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| Food Security |
HIV/AIDS |
Water |
Post-Conflict Setting |
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| In order to gain a deep understanding of various subjects of importance
to CARE, we split into four focus groups to inspect projects addressing food
security, HIV/AIDS, water access and sanitation, and economic development in a
post-conflict society. The following essays reflect our observations on CARE's
impact on the above-mentioned topics in Sierra Leone. Food Security
In Sierra Leone, food insecurity is one of the country's most pressing
issues--but fortunately, it's also one of the country's most solvable
problems. Organizations like CARE International are working with communities
to create stable sources of food, and there has already been substantial
success in achieving greater food security for Sierra Leone.
One factor contributing to food insecurity in Sierra Leone involves land
ownership practices. In this country, complex and unclear rules for land
ownership sometimes allow individuals to own and sell land freely but often
prohibit land from being sold to anyone outside of the immediate family,
making it difficult for farmers to buy large areas of land. Some individuals