There are people behind the numbers
This photograph was taken in a graveyard on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
I accompanied Chris Tarrant, the TV and radio presenter, to film the ITV show Born to Shine, which highlights the work we do. I've been to various countries with Save the Children, but this trip was especially emotional - I think because it was so obvious what simple solutions are needed to stop so many people dying needlessly.
Source: Aubery Wade/Save the Children
The woman to the left of Chris is Memanatu. She was building up the grave of her daughter Sarah who had died a fortnight earlier from an infection. It was the second daughter Memanatu had lost; her eldest daughter had died in childbirth earlier this year. A week after she lost Sarah, Memanatu's granddaughter Adama contracted a fever and died within a day.
This isn't unusual in Sierra Leone. It has some of the worst statistics for child and maternal survival in the world, and has just a tenth of the health workers it needs. One in five children die before their fifth birthday. One of the most common causes of death is diarrhoea.
On paper, it's really easy to read these statistics and disengage with the reality behind them. But when you sit down with a 30-year-old woman - the same age as me - who fights back tears as she tells you she's buried her two children, the reality sinks in.
It is not because of mysterious killer viruses or sweeping outbreaks of cholera: deaths here are caused by upset tummies and pneumonia. It's because, when a child looses fluid, there are no rehydration salts to give them. So they get weaker and weaker and often die.
My challenge is to make people emotionally connect with people such as Memanatu and help agencies like Save the Children. It is a really tough challenge when these hardships are unimaginable in the UK. I don't think people believe they can help, but it is the simple things that make all the difference. Five pounds will pay for 50 doses of rehydration salts - that's all it takes to save a life.
Amy Burns is PR manager for Save the Children.
Hello,My name is Vandy Kamara and currently lvniig and working ( studying) in Australia having settled here for the past four years. I went to the Huntingdon secondary school (HSS) Jui and a very proud product of that school. I would like to thank every one for still helping out there and providing the much needed help to my less fortunate brothers and sisters.I have tried over the years to get a diaspora old students association for the HSS jui but my efforts are getting me no where. I was wondering if there are any suggestions to get past students ( a lot out there) together and form this association with the aim of supporting the school back home. During my days at the school, we had students at the boarding home of the HSS from across West Africa ( Ghana, Liberia, Gambia etc) and I am sure we are scattered all over the world.Could someone help us with any suggestion/connection to keep the Jui school dream alive? Please feel free to contact me :nyaiyatta@yahoo.com ( Vandy Kamara, class of 82 – 87). My constant search through social networking sites actually led me to this Huntingdon Sierra Leone Mission site. Someone please help!
8/23/2012 12:14:39 PM