This article was originally published on Ebola Deeply.
By Cinnatus Dumbaya
Alongside government efforts to spearhead food distribution in areas recovering from Ebola, ordinary Sierra Leoneans are creating their own drives to keep hunger at bay in their own communities. Cinnatus Dumbaya followed local resident Amelia Memsor Weaver to the village of Magbanamati to find out more.
Ebola Deeply: Amelia, how and why did you decide to get involved in this food distribution project? How serious a problem is food insecurity in the western rural district?
A family in Magbanamati village receive a supply of rice. Above top, Amelia Memsor Weaver (right), looks on during food distribution in the same village.
Memsor Weaver: I'm a livestock officer by profession, and I've now also become the coordinator of this food distribution project. I got support to undertake this project from the Rotary Club of Aberdeen, Scotland, through the Rotary Club of Sierra Leone.
So far we have distributed food in three chiefdoms, and we are about to distribute food in the fourth. You know, even though cases of Ebola have drastically dwindled into the single digits, one major challenge that people are now facing in previously affected communities is hunger.
Many breadwinners have died, and many survivors cannot work meaningfully to support their families. They face stigmatization, and some tell me they have had trouble attempting to return to their former places of employment. There are lot of widows and survivors in these communities. I am telling you, hunger is now the biggest battle to be fought in these communities, and that is what we have set out to tackle in our own little way.
Imagine that you've lost everything, and then you start struggling with what to eat. That will lead to frustration and more depression for these people. They say a hungry man is an angry man.
I worked as United Nations Volunteer for a long time, and I had the opportunity to work in so many other countries in Africa, especially in southern Africa. I was in Swaziland and I love the approach used there; in rural communities, many households have a cow to milk, chickens and other animals. This helps people to be self-reliant rather than always looking to the government or other agencies for handouts. When I left the U.N., I decided not to stay in Freetown, but I returned to my hometown of Rotifunk, in the district of Moyamba. I did this because I wanted to implement the community approach to development skills I acquired working with the U.N. I wanted to impact the lives of people near me.
Ebola Deeply: What exactly is being provided to families, and how much?
Memsor Weaver: We have established a goat-rearing project for the worst-affected families. We are also providing medium bags of rice; it’s our staple food, and it will ease the burden and constraints of these people. Other cooking condiments such as oil, sugar, onions, salt and Maggi cubes are also being provided.
Ebola Deeply: How many people are benefiting from this food distribution project? Besides food, are there any additional needs?
Memsor Weaver: Oh! Over a thousand people so far. In this fourth chiefdom of Magbanamati, many homes were quarantined during the worst parts of the outbreak. After the quarantine was lifted, people's clothes were burned and many people lost their property. So in addition, we are providing them with clothes.
In Monkey Bush Community in the western rural district, we found a community left devastated by the Ebola outbreak. If you visit this community you will be shocked by the impact of Ebola there. When I had a discussion with the people there, I realized they had lost everything and urgently needed help. So we also provided them with used clothing and other essential medical items like soap, bleach and hand sanitizer.
Ebola Deeply: How badly has agriculture been affected in these communities? You mentioned that you launched a livestock-rearing project.
Memsor Weaver: We are helping affected families with goats and other livestock. They can rear them, in order to make money from them later to help with their families’ financial demands. These animals are being given to families of five in these villages. Once they are matured, they can be sold, empowering these families to pay school fees. They could even eat them, improving their nutritional status.
In the past, these kinds of communities have received micro-credit loans, but we realized it's better to help them with livestock to rear. Micro-credits are not sustainable. They have created more problems than solutions for many families. Women who cannot pay their loans at the stipulated time have abandoned their families and run away; others have been jailed. This is because they don’t have the proper financial management skills to handle such monies. This is why we thought we should empower them with livestock, rather than putting money in their hands.
Ebola Deeply: Do you think this kind of livestock-focused approach should be the way forward for Ebola economic recovery in other parts of Sierra Leone?
Memsor Weaver: Certainly! I would like to encourage the government to embark on similar projects across the country. I am telling you, this will be a great help for people. People will have ownership of the process; they will have the pleasure of seeing the animals grow through their very own care. They will first love these animals, then care for them, then eat and get protein from them. Most importantly, they can also sell them to bring money in the home. This is what I call sustainable empowerment.
Ebola Deeply: We've just witnessed the food distribution here. The beneficiaries were beaming with joy.
That’s what happens when you bring help to people who need it. These people are deprived and will appreciate any good gesture from well-meaning Sierra Leoneans and even non-Sierra Leoneans. In fact, I am doing this distribution on behalf of Rotary Sierra Leone with support from Rotary Aberdeen in the United Kingdom. I am a community person and I know firsthand the challenges of these communities.
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Cinnatus Dumbaya is a contributor to Ebola Deeply.
[Photo courtesy of Ebola Deeply]