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Project implemented by Concern Worldwide, Ireland

Susan and Cline Bay, Freetown, Sierra Leone

December 2010

Project co-financed by the European Commission

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TVP Wiki page: http://www.TVP.eu/wiki/index.php?title=Sierra_Leone_-_Mothers_Preparing_Mothers_-_Susan_and_Cline_Bays
Playlist on Youtube TVPChannel : http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF77924B695D1A7F6

Episode 1 - MDG 1 - Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Television cameras do not usually come here but such images are familiar to millions of us. 1 in every 3 persons in the world still lives in slums.

This is Cline Bay, a slum area situated in the heart of Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, a small country off the West African coast. Cline Bay was once used as a mooring for the flotillas of the colonial powers. Now, it is home to hundreds of people who were displaced during the decades of civil war in the country and who decided to stay on even after the war was over.

Now, Cline bay is polluted. There is stagnant dirty water and uncollected garbage lying around. It is a poor neighbourhood and is crowded because it is next to a commercial area that provides opportunities for small jobs. The living conditions here are miserable and mortality rates are high, especially among infants and young mothers. But one can still feel the vibrant spirit of Africa here.

One of the major causes of poverty in Cline Bay is that girls become mothers at an early age. Besides the risk of complications, early pregnancies force girls to stop studying and instead look for jobs. And because they are not educated, they get jobs that pay very little. These young mothers also have little knowledge of child care or even basic health and hygiene, so they end up spending a large portion of their meagre earnings on medical help. Their lack of knowledge in basic health and hygiene is a major cause for their ill health. And the lack of access to good health care is the main cause for death.

We came to the slums of Cline Bay with Josephine who is a social worker in a European non-government organisation called Concern Worldwide. Concern has been working in Sierra Leone since 1996. The project that Josephine works in has been co-financed by the European Union as part of its contribution to the Millennium Development Goals. Concern implements projects funded by various international agencies and individual donor contributions.

Concern’s project in Cline Bay aims at empowering women and through them improving the lives of their families and communities. In this project, Concern works with groups of young mothers who have dropped out of school because they need to earn a living. The project being implemented by Concern aims at alleviating poverty by increasing knowledge and promoting solidarity among women who face similar challenges, problems and needs.

Josephine herself is a young mother and a school drop-out living in Cline Bay. Concern trained Josephine in the basics of health, hygiene and child care. Josephine now educates the women of Cline Bay to become more responsible mothers and teaches them safe health and hygiene practices. And she has also gone back to school once again.

She has changed her destiny and has started changing the destiny of others. She has become an active agent of change in her neighbourhood.

Josephine, and her colleagues in the Concern Worldwide team, have organised Mothers’ Clubs where women teach younger mothers’ and girls in the basics of health, hygiene, and child care - like how to avoid undesired pregnancies, what is safe sex, how to take care of yourselves themselves and their children during pregnancy and after child birth. Concern Worldwide trains traditional birth attendants in pre-natal monitoring and assistance. The Mothers’ clubs promote regular check-ups and breastfeeding and run classes for ante-natal and post-natal care.

In these clubs, women share their experiences and help each other in facing the challenges of being young single mothers. The Mother’s clubs facilitate study groups, tutoring lessons and coaching programmes for girls. Their activities have led to a decrease in the school drop-out rates for girls in Cline Bay. The skills and confidence that women gain from being part of the Mothers’ Clubs also helps them participate in parent’s associations and local initiatives.

The sense of solidarity that women experience and the knowledge they acquire in these groups helps them gain courage to continue fighting poverty. Every morning young mothers living in Cline Bay leave their homes to earn their living so that their families can eat, their children can go to school and they can care for their health and that of their children. Their hope to leave the slums one day continues keeps them going.

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Additional Notes

“When we come together, we constitute a strong voice to provide the opportunity of learning for our daughters – something we do not have individually,” Ms. Kanu added.

"Donors need to understand that it takes time to bring about changes and that systematic community led processes are required to build community capacity. Donors also need to look at development and making changes in Sierra Leone with a long term perspective", is the message of Manoj Kumar, then Country Director of Concern.

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Additional Information
Interview : Manoj Kumar - Country Director Concern Africa - Women Empowerment - Pitpuchin Village

Web site: http://www.concern.net/where-we-work/africa/sierra-leone

Contact Information:
Concern Head Office - 22 Carlton Carew Lane, Thompson Bay, Off Wilkinson Road, Freetown. Country Director - Mobile: 0023276744346 - Rajeev K. Vishwakarma, National Health Coordinator - Mobile:0023276675017 - rajeev.vishwakarma@concern.net

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