Report Released: Sierra Leone UK Diaspora Ebola Response Conference London 29 November 2014

On 28.11.2014: I said "Here's hoping we can all come together on this. The epidemic is getting worse. Action needs to be scaled up. http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/sierra-leonean-uk-diaspora-ebola-response-taskforce-and-engayde-7702058633"

2/4/2015 Update:

SLUKDERT Report on the 29th November Sierra Leone UK Diaspora Ebola Response Conference London 

Venue: Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Exchange House, Primrose Street, London EC2A 2EG

Click here to download the full SLUKDERT report

Image: Chukwu-Emeka P F Chikezie, SLUKDERT 

Executive Summary: 

" The meeting captured the views of a wide range of groups and allowed organisations to learn about and link up with those pursuing the same or similar aims.
The meeting was attended by many Sierra Leone Diaspora organisations and individuals working to combat Ebola. This report captures most of the deliberations, decisions and instances of cooperation arising from the meeting.

Image: Chukwu-Emeka P F Chikezie, SLUKDERT 

There appeared to be a genuine desire for this to be the first, not a ‘stand-alone’ event and there were encouraging signs of genuine attempts for collaborative working.
Many of the discussions and initiatives indicated a willingness to play a part in assisting in the post-Ebola situation to address many of the shortcomings in the socio-economic fabric exposed by the outbreak.

It was clear that some important organisations (particularly the area/district descendants’ associations) were noticeable by their absence. Steps will be made to reach out to them for any future events as they have a significant role to play. The meeting was able to capture a lot of good contact details and there were clear signs of organisations agreeing to work together in the future.
The taskforce recognized the constraints on a wholly volunteer organisation while committing to continue to facilitate dialogue between organisations, link fundraising efforts and to collaborating with other Diaspora organisations.

 Image: Chukwu-Emeka P F Chikezie, SLUKDERT

Among the priorities identified were:

• Establishing a network of Sierra Leone Diaspora teachers to feed into and collaborate with teachers and institutions in Sierra Leone. This included seeking links with distance learning while the schools lockdown continues
• The mapping exercise described in the report highlighted a desire for better coordination of efforts between the Diaspora and home-based groups
• For the taskforce to set up bespoke seminars/conferences around specific professions to look at how they might contribute to the Ebola and post-Ebola efforts in the country
• For the taskforce to take the lead in reaching out to Diaspora organisations outside the London area
• For the taskforce to continue with its ‘diaspora mapping’ exercise to understand who's doing what, where (and who wants to do what, where) by reaching out to more Sierra Leonean diaspora groups
• For the taskforce to signpost individuals and groups to where there is most need
• Provide vulnerable people in SL information on organisations that cater for their needs

Image: Chukwu-Emeka P F Chikezie, SLUKDERT

BACKGROUND TO THE MEETING

According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 31 December 2014 Situation
Report, there have been 20,206 reported cases of Ebola virus disease and 7,905 reported deaths across all the three worst-affected outbreak countries, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Sierra
Leone accounts for 9,446 reported cases (47% of the three countries’ total). WHO notes that Ebola
Virus Disease “transmission remains intense in Sierra Leone, with 337 confirmed cases reported in
the week to 28 December, 2014 – more than double the number of cases in Guinea and Liberia combined” and is at its most intense in Sierra Leone’s western and northern districts.

As Ebola continued to ravage Sierra Leone, it was clear that, in addition to international efforts to combat the outbreak, there was a significant role and contribution the Sierra Leone Diaspora could make. The Sierra Leone UK Diaspora Ebola Response Taskforce (SLUKDERT) which was formed in response to the outbreak and includes a wide spectrum of Diaspora Sierra Leoneans organised this meeting to facilitate cooperation between UK-based Diaspora organisations in responding to the crisis and working with organisations on the ground. As such, it was good to see the widest possible spectrum of actors represented at the meeting: NGOs, charities, alumni associations, legal, medical and recruitment organisations, were among some of those present. Implications for development were at the forefront of the discussions.

