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Andrew Benson Greene Jr

by Franklin from Sierra Leone


Andrew Greene is from Sierra Leone, born in the Kailahun District in a small town called Gbanyawalu in the Eastern province of Sierra Leone. Because of the decade of violence, he has never had the opportunity to visit the place of his birth.

He obtained his BA with a concentration in English, Civil Law and International Relations from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone in 1998.

Andrew is the co-founder and National Coordinator of the International Education and Resource Network, iEARN Sierra Leone, and teaches former child fighters and war affected youth to use the Internet and other new technologies to find reconciliation and peaceful solutions to conflict.

He reminds the youth and children that "security comes not from the end of a gun, but from shared values and responsibilities to each other."

His slogan is: "Just as it takes acts of war to make war, it takes acts of peace to make peace."

Andrew's efforts have had a profound effect on the minds of young people around the world - from Sierra Leone to Cambodia to Afghanistan. His efforts attracted the UN to his project as a model to be used in countries affected by war.

Andrew Greene and the organization he serves have gathered multiple awards and bursaries for his Internet-based innovations. These include the Cable and Wireless Childnet Award in UK 2003.

During the interview by Tracy Logan, presenter for Go Digital Technology, at the BBC studio in London, he talked about "former child fighters turning from guns to PCs."


Andrew Greene has led workshops worldwide, from Beijing to Halifax, to share his vision of peace building amongst children and war scarred youth. He has also held numerous national workshops and discussions on radio and television programs involving ministers and other senior government officers in Sierra Leone.

At the World Summit of the information Society WSIS in Geneva, 2003, he was part of a high-level panel discussing "the use of ICT in post-war countries."

More recently, he was a guest speaker addressing the XXXVI Annual Session of the Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN) on children’s rights, and the Optional Protocol in the Netherlands.

His vision for Sierra Leone is to help improve post-war peace and reconciliation, design curriculum and teaching materials to support education for peace building and human rights, and promote conflict resolution to encourage all countries seeking to build peace.

He is currently one of the 12 dynamic intellectuals chosen from a variety of disciplines to help change the world. As a Sauvé Fellow, he was admitted to McGill University in Canada for 9 months in the Sauvé Scholar's program for the 2004/2005 academic year.

Andrew fell in love with creative writing and poetry and hopes to see his writings published someday in a very renowned publishing house.

Page created on 7/10/2004 6:55:25 PM

Last edited 7/10/2004 6:55:25 PM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

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Extra Info

The artist is a 16-year-old student taking part in iEARN Sierra Leone