THERE is an African saying, 'when elephants fight, it's the grass that suffers'.

Nowhere is this truer than in Sierra Leone where the population suffered unimaginably during its decade-long war.

The west became inured to the headline horrors: the child soldiers drugged to commit atrocities, women abducted to become sex slaves, thousands killed, raped, houses set alight.

The death toll has been put at 50,000, roughly one per cent of the population. Around half a million fled to neighbouring countries and two million people were displaced. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 30,000 had limbs amputated. It was at that time that women took to wearing trousers, which they called 'awareness'.

READ THE FULL AND FINAL PART OF LINDSEY SILL'S VISIT TO SIERRA LEONE IN OUR ONLINE EDITION