 Image: Chukwu-Emeka P F Chikezie, SLUKDERT

AIMS

a) To foster constructive dialogue and stronger coordination in the Diaspora response to the Ebola crisis
b) To enhance our existing information sharing system relating to Ebola

OBJECTIVES:

a) An opportunity for attendees to share their response to the Ebola crisis
b) To highlight the key activities of the taskforce and its specific operational projects – i.e. the HR roadshow and the shipment of 10 containers
c) For workshops to be action oriented – participants were asked to look at practical inexpensive and simple steps that can be immediately implemented to enhance their response to the Ebola crisis
d) To provide a networking opportunity and to share best practice

DESIRED OUTCOMES

a) Greater understanding of clusters around which Sierra Leonean diasporas in the UK are responding to Ebola crisis
b) At least six areas of discussions, wherein attendees would commit to collaborate around common interest to implement initiatives, share learning, etc.
c) Unity and sense of common purpose is in evidence

In setting the scene, attendees were encouraged to look at how they could contribute by addressing three main aspects of the Diaspora’s reaction: (1) challenges they face as individuals or members of organisations, (2) lessons learned from those challenges and (3) how they could contribute, particularly by collaborating with fellow Sierra Leoneans or friends of Sierra Leone with shared interests. "

SLUKDERT 12 February 2015

Click here to download the full report

Edward Turay  Sierra Leonean High Commissioner to the UK          Image: Chukwu-Emeka P F Chikezie, SLUKDERT

Jane Ellison Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Public Health         Image: Chukwu-Emeka P F Chikezie, SLUKDERT

For full collection of event photos see Facebook: Chukwu-Emeka P F Chikezie, 

Yengema Secondary School Old Students Teachers and Friends Association Continues Work in Sierra Leone Despite Ebola

www.yss-association.org.uk

YSSOSTFA is based in the UK, partnering with Yengema Secondary School, YOSA, similar groups in other countries, Peace Corps, Christian Brothers, Rockel Shipping Co and many other business and community organisations, to further our objectives of raised standards of teaching and learning at YSS. 

We've recently completed our pilot library project, the school has an attractive functioning library with a growing collection of books and publications.

Despite closure of all schools in Sierra Leone due to Ebola, for the last few months we've turned our attention to planning and implementation of the first part of YSSOSTFA's science labs project, the creation of a working chemistry lab, funded so far by the Finnegan Family Fund for YSS. 

Work has gone far on the furniture, with 100 stools constructed (50 for the chem lab and 50 towards the physics and bio labs) most of the 3m long student work benches.  Special chemical resistant lab worktops from the UK to go on top of the benches, have now arrived at the school. 

FFFYSS have purchased and shipped chemlab sinks and taps which will arrive next month, they have also implemented urgent repairs to roofing blown off in storms over the last two years.

In order to complete this and other projects, FFFYSS recently issued a challenge that requires old students, teachers and friends of Yengema Secondary school in Kono District, Sierra Leone, to raise several thousand pounds towards YSSOSTFA projects, before continuing any further funding. 

It's only fitting that alumni, old teachers and friends of the school should show their commitment after the thousands of pounds that the FFFYSS have donated to YSSOSTFA projects over the last few years. Although we've done a lot, there's a lot more to do and the organisation needs greater involvement of alumni and ex-teacher volunteers and a steady flow of funds to ensure sustainability. We've set up a secure Paypal payments system. Payments can now be accepted from anywhere in the world and paid directly to Paypal via the 'Donate' button on our website.

Visit www.yss-association.org.uk for more details. Check our Gallery page for photos from the last few years. I have to say I'm quite proud of our work, I remember back in 2010 none of us alumni or ex teachers had connected with each other for 40 years, the school was a distant vague memory of childhood days and for me, a scruffy photo I had asked my father to take and send to me when he was an MP in Sierra Leone way back in 2002.

Since then, so many have helped rebuild the school and we at YSSOSTFA made it real, presented it to the world, ex students teachers and strangers alike for all to see in three dimensional technicolour. A living breathing institution bustling with the next generation of students, their hopes and their dreams. The fog of war is the best way to describe the contrast between seeing and experiencing and not seeing or knowing about the school at all. Visit the Gallery at yss-association.org.uk and you'll see what I mean.

We're also on Facebook at yssassociation and twitter @yssostfa

Part 2 - Kayima Gravity Fed Water Supply Dam Excavation and Repair February 2014 - (DRAFT)

((DRAFT))

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Kayima Dam - Location, Weather and Ecology

Part of the Kayima dam watershed (click on image for full size view)

Kayima is about 40km from Yengema airfield and 40 km from Mount Bintumani in the "Loma Mountains No Hunting Forest Reserve", which you can see in the background (above photo). The Kayima dam is situated near the top of a hill somewhere in a shallow valley between two summits, the ground rises on both sides, with the crest on the left (facing upstream) higher than the right. Rainfall no doubt drains from the forested areas on both crests, but the stream supplying it must be fed from a greater distance or from other water sources within the watershed, as it continues to flow throughout the dry season after months of zero rainfall. The surrounding area is forested with minimal farming activity, however there are numerous large patches of deforested areas nearby and in the wider region. 

