Tony Blair arrives today in Sierra Leone, hoping to cement a fragile peacethere. Declan Walsh reports from Freetown
The word Jesus was inked in bold across Rosaline B Conteh's cap. The solemn young woman held a poster of a smiling white man with a thin moustache.
"Miracles are going to happen tonight," she declared. "The sick will receive the healing, the blind will see."
The American preacher, Rev Bill Turkovich - the suited man in the poster - was coming to Port Loko for the first time since the end of the war. Great things were going to happen. "At about five o'clock," added her boyfriend, Charles.
But Sierra Leone's miracle has already happened. Some are turning to religion, many more to politics because, after a decade of unspeakable brutality, peace has finally arrived.
The rebels have surrendered their guns. Civilians are flooding out of camps and back to their homes. UN-sponsored elections are set for May, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives in Freetown today to mark the new stability.
"Di wor is don don" read the street banner in Krio all over Freetown - the war is over.
But Sierra Leone is not in the clear, at least not yet. A number of threats could undo the fragile peace. And for many war-battered citizens the battle has just begun - to forgive the unforgivable, and to seek justice where there has been none.
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels took Alusine Bangura's wife at gunpoint from their Freetown home. During the war thousands of women were abducted for use as "rebel wives" - effectively sex slaves - by the rebels. The last Alusine heard, she had been raped and later died.
The government of Sierra Leone tells Alusine and other victims they must "forgive and forget". The mantra is accepted, but not completely. "We can forgive," said Alusine. "Because if we stand against them they will repeat what they did. But it is impossible to forget." The rebels must also face their demons. The demobilisation process completed last month beat even the most optimistic predictions. Over 47,000 rebels voluntarily destroyed their own weapons under UN supervision. But now they face the prospect of returning home.
The worst atrocities were committed by the RUF, whose drug-crazed fighters murdered, burned and raped indiscriminately. But crimes were also committed by the pro-government Civil Defence Forces (militia), albeit on a less scale. Some CDF, for example, ate their slain enemies.
There are hardly any women in Koidu, an eastern town in the heart of the diamond rich area. Its streets are filled with jobless young men, former rebels who file past lines of burnt-out houses. Some buildings have collapsed due to a mining frenzy where house floors and foundations were dug up in search of diamonds.
Komba Nyandamoh (20) came to a UN-guarded office to collect his 300,000 leones (€158) "reintegration" payment due to all ex-combatants. "Some RUF are feeling bad about themselves," he said. "They are afraid of going to their villages because of what they did." But human rights workers have noticed a disturbing lack of remorse among older fighters. Frank Dovo, a well-spoken man who gave his rank as private, denied that the RUF destroyed the town, killed civilians or mined diamonds.
"We financed the war from cocoa and palm oil," he said.
Like many RUF, Mr Dovo was awaiting the release of his notorious leader, Foday Sankoh, from jail. "Pure peace means the release of him. Without that we are sick," he said.
But the first daylight Mr Sankoh will see is mostly like to be during a forthcoming war crimes tribunal. The special court will seek to prosecute the 30 "most responsible" war criminals, and Mr Sankoh is top of the list.
It will be accompanied by a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that aims to aid reconciliation by giving a voice to both victims and perpetrators of war crimes. It will probably not result in prosecutions, though - since 1999 all former combatants enjoy an amnesty for their actions.
There are dangers ahead. The May elections are being nervously anticipated.
They will be contested by former RUF under the banner of their new political party, the RUFP. And there are fears that instability in neighbouring Liberia could spill over into Sierra Leone, sucking it into conflict again.
For now reconciliation is going ahead, fuelled by the incredible capacity for forgiveness of Sierra Leoneans. The village of Wondedu, five miles from Koidu, was ravaged by rebels during the war, but none the less Chief Tamba Kortu has accepted them back. "You cannot disown your own blood. It is like the prodigal son," he said.
Safea Leggie, a 20-year-old CDF fighter, was one of them. Upon his return he sat down with villagers and his former RUF enemies, and talked of the war gone by.
"We would discuss matters. Sometimes we even joked and laughed," he said. "And then we said everything is over."