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Faces and food insecurity

40 images Created 9 Mar 2013

Discovering the villages of Sierra Leone, the life, the people, and the challenges they face in getting enough to eat and getting medical care.

In June 2012, I was fortunate to be able to travel to Sierra Leone (population 5.2 million) in an effort to work to improve animal healthcare services and public health. Sierra Leone is a poor country with many challenges to overcome. From 1991-2002, the country experienced a brutal civil war that took many lives and caused many more to flee their homes for safety. Rebels cut off the hands and arms of some people. Much of the infrastructure of the country was destroyed. Today, however, the country is under democratic leadership and is working toward economic improvement. Unfortunately, there is still much to do: Poverty remains high, as does youth unemployment. Roads are generally poor, electricity unreliable or nonexistent, life expectancy at birth is approximately 48 years, adult literacy rate is 41%, and the under 5 yr. child mortality rates are the fourth worst in the world. It is estimated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization that 35% of the people are undernourished, with 40% of children suffering malnutrition and stunting of growth. Agricultural plays a significant role in sustenance, crops more than animals. Food animals such as goats, sheep, chickens, cattle, and pigs can provide a source of money when they sell the offspring. The animals can be sold in hard times, so they act as an emergency bank account. Eggs can be eaten or sold. Milk can be drunk, but there is little demand for milk commercially. Killing an animal for meat is uncommon, but does happen when an animal is raised for such a purpose, a festival, or has outlived it's purpose.

Unfortunately, there are just 5 veterinarians in all of Sierra Leone, so animal health suffers. There are few experts outside of the livestock officers to provide aid in animal production, health and medical care. Improving the health of the animals translates to improved weight gain, more offspring, more milk, more meat, more money, which means the family prospers and eats better. Animal health is tied to human health, there is no doubt. One of my jobs while there was to provide input into a new program the government is operating--the Community Animal Health Worker program. In this program, one or more individuals in a village volunteer to be trained in animal health and basic animal medial services. They serve their village, providing animal health expertise when no one else can. This is a much needed program, and it is just now getting started. I hope for its success.

