Privilege on all fronts

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Just got back to Freetown after four grueling days in the southern parts of Sierra Leone, particularly in the Bonthe region – the remote, picturesque southern islands of the country, where supported by the European Union, Marie Stopes International is running a “water ambulance” service, reaching out to the most under-served and vulnerable populations with critical family planning and safe motherhood services. Subsequently, I also visited our programs in the Pujehun and Kenema districts bordering Liberia.

As you will see, the photographs are of a rather poor quality because these were taken hurriedly. I had to after all explore, examine and understand the real issues. Exigencies of work therefore had to take precedence over any aesthetic considerations of the art of photography. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Endless journeys through dirt tracks amidst dense elephant grass, scraggy palm trees and scrub land, over rivers and through villages, by the Rutile mines and then journeys by speed boat under the blazing sun to some of the remotest islands; staying in places with unclean toilets, without electricity and safe drinking water supply, not to mention lack of any vegetarian food: physically, I was stretched to the limits. However it was at the same time very rewarding, for I was able to see first-hand the real impact we are making on the lives of thousands of women and girls, providing them with much needed family planning and basic health care services, gaining a strong sense of personal and professional fulfillment in the process.

Apart from bringing down the incidence of teenage pregnancies, which is very high in this region (girls as young as 12 and 13 becoming mothers), we are also enabling married women space their children and limit the size of families and averting a large number of new born and maternal mortality and morbidity.

The sun was intense, roads were terrible and the journey was tough, although I must let it be known that I travelled in an air conditioned Toyota SUV with a highly skilled driver and had taken a good supply of bottled water. I survived on bananas and roasted peanuts during the day and in the evenings, by the fading sunlight in semi darkness I made myself some gruel of rice and lentils (I had carried the provisions with me) and boiled eggs, on a coal stove. I had also carried with me a tin of powder milk, my box of favorite Darjeeling tea and some biscuits.

Poverty in this region, as in many other parts of Sierra Leone is intense and even at my much reduced state, I was having more wholesome food than were people around me. I felt shamed as this realization dawned. I simply had no moral right to complain or feel upset about my reduced state.

I also met local government officials, district health officials, tribal paramount chiefs, women leaders and youth leaders and was overwhelmed by their profuse appreciation of the work that we were doing on their behalf. I was given the warmest of welcomes by all and was deeply touched by the simplicity and spontaneity of people.

At the end of it all, while I gained a good sun burn (tan sounds rather cool), I also gained the immense goodwill and blessings of hundreds of women, on whose faces gratitude was writ large. Well, in the right perspective, all gratitude is due from me to these women who have opened up a part of their lives to us and given me the opportunity to be of some use to them.

Needless to say, I feel privileged on all fronts.