin Rappaport. There is another story to be told here. It's the one about the men who actually unearthed the precious stone in the first place. For young diggers like Comba, for whom mere survival had been a daily struggle, the diamond's discovery was a life-changing moment.

21:35So after the sale of the diamond, each of us received$100 ,000 from Pastor. All of us who were working in the pit received the same amount. And what was your plan? You're suddenly a rich man, right? And that movement, yeah, I was a rich man. Sure. It must have felt exciting. Very feel happy. at that moment at that time I was happy I'm married you got married just after you found the diamond yes yes you were a popular man at that time at that time sure in his late teens Combo may have had a wife but he also had a bigger dream along with fellow diggers he hoped to emigrate to Canada why Canada why did you want to go there no Canada made from the one I'm a dream country Canada has been my dream country all along.

22:28I've seen pictures, I've had stories about Canada. Now I've been told that I would be able to succeed if I go there. To help them get the visas, they paid an agent, what seems like a huge sum,$15 ,000 each. They travelled to nearby Ghana to submit their applications. Even when a young boy, we would come home, go and then bar, they would sit on the table. So when we were in Ghana, indeed we were spending a lot of money on feeding, we were also going out to bars and enjoying ourselves. So we indeed spent a lot of money in Ghana. It was party, party, party for you, was it? No, no, no party. If now, now that blessing came away with no regret and no what did they do.

23:15Looking back, I think that I could have done better, much better. When we went to Ghana, we spent most of what we had. And we didn't think for a moment that we would have to return home. But it didn't turn out to be that way. The rejection letter was blunt. Canadian officials said that the men lacked qualifications and a sponsor to justify their application. Comba was forced to head home. I come back and say, the man they have money... So when I came back to Freetown, I wanted to go back to the mines. But my wife advised me to learn the skill, and I started with welding.

24:04When I met Combe this year, it was outside his workshop in the capital, Freetown, where he runs a team of welders, fixing doors and gates. It is a struggle to keep the business afloat, he says, but it is an honest trade. Well, thank God, really, I want to land this oak. Because if not this oak, I'd be like... If I had not land this job, I would probably be back in the village. So I want to thank God and also be grateful to my wife. You're showing me the picture now, the picture of the stone itself. How does it make you feel when you look at that now? Well, like for now while they watch this anyway, they feel a bit small at the end of the day and they feel good.

24:45So I have these mixed feelings within me. When I look at the picture, I feel good about it. But at some point I feel really discouraged because at the time the money came in our hands, we weren't yet matured enough to handle such. For Comba's fellow digger and friend Safiya, who travelled with him to Ghana, the feelings now are rather less positive. The money in name, I've been the just thought I'm facing now, throughout my life, to my unborn children now. The money we got when we found this diamond, I thought that we would get rich, we'd be out of poverty. But today, I am left in regret. After returning from Ghana, the dream of a better life abroad for Safiya was still alive.

25:34He headed to Dubai, seeking a new life there, perhaps a route to Europe. It wasn't Dubai that I reached him via a video link. He now has a thin, goaty beard, soft, childlike features. He looks younger than his 26 years. I took the money I had with me to Dubai out of disappointment. When I got there, I didn't understand their system. the man who helped me travel to Dubai misled me I obtained three-month visa including a residence permit by the visa expired my residence permit also expired I applied again and that also expired so now I was stayed in this place so now you've lost all the money you received from finding the diamond and you're trapped in a foreign country.

26:32After a while, I don't make the residence now. The residence time don't. So now, overstay now. Yes, I couldn't travel back to Sierra Leone because I would need money to clear the fees for overstaying in Dubai. I am now working for people who at times pay me, but sometimes they don't. And I can't insist or argue with them because of my legal status. Safiya says that life is made more complicated now by the US-Israeli war with Iran. With frequent bombardment, Dubai's underground economy has been disrupted. A lot of companies, they have closed. Many companies have shut down. And there are times when immigration officers will come and just lay off 200 or 300 workers without giving them any pay.