LETTER OF RECOMMONDATION University of Oxford

For Lansana Juana Department of International

Development

Mansfield Road
Oxford, OX1 3TB
United Kingdom
Johanna Boersch-Supan
Graduate Student Researcher www.qeh.ox.ac.uk

Freetown, 26.09.2007

To Whom It May Concern:

Lansana Juana, born 13 March 1983, worked for me as a research assistant during
August and September 2007, while I was doing fieldwork for my Master’s thesis on
“What the Communities say: The Crossroads between Integration and Reconciliation.
What can be learned from the Sierra Leonean Experience?” During this time Lansana
Juana was responsible for making and keeping contact with respondents in the
different locations of my fieldwork (Makeni, Magburaka, Kenema, Tongo and Eastern
Freetown) and translating during interviews, which were not held in English but in Krio
or Mende.

Lansana Juana did an excellent job at communicating with respondents, arranging

appointments, and organizing many logistical aspects of my fieldwork. His translation
was consistent and he carefully translated English expressions into meaningful Krio
and Mende concepts.

While assisting me with my research to my full satisfaction, Lansana Juana also

proved an invaluable source of information concerning wider issues on Sierra Leonean
history, politics, and culture in general and the recent civil war in particular. His
previous work with other researchers as well as his own experience and education has
given him a comprehensive background in the above-mentioned fields. This expertise
greatly benefited my research, as Lansana Juana was able to contextualize and clarify
much of my interviewing material.

I full heartedly recommend Lansana Juana as a research assistant to any other

graduate and post-graduate researcher. If you have any further questions, please do
not hesitate to contact me at johanna@boersch-supan.de or +44 79 39431637, +49
176 62800032.

Sincerely,

Johanna Boersch-Supan