An in depth study into how deforestation and land use has affected local watersheds, micro-climates, soil health and disease vectors would make a valuable contribution to conservation, water,  soil and food security, wildlife habitats and public health for the area and would contribute to local knowledge, sustainable practices and livelihoods. This would also make a great science, conservation and sustainable land management project for local schools and farmers cooperatives. It would also be interesting to find out how the nearby Loma mountains affect local climate and watersheds. 

  An in-depth study of the Kayima dam and surrounding watersheds would aid conservation, water security, soil security, microclimates, habitats, food security and health.  (Watershed Ecosystem Dynamics diagram: ASU (2014). http://ala227.courses.asu.edu/project1_links.html. last accessed 25 11 14)

Farmers have reported changes in the patterns of precipitation in recent years. Kayima had a reputation for having no mosquitoes, completely incongruent with the norm in other parts of Kono, however during recent years and in the 3 months I was there between Jan-Apr, I noticed a significant increase from historical numbers of mosquitoes and plenty of cases of malaria. Kayima has a reputation for being very much cooler than nearby Koidu only 55km away. On some mornings I had to wear a fleece, and locals wore coats, temperatures can reach lows of 10-15 degrees C and it can feel colder to those acclimatised to tropical weather. As the dry season progressed, day and night temperatures became significantly higher and the flow and quality of water in the large stream through the town, Kaiso, drastically reduced. The characteristic reddish-yellow tint of river and stream water caused by coloured dissolved matter became much deeper in Kaiso during March and early April. Farmers reported that they expected several light pre-rains in March, not enough to saturate the ground and quickly burned off, followed by a dry period during which they expected to finish preparing their farms for the planting season, with the first rains of the rainy season starting around mid April. Their predictions were accurate in Kayima and the surrounding chiefdom, however in Koidu I observed a couple of quite heavy bouts of rain during the same period. Questions and theories were discussed during that time regarding this uneven weather pattern. 

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Kayima Dam Project Planning, Negotiations, Town Mobilisation
2nd to 5th February 2014

Back in town, we discussed what expenses there may be. This was to be a voluntary community initiative so no budget was set for labour. We did feel to be on the safe side we should offer to cook a picnic for the volunteers at the end of the second day as an added incentive. However, we needed buckets for bailing, shovels, cement, sand, gravel and the use of the local cooperatives' 'walking tractors' to carry them. A major task was to clear the road to enable vehicles to travel between the secondary school and the Turntable.  Another advance task was to clean the alternative unused water source at the far end of the town not far from the primary health care clinic, a stream feeding a small cement-covered shallow well. This would provide emergency water for the days the reservoir would be out of commission. For washing and laundering, many used Kaiso, a stream at the entrance to the town.

Before the dam was dredged and we could examine it we didn't know the extent of the damage or the quantity of materials we would need, we decided to work on the assumption that based on the limited extent of the leak, damage would not be too extensive and would not require large amounts of materials. We undertook to do what was within our means. At the bare minimum dredging and excavating the area cleared a decade before by the town and the International Rescue Committee, with the possibility of introducing fencing to deter local wildlife, would ensure a larger water storage area for the town making supply more resilient, and would hopefully result in relatively cleaner water. 

 As an added incentive to encourage the towns cooperation I offered to contribute 10 bags of cement which Bondu Argue agreed to match as needed. We instructed key people to pass the message of the offer along and suggested it was time limited and contingent on the town coming together urgently to volunteer. 

For the next few days we talked with the town chief, section chief, the locally based regent paramount chief, and local youth leaders who had meetings to discuss the dire water situation, its health risks to the town and what should be done about it. I visited and spoke to Mohamed Kamara who was visiting from Saudi Arabia where he lives, and building two mosques in Kayima and Wordu. He offered to match the contributions made by Bondu and I. 

  I spoke to Abu Jawara the Paramount Chief's aide de camp in Kayima and by phone to Paramount Chief Sheku Fasuluku, my younger uncle, who was in Freetown to see what he would do to assist the proposed project. From past experience he was sceptical the town would agree and mobilise, however he gave his support for the venture. 

