Sierra Leone

Topic: Sierra Leone

Central Idea: Conflict Diamonds

Purpose Statement: The purpose of this presentation is to inform the listeners of what a conflict diamond is.

Author: Wesley Harris Jr.

Introduction

[VA: Picture named Blood from a stone]

I. Attention Getter: Does anyone know or has anyone ever heard of a conflict or blood diamond?

II. Central Idea (My purpose today is to enlighten you on what a conflict diamond is, where they come from, and what takes place to obtain them.)

III. Purpose Statement.(My purpose is to educate the listeners on the diamond mining in Sierra Leone, and how it connects to the diamonds we own.)

Body

[VA: Picture of map of Sierra Leone]

IV. The Republic of Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa that is bordered by Guinea and Liberia. The name Sierra Leone was adapted from the Portuguese version: Serra Leoa, which means \"Lion Mountains.\" (Sierra Leone par 1) Main Point

A. Sub point = During the 1700s there was a thriving trade bringing slaves from Sierra Leone to the plantations of South Carolina and Georgia , called the Transatlantic Slave Trade, where their rice-farming skills made them particularly valuable.

1. Sub-Sub-point = The movie Amistad is centered around the people of Sierra Leone

2. Sub-Sub-point= A large part of the plot of the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day revolved around the smuggling of conflict diamonds.

B. Sub point = There are about 14 different tribes living in Sierra Leone, which together make up about 99% of the population..

1. Sub-Sub-point = The most important tribes are the Temne (mostly in the north) and Mende (central and south), both forming about one third of the population

2. Sub-Sub-point= There is a sizeable number of Krios, descendants of enslaved Africans, freed in London in the late 1700s and later returned to West Africa.

V. Conflict Diamonds= Main Point

A. A conflict diamond (also called a blood diamond or a war diamond) is a diamond mined in a war zone and sold, usually secretly, in order to finance an insurgent or invading army\'s war efforts.

1. Non-governmental organizations have also alleged the use of these diamonds in financing the September 11, 2001 attacks.

2. The United Nations has decried the sale of conflict diamonds, arguing that their trade finances armies in fighting against legitimate governments and perpetrating human rights abuses, and prolongs devastating wars.

a. It points to the UNITA rebels in Angola and to the Revolutionary United Front rebels in Sierra Leone (who it states were financed by the government of Liberia, also through diamond sales) as purveyors of conflict diamonds.

b. The UN is attempting to implement certification procedures to decrease the number of illicit diamonds on the world market.

c. On July 19, 2000, the World Diamond Council adopted at Antwerp a resolution to strengthen the diamond industry\'s ability to block sales of conflict diamonds.

B. Thanks to the many activists who joined forces on September 18 to find out what diamond retailers are doing (or not doing) to combat the trade in conflict diamonds. The day was a huge success - in 50 cities across 18 states, AI activists visited 246 stores to conduct the survey and raised awareness among consumers by tabling and leafleting in their communities.

* 1. Only 27% of shops were able assure us that they had a policy on conflict diamonds.

* 2. 30% of the shops that said they had a policy were unable to produce a hard copy of or explain it.

* 3. Only 13% of shops provided warranties to their customers as a standard practice.

4. 37% of the shops we visited claimed to be aware of the conflict diamonds issue. But 54% of them reported an inaccurate definition of the crisis. (Business and Human Rights par 2)

[VA: www.amnestyusa.org/diamonds, and click on the clip]

Conclusion

VII. = Central Idea - Conflict Diamonds

VIII. = Clincher-And I will conclude my presentation with an audio presentation of Kanye West's song "Diamonds are Forever", which in a sense, drove me to speak about conflict diamonds.

Works Cited

Armani.1999. 20 Feb. 1999. .

Knopf, Aron. Milan City Guide. New York: Knopf Inc., 1998.

MacIsaac, Heather. Travel and Leisure. New York: American Express Publishing Co., 1996.

MLA Usage: Do not include this on your outline

http://www.cbu.edu/library/instruction/handouts/mla.pdf

http://www.apsu.edu/~lesterj/CYBER3.HTM

http://www1.esc.edu/personalfac/hshapiro/writing_program/students/Handouts/main/research_mla.htm

http://students.ecpi.edu/lib/

MLA Official Home Page

http://www.mla.org

COMPILING A LIST OF SOURCES FOR YOUR TERM PAPER

Every term paper must have a list of sources to allow the reader to identify where the writer of the term paper has found information. Two of the most popular methods of preparing these pages are APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association) documentation.

MLA DOCUMENTATION

In MLA documentation, the list of sources occurs at the end of your paper ON A SEPARATE PAGE and is titled "Works Cited." Each entry is double-spaced; the first line of each citation appears