Kadiematu Adieu, 50, sits on a low bench on her mud house verandah and plays with the needle and thread in her hand. Her voice is calm and doesn’t waver as she tells her story.
“I’ve spent most of my life in Mogbowama,” she says, talking about her village in the middle of the bush in the south of Sierra Leone. “But during the war when the rebels attacked I was forced to flee.
“One of my sons was captured. He was 14 years old and I’ve not seen him since he was taken.”
Struggling to survive
©InfoShe continues: “When we returned after the war, the village was a mess and it was tough. We are farmers, but there was no rice seed left.
“We had a lot of health problems including cholera, malaria and diarrhoea – which killed a lot of children, including one of my grandchildren.”
Building peace
After the war, the Red Cross started working with Mogbowama village to help develop the community and rebuild peace. Initially there were a lot of issues resulting from the war, such as families returning home to find their belongings and seed stores had been looted by neighbours.
The tensions were resolved by setting up a ‘community peace consolidation committee’. Also, agricultural tools and seeds were given to the villagers so they could set up group farms and share the produce amongst themselves. After this the Red Cross began a community-based health programme.
Health needs
Kadiematu says: “It is not easy to get to the nearest health facilities and even if we make it there, there is a shortage of drugs and they can’t always help.
“Our biggest problem is poverty. Sometimes men run away from their wives if they get sick because they can’t afford to pay for healthcare.
“But the Red Cross is educating us on how to prevent a lot of diseases. Before, we didn’t have toilet facilities, but now we have a latrine block. We’ve also been taught about the importance of washing our hands.”
Red Cross support
She continues: “Two years ago the Red Cross helped us build a hand-pump well, so now we have pure water. It’s so much easier to fetch water now, as the well is in the middle of the village. And people no longer spread their clothes on the ground to dry – we’ve learned how important it is to use clothes lines to keep clean and healthy.
“We also have a mother’s club where we contribute money which is loaned to people when they need it. And we have our backyard gardens. From these we sell our produce and use the money to pay back the loans.
“Things are getting better but I hope the people supporting the Red Cross work won’t forget us.”
Read Tenneh's story about being happier and healthier after the war