These kids in Nekabo are actually watching a the camcorder screen as they are being filmed…. (more…)
Posts about Sierra Leonne
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Pictures of people (print post)
By Holly Buykx on 26 September 2002No Comments Yet
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Its not all work … pictures of beaches (print post)
By Holly Buykx on 26 September 2002No Comments Yet
Paradise? The stuff of Bounty adverts? Or just a fine camp site?…. (more…)
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Pictures of transport (print post)
By Holly Buykx on 26 September 2002No Comments Yet
No motorways, no A roads and very little tarmac. Makes for some interesting transport solutions… (more…)
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Pictures of the work (print post)
By Holly Buykx on 26 September 2002No Comments Yet
Distribution of mosquito nets is hard work as these photos show…
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Sierra Leone - Life (print post)
By Holly Buykx on 25 September 2002No Comments Yet
Living was not as rough as some friends in Europe seem to have thought. Water is always a consideration, and in Kenema we had a well, or had to bring water in for the house. We had no TV or internet access, or even electricity towards the end of the wet season. We did have electricity in the wet season, as Kenema has a hydro-electric power! scheme in the hills.
But for all the downsides (if you consider lack of TV a problem!), there are always benefits. Living and working in a different country and culture is interesting, fascinating at times. In SL there are numerous other ex-pats, working for other NGOs, or the UN in various different guises, and the range of international people is huge and ever changing. It was difficult to be lonely. I enjoyed living in SL for the time I did, and have found views of many who have not been there to be very negative, mostly based on media reporting, of course, and therefore very biased. I hope I have redressed the balance, even slightly.
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Sierra Leone - My work (print post)
By Holly Buykx on 25 September 2002No Comments Yet
Sierra Leone is a small country in West Africa, sandwiched between Guinea and Liberia. I worked with the British NGO Merlin on a malaria control programme, which is a part of their much larger health programme, including the paediatric ward, feeding centre, lassa fever ward and maternity ward at the town hospital, numerous health clinics in villages and internally displaced peoples (IDP) camps. The malaria work included health education, surveys on the perception of people towards the disease and their treatment of it, and the distribution of mosquito nets after training of local volunteers. The income from these nets was returned to the communities, to enable them to work on other health development projects, or buy further mosquito nets. We worked in three IDP camps, until they disbanded in May 2002, an area near Freetown and increasing numbers of villages in Kenema district.
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Sierra Leone - An introduction (print post)
By Holly Buykx on 25 September 2002No Comments Yet
It is impossible to describe a country and a culture in a few photos, especially a country as beautiful and rich as Sierra Leone, and a culture so different from that most Europeans are familiar with. I lived in Kenema, Sierra Leone for just over a year working on a malaria control programme for Merlin, a British NGO. The over-riding and lasting impressions I have are of the people - resilient still after 10 years of brutal civil war, welcoming and fun loving. The children in particular are always curious, if a little shy sometimes of a white foreigner, and always enthusiastic when they see a camera!