Miss Cain's visit to
Sierra Leone
February 2007
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Miss Cain's visit to Sierra Leone February 2007 |
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In late 2006, local charity 'The Waterloo Partnership' invited schools in the Waterloo and Crosby areas of Merseyside to join their planned visit to the township of Waterloo in Sierra Leone. Miss Cain, the teacher of class 4C, volunteered to represent Forefield Junior School. In February, during the half term holiday, she flew out with the other volunteers. Here, we share Miss Cain's experiences and find out some of the valuable lessons that she learned on her visit to the world's poorest country, Sierra Leone. |
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About Sierra Leone |
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Sierra Leone, meaning 'Lion Mountain', is a country on the West African coast. Ravaged by a long and brutal civil war, it is officially recognised by the UN as the poorest country in the world. |
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Effects of the Civil War Between 1991 and 2002, various armed groups fought each other in order to gain control of the country. As a result, over two million people had to flee their homes. Without a stable government, the country fell into chaos and many of the things that we take for granted, such as schools, transport, medical care and even food supplies were lost. Perhaps the most shocking fact about the civil war was the widespread use of child soldiers. During the conflict, thousands of children, many of whom would have been the same age as pupils from our own school, were involved with armed groups. Drugged and forced to fight, these children endured experiences too horrific for us to imagine. Many of these ex-child soldiers are to be found in the schools today. They often react differently in school than other children and for some, drug addiction is still a problem. |
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Children often have to walk a long way to get to school. |
Schools were taken over by rebels and resources were destroyed. |
Classes are oversized and have children of mixed ages. |
Daily Life Day to day living in Waterloo, Sierra Leone is very different to Waterloo, Merseyside. The houses do not have gas or electricity. In fact, the houses are not really like our houses at all. They are often just temporary shelters made of sheets of metal and fabric supported by branches. |
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During the civil war, millions of people were forced to leave their homes. |
Many now live in temporary shelters like the ones in these pictures. |
Some children live with their extended families, like aunts and uncles. |
People do not have running water in their homes. This means no baths or showers, no kitchen sink, and certainly no washing machines. All washing and bathing is done in the river. Water for drinking and cooking has to be collected from a well and carried back home in large containers. This can be a tiring job as the containers can become very heavy and may have to be carried a long way. |
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A boy lowers a container into the well... |
...then pulls the full container back out. |
He has to carry the water back home. |
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