Disaster Relief

REPORT TO GLOBAL GIVING NOVEMBER 2017

Organisation: ChildHelp Sierra Leone

Country:        Sierra Leone

Project Locations: Western area  - Freetown and Bombali District – Largo community

Donor:           Global Giving Foundation (UK/USA)

Amount of money raised: USD 1,605 

Amount in Local currency: SLL: 11,716,500

Number of beneficiaries supported: 93 school children

Reporting date: November 2017

Description:

Serra Leone is a former British Colony with temperatures and humidity so high, and rainfall is heavy. The mean temperature is about 27° C (81° F ) on the coast and almost as high on the eastern plateau. There are two distinct seasons: the dry season, from November to April, and the wet season, over the rest of the year, with the heaviest precipitation in July, August, and September. Rainfall is greatest along the coast, especially in the mountains, where there is more than 580 cm (230 in) annually, but it averages more than 315 cm (125 in) a year in most of the country, with 366 cm (144 in) at Freetown. The relative humidity ranges from an average of 80% during the wet season to about 50% during the dry season.

Due to continuous cutting down of trees and building thousands of homes in restricted and mountainous areas, Freetown mountainous areas became deforestated and exposed, which has caused the mudslides and flooding on 14th August, 2017, killing hundreds of people, destroying homes and displacing thousands of people. Sierra Leone has experienced this worst hit where dozens of houses were submerged through mudslides and massive flooding.  Today, Thousands of people have been displaced and homeless. The school children in these flooded communities were affected as their homes, properties, schools were damaged and members of their families died during the disaster.

The Office of National Security released disaggregated data on the people affected by the floods and mudslides, the injured and the recovered bodies. Out of 5,905 affected people, 2,607 are children and of the 493 bodies discovered, 157 are children. Response operations continue despite the heavy rains experienced in Freetown in the past several days. In light of the continuing rains, efforts are also underway to establish preparedness mechanisms in high risk communities.

At the level of ChildHelp, meetings and consultations were held with authorities in the best interest of the affected children as our priority, finding possible solutions for emergencies. These affected children aged 7 - 19 years were from the affected communities in the six locations (Culvert, Dworzak, Kamayamah, Kanikay, Kaningo and Regent), and were Loko by tribe.  

ChildHelp found out that the only result for many of these school children and their parents and care givers was an emergency relocation to where they choose for the main time due to the lack of food, health and housing facilities. 159 parents requested the need for transportation and support to return back home in the Bombali district, Northern province of Sierra Leone, where they came from during the Rebellic civil war on Sierra Leone, to start a new life.  

Global Giving donation was focused on supporting the affected children and families who decided to return back to the provinces to start a new life. 31 out of 159 parents were ready with 93 school children were the urgent neediest to return to their province from the city of Freetown, where they came from. 147 in numbers including the school children were paid for, using transportation to various chiefdom communities within the Bombali district and the provision of uniforms, books, bags, etc. to the school children who had return home.

Challenges: More funding is needed. The campaign funding needed is USD 32,000. 16 donations were made and USD 1605 was raised so far. More donations are needed to meet the need of the 93 school children and others who have returned home. These school children lack of school supplies, more school desks and chairs, water and sanitary facilities.  Their returning parents has requested for Village-Saving and Loaning support, agricultural seeds and implements to undertake gardening activities that would help them to be financially equipped and self reliant. 

ChildHelp SL is convinced that supporting these returning families will help them break free from the cycle of poverty and trauma. More school children affected are still out there in need of such support to be return back to school and be cared for. More funding is needed to support them. With continued support from you all, we can be able to share the joy, ending child poverty and educating these affected children to be good citizens of tomorrow – our future leaders.

The Photograph above shows school children visited after the relocation to make sure that we share their concerns. Thanks to all our supporters in the Mudslide and Flooding Relief and Girl Power projects and also to the most honoured supporter Global Giving Foundation for their good and best practice toward our children and our nation.. God bless you all.