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  • Freetown, Sierra Leone
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  • Freetown, Sierra Leone. Nearly half the population of Sierra Leone lives in Freetown. Young people move to the city from rural life in hopes of finding work and a more exciting life, but find making a living difficult. Many take to selling sundry items on the streets. Electricity is unreliable. The roads are good in some areas of the city, but many still need repair. It is estimated that nearly 60% of the country's operating budget comes from donor countries.
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  • As I stood watching the young men playing football on the beach, these boys were taking a break from playing. They sat talking and watching the older boys, and I started talking with them, showing them the pictures on the back of my camera that I was taking. They were quite happy to have their pictures taken.
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  • Another boy waiting on the sidelines to play football.
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  • The last in a trio of boys.
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  • A boy in Bo, Sierra Leone, sells peanuts to make money.
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  • Children in the village of Mabamboo, about an hour and a half outside of Freetown, show off their goats that Heifer International has provided. The animals are a source of pride, and a bank account in hard times.
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  • The villagers of Mabamboo create their own salt licks for their goats out of multiple ingredients, including ground up ant hills and ground up fish bones.
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  • Adults in Mabamboo are proud too. Goats are bred, and the offspring given away to another family in need. Here, a family shows off its goats, but also the salt lick they made from natural ingredients: ant hill, dried plants, ground fish bones, and other things. Very affordable, and the goats love it.
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  • The Chief of Mabamboo village stands proudly in front of his goat houses. Goats should be confined, otherwise they roam and eat the crops of farmers, and then there is conflict within the community.
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  • A family in Mabamboo shows off one of its goats and goat house. The young girl is shy here.
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  • The girl is proud and fond of her goat, and less shy now.
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  • Before I leave Mabamboo, they want a quick group shot. They rush to join the picture. I'm rushed. We have to leave to visit another village and make it back to Freetown before the traffic gets too bad. 
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  • In the village of Robombeh, not far from Mabamboo, I meet the only woman in the village who can read. She proudly displays her visitor log book, which I sign before I take this picture. She was very nice, very sweet woman.
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  • With just 5 veterinarians in the entire country, and those will retire in 3-4 years, there is a desperate need to provide basic animal health care services to the animal owners of Sierra Leone. Animals are vital for survival. While many in the rural parts of Sierra Leone grow crops, others raise goats, chickens, maybe even cattle or sheep. Now there is an effort to select and train someone who is local, someone who is excited to learn more about animal husbandry, animal health, basic medical care for animals. These CAHWs will provide those services that are lacking or hard to find. Better animal care means healthier animals, means more growth, better reproductive rates, better survival, more milk or eggs, more meat, and more money. Better animal health = better human health & prosperity.
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  • In Sinkunia, a vibrantly dressed woman and her baby stroll down the main road. The child glances back at the strange white man with a camera. Wonderful.
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  • This young woman in Koromasilya, Sierra Leone, is very enthusiastic about becoming a CAHW.
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  • A future community animal health worker in Koromasilya, Sierra Leone. He, with others, will be trained to provide basic animal health care to the animals of his village, with the hope that improved animal health means more food and more prosperity for the families, including his.
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  • A husband and wife display one of their goats that now provide them a bit of security in their lives.
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  • A mother and child in Koromasilya, Sierra Leone
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  • Girls carrying local food supplies in Kabala, Sierra Leone
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  • The hands of a tailor in Kabala, Sierra Leone
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  • The health clinic in the village of Jimmi does what it can, with few supplies or equipment. Supplies are delivered by the Ministry of Health every 3 months, and requests for more go unfulfilled. Malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition are big problems. Here, a child is hospitalized for a fever. His father sits at his side.
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  • Another sick boy in the clinic in Jimmi, Sierra Leone. The ability to diagnose an illness is challenging. The clinic has the ability to test for malaria and run urine dipsticks to look for protein and sugar. The needs outstrips what the clinic can offer. The clinic had antibiotics for children, but none for adults. Supplemental nutritional packets for children were running low.
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  • Chief Abu Khan of Jimmi Bagbo District is also a sharp-eyed healer. He showed me plants for treating malaria, snake bite, dysentary, and fractures.
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  • The Chief holds the seeds of the Moringa tree. Many parts of the Moringa are used for different purposes, from animal feed to dye to medicine to everyday food. The leaves are high vitamins, calcium and protein. The health and medicinal benefits are numerous and include reducing blood pressure, improving the immune system function, treating stomach ulcers, and more. The seeds are high in oil, which is used in some cosmetics.
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  • The hands of a healer and Chief of the village Jimmi, Sierra Leone, rest after working with the pods and seeds of the Moringa plant. The pods and seeds of the Moringa plant on the table.
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  • Moringa plant and seed pods
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  • The Chief and healer in the village of Jimmi village, Sierra Leone, shows me how to cure snake bite. Here, rubbing his secret combination of leaves on the wound.
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  • After rubbing the plants on the bite wound, he then rubbed them in his eyes. I never quite understood why, but he knew. He was very protective of the secret plants he used to treat snake bite and wouldn't show any of the other "outsiders" but me. I was honored.
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  • Chief Jo Makaya, also of Jimmi Bagbo District, showed me around and put me up for the night. He watched over me as I learned about the hospital needs and the unsafe water supply. He showed me how they grow rice, raise Talapia, and how the rebels had destroyed the water pumping station and water tower.
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  • The Chief on a rice farm.
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  • Talapia ponds of Jimmi, Sierra Leone.
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  • This woman took time to talk with me about her family, pictured here, and going hungry. They eat once a day, usually just rice. She's worried about her youngest, who suffers from malnutrition. The vaccine record of the child sits on the table. Even though she's part of a farming family, they don't have enough to eat. Ways to improve farming, increase yields, and lower the work load, especially for women, need to be found.
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  • There are many wonderful beaches around Freetown, if you can get to them.
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  • The mother of the founder of Khadarlis (a US based NGO) sits on her couch in her second floor apartment above shops and busy streets of Freetown. She's calm, peaceful. She's glad I'm there to help, she tells me. I see her twice,  while I'm in Sierra Leone, only for a few minutes each time. Its a nice visit, one I hope to make again.
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  • These two young men were taking pictures of me as I photographed the football players on the beach. So I turned the tables, and we all laughed.
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  • Clothes on a clotheslines in Kabala, Sierra Leone.
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  • This energetic young tailor was busy morning until night at his sewing out on the front porch of his house in Kabala, Sierra Leone. Gracious, friendly and in demand, many people stopped to see him, some lingering for hours.
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  • Children celebrate a goal in a football match behind their school in Kabala, Sierra Leone.
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