The trip began with the specific aim of assisting child soldiers, but the mission soon expanded. "I originally went into the trip with a focus on child soldiers. The entire trip has been set up as a mission to study and bring international attention to the use of children as soldiers," said Weeks. "However, from the moment I arrived in West Africa, I knew that the mission needed to be much more than that. Soon I dropped the focus on child soldiers and expanded [the focus] to all children who had been affected by war."
Weeks first went to Ghana, where he visited refugee camps. "My very first stop on the tour was to visit Liberian and Sierra Leone refugee camps in Ghana," said Weeks. "Ghana is one of the most politically stable and economically advanced countries in West Africa. It has acted as host to thousands of refugees." Weeks expected to find the refugees in need, but he found them in much worse condition than he had anticipated. "Before I got to the camp, I imagined that the people living there would be in need of computers and books, etc. Once I arrived I was shocked at the shortage of something as basic as water," he said. "Although they are not allowed to work and have no source of income, refugees had to buy water for everything because there was no running water or wells."
The medical facility Weeks visited in Ghana also lacked some crucial equipment and resources. "The only operating clinic catering to 40,000 refugees was severely understaffed. The French volunteer doctors complained of not having basic medicines or money to pay their support staff," said Weeks. "I left the camp shocked and dismayed."
While in Sierra Leone, Weeks met with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbab to discuss current and future concerns regarding children from Sierra Leone whose lives have been plagued by war. "I met with the President of Sierra Leone on the morning of Jan. 10," said Weeks. "This meeting was the last in a series of countless meeting with Sierra Leone's top government officials."
Although Weeks has met with African presidents before, his meeting with Kabbab was unique. "President Kabbab was a democratically elected post-war president who had children as a priority on his national agenda. I knew that our talk would go smoothly," said Weeks. "We met for about 30 minutes and he spoke at length about the problems facing Sierra Leone's children and government efforts to help them. I informed him about the details of my visit and the projects we were looking to bring to Sierra Leone. We discussed [the] best ways to implement these projects."
Despite security concerns, Weeks then visited Liberia, his home country, for the first time in six years. "I left Liberia in 1998 because the government, led by former President Charles Taylor, had made several attempts to assassinate me after I had released a report on its involvement in the training of child soldiers," said Weeks. "This was the first time I returned home in six years. Despite the presence of a new government and the largest [United Nations] UN peacekeeping force, I still had security concerns."
Security precautions were taken to try to protect Weeks and allow him to visit Liberia safely. "The new Liberian government had to assign a team of securities to accompany us during our stay in Liberia," said Weeks. "Despite the precautions, it still felt unsafe."
Due to security issues, Weeks' stay in Liberia was shortened from 11 days to just five. Weeks was still able to tour orphanages and schools but had to cancel a scheduled meeting with the new Liberian president. "The Minister of Foreign Affairs (Secretary of State) met me on behalf of the President," said Weeks. "I was extremely grateful that government officials and heads of UN agencies were willing to meet on the weekend."
Weeks said that the highlight of his trip was establishing Youth Action International offices in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Weeks' trip was filmed by a BBC television crew as part of a documentary called "Kimmie Weeks: Back to the Front." The documentary has been extended in length and is also going to be part of the Sundance Film Festival. "Producer Hazel Chandler read about the trip because it had received a lot of media attention. She pitched the idea of shadowing the trip and producing a documentary. BBC liked the idea," he said. "PBS is also interested in it and the finished documentary will be entered in the Sundance Film Festival. It was originally pitched as a 60-minute documentary; it is now being produced as a two part series."
At first the cameras unnerved Weeks, but he soon adjusted to their presence. "It was weird at first. They traveled to the U.S. to do some filming here at Amherst and for the most part I always was cautious of the camera. I kept asking them to turn the damn thing off, especially when it came to having lunch at Val," he said. "However, midway through the tour I was totally comfortable with it. In the last few days, when filming had stopped, it actually felt weird not having on a mic. Or rolling cameras. I think they have like 80 hours of footage. I feel sorry for the editors who have to boil it all down to two 60-minute films."
Weeks' work will continue into and beyond his final semester at Amherst. He is currently involved in fundraising efforts which will benefit children in the three countries he visited. Weeks will tour South America this summer.
The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) and the Faculty Research Fund partially funded the trip.