By Dianne Anderson

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, which may be true for some girls, but not all.

More accurately, diamonds are to die for in Sierra Leone, the resource-rich region at the root of raped and pillaged villages, and the torturous war that had left over 50,000 dead by 2002.

There, for those who posed a threat of voting against domestic players who upheld the blood diamond stronghold, the best way to politically silence their vote of opposition was simple – cut off the hand.

Today, the Afrikaans are living maimed, and in squalor as the macheted victims of the blood diamond conflict. In some areas, that conflict continues, while in their own backyard, the clay dirt is filled with countless diamonds in the rough.

“Sierra Leone is the only place in the entire world where you can basically put water in the red earth soil and find a pink diamond, or a diamond of large quantity. I feel it is a blessing and a curse,” said Tracy Yassini, a coordinator with Hands for Africa, a nonprofit organization that provides prosthetic devices and support.

Based in Tustin, Hands for Africa founder Alton Harding is originally from Sierra Leone. For several years, he has supported the movement to help amputees and he works directly with a manufacturer there to provide functional attractive prosthetic devises for a fraction of the cost. U.S. manufactured devices can run $3,500 or more for one device.

But there in Sierra Leone, Hands for Africa has provided hundreds of arms and legs, from $50 per hand to $99 for each leg. In all, the nonprofit has given away over 500 high quality prosthetic devices in Sierra Leone. The manufacturer also employs the people there.

On May 15, the organization holds its first of many summer fundraisers, and is calling out for  local support with continued outreach for Haiti amputees. To be held at Chelsea Manor Mansion in Orange Hills, the kickoff fundraiser enables a return to Haiti to treat an additional one hundred amputees, and duplicate efforts in Haiti that have been so successful in Sierra Leone.

The organization has also gained support from Crevier BMW in Santa Ana, and Winston Jewelers.

Yassini said that many socially conscious companies want to get involved to show that they are responsible. It helps those in need, and it’s good for business.

“Also it’s a fundraiser to return to Sierra Leone to build a clean water well for the amputee village [there],” she said.

During the early 1990s, when the diamond industry realized just how easy pickings the diamonds are, big diamond corporations funded minority tribes, who then became the rebel forces of Sierra Leone. When elections were held, minority tribes were fully funded with weapons and were the ready gate-keepers for the wealthy.

“They actually started by chopping off the hands of the working class and farmers, because the way you vote in Sierra Leone is the fingerprint. That’s how the maiming started,” said Yasinni.

At this point, she said the government realizes the diamonds are the area’s primary source of income, and haven’t been eager to call out the major corruption within the diamond industry.

Sierra Leone exported some $98 million worth of diamonds in 2008, according to the Kimberly Process. Right now, under the Kimberly Accord, which is pushing “conflict free” diamonds, helped quell the violence within the diamond industry in 69 countries. The guidelines also help ensure diamonds are mined in a humane and safe way.

But it needs to be stronger. Hands for Africa is also pushing to strengthen Kimberly Diamond Act, oversight of diamonds to make sure that they aren’t black marketed through legitimate sources. Currently, she said there's no serious monitoring of that Act.

Going up against big diamond corporate corruption has been hard. And nobody is rushing to make sure that enforcement of humane conditions is the reality.

In Sierra Leone, it’s a Catch 22. Amnesty International reports that 70 percent of the population there lives on less than $1 a day, and the majority of local people still rely on the mining industry for their jobs.

“That’s the whole question, the government itself realizes that’s their primary source of income as well. They’re not jumping up and down to call out these major players in the diamond industry. It’s a very delicate situation,” she said.

For more information, see www.handsforafrica.org.