The words of Magnes Coker, deputy head of the Sierra Leone Housing Corporation as he spoke of the difficulties Ebola has brought to this nation. Teachers not at school are not being paid – how do they feed their families and cover their rent (which you have to pay a year in advance here)? Children have lost a year of schooling – some with resources buy learning materials, the majority learn little. When asked what he had done for the past 8 months, our former driver Sulay said “I just sit.”
Many here use the outbreak as a reason to not progress things. Applications for papers at government ministries take so much longer. It is hard to understand yet that is simply how it is. Amid these challenges are some inspiring people.
I met the head of the armed forces today to see if there was a possibility of us redeveloping one of the 12 dilapidated army barracks in town for our project. They own a lot of estate and could consolidate. It’s a great opportunity and we will see if the political will is there to find a solution. The new head of the SL Housing Corporation has a real passion to build low cost homes but no resources. Looking forward to meeting her again with some colleagues today.
Another group we are speaking with over land want us to build a community centre in exchange for the land. This is possible and next steps are getting a letter from the community, the GPS survey details and take to the director of lands.
Bumped in to someone I knew from Luton today in a café here, he was building a bakery for a charity set up by former Mission Direct Volunteers. Great to see how when some visit places like Sierra Leone and get a vision, they are inspired to go deeper – a small world we live in.
Walking past the Red Cross vans being loaded with “dead body management kits” written of the boxes was a stark reminder of this enemy we can’t see.