What was most remarkable was how the town overcame its many schisms. I discovered the town was split on many dimensions, geographically between old and new towns and into 12 sections each with its own youth head, hierarchically between young and old, chiefs and youths, politically on party lines, factionally on family loyalties and feuds especially between those loyal to the Fasuluku Sonsiama's and those who had been loyal to the Kaimondo's. The youth heads responsible for mobilising the men in their respective section, backed by the authority of the chiefs and other local authorities, succeeded in bringing the townspeople on board. All parties agreed the town would volunteer for two days work to start with, on the 6th and 7th of February,  with the possibility of further days depending on how the work proceeded. An appeal was put out to the town for the loan of mining buckets to bail with, I also loaned out 10 shovels.  We all reserved judgement until the date, as to whether the townspeople would turn up. 

Clearing the Access Road - 3rd to 6th February 2014

While discussions were taking place in town I was negotiating with the transport company that usually delivered my building materials to Kayima. It seemed they were reluctant to take their truck up the road even if we cleared it. At first because it was too narrow and then because they were afraid the truck would get a puncture far away from any garage. I assigned several men to start brushing and widening the road, which took several days. Still the truck's head driver refused to use the road, citing sharp stumps and risk of punctures. When I inspected the road there were pointed stumps remaining but not strong enough to puncture a trucks tyres or even those of a normal four wheel drive (I tested this personally with my own vehicle). Most of the road was passable and had been widened but there were still bottle necks too narrow for a truck to pass. The truck was due to arrive from Koidu the day before the work was due to begin. It became a race to remove all stumbling blocks,  

I decided to test out a petrol driven heavy duty multi-tool strimmer that I'd shipped from the UK and to lead by example on the road clearing. The strimmer was originally intended to assist with minor grounds maintenance and pruning of cocoa, coffee and cola trees. I also wanted to compare its output with traditional manual labour using cutlasses. This seemed like a good time to try it out. Using the lethal looking heavy duty metal rotary cutting attachment I started from the school. The original team were half a mile further up the road. While they had cut to widen the road, they had not cut right down to ground level, a special type of brushing which had its own name. The cutter dismissed smaller stumps with ease but had to work for a few seconds on anything above 40cm diameter, I had to concentrate to bring stumps to ground level while preventing the blade from digging in and sending earth flying. I made about 50 metres progress in the first hour before being joined by more volunteers. 

As we progressed deeper, the number of stumps increased and in places overhanging branches had to be attacked to allow passage of a tall vehicle. Progress slowed down and it took several hours before we caught up with the two others working their way back from the Turntable end. An abandoned termite hill about a metre and a half wide and a couple of well developed trees that looked over 10 years old forced us to divert the road in a couple of places and expand the opposite side of the road.  We eventually had 10 or more volunteers helping, I swapped the machine with one of them at their request and tried my hand at a cutlass. From childhood I remembered that the correct and skilful wielding of a cutlass for farm work was a matter of pride for men and women, I'm glad to say I didn't disgrace myself, although I realised I'd need to get a lot fitter if I ever wanted to clear an area of any size.

Despite having levelled all the spikes in the road and widening the road, the truck driver remained adamant. We were forced to consider a plan 'b' for delivery of building materials to the Turntable.

DAY 1 -  6th February 2014 

(click on a picture to see it full size)

The turnout was much better than we could have hoped for, in fact there was a shortage of tools and buckets to go around, teams took shifts bailing and shovelling out detritus. 

(click on a picture to see it full size)

(click on a picture to see it full size)

(click on a picture to see it full size)

(click on a picture to see it full size)

Friendly jibes and a competitive spirit between the 12 sections ensued and motivated the rate of work. Over two days I found my self standing side by side conducting affairs with the head of the Kaimondo family, the two families had been hitherto sworn enemies, Kaimondo showed me a picture of my father when he was member of Parliament and the late PC Kaimondo sitting side by side just after the war. I figured if they could bury the hatchet enough to work together, so could we. I don't know how far they got or whether they actually did cooperate before they died, both in 2003, but here in 2014 with these dam works was tangible proof that it was possible and that good things could come from bouts of cooperation. I knew that the Kaimondo's could have tried to sabotage the whole initiative by not including themselves, thus deterring the other factions who may not have wanted to work if everybody didn't do their fair share. On the other hand they could have feared being left out. Perhaps they were motivated by the possibility of gaining prominence in the town, or losing face if they were not part of it. Of course the ideal motivation would be that they and everybody else genuinely felt both a sense of social responsibility and were worried about the state of the water they and their children were drinking. 

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Summary: Project to mobilise local authorities and whole town of Kayima, to repair and renovate Kayima gravity fed water supply dam to correct heavily polluted water being drunk by towns people,  reduce water borne disease, reduce annual soil incursion and increase water resilience through the dry season.

 http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sofasuluku/ 

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