Sierra Leone's long civil war was especially brutal, with children serving as soldiers and rebels hacking off the limbs of civilians. When it ended, the country lay in ruin, a once thriving tourist industry among the things destroyed. Nearly six years later, long stretches of sandy beach are still mostly bare, and government officials say reviving this important source of revenue is a top concern.  Kari Barber reports for VOA from Freetown.

A shelter along a Sierra Leone beach

Tourism, along with diamond mining, were major sources of revenue before the war engulfed this African nation in the 1990s.

Jewelry seller Joseph Bangura says he waits on the beach, hoping tourists will return. "I am making nice necklaces for those people who are coming to know our culture and our land," he says. "At least they won't forget about us."

Sierra Leone is one of the poorest nations in the world.  The war destroyed much of the country's infrastructure. Thousands of former combatants still struggle to survive.

Alfred Navo

"Sierra Leone is no longer at war.  We are now fighting against poverty, [for] poverty alleviation," he explains.  "We want people to come.  Sierra Leone for now is like a virgin land."

Navo says Sierra Leone is relying heavily on international aid to help revitalize the tourist industry. "We are handicapped financially in the process because for now we are more dependent on donor funds.  Of course they have also their own areas of priority."

Navo says funding hospitals and schools comes first for most donors, before tourism. He says a number of smaller, independently owned guest houses are opening up.

Raymond Jones

The government hopes others will follow Jones' lead and invest in tourism.  For now, Sierra Leone will continue to prepare its beaches in hopes that one day they will be again be bustling with foreigners and their dispensable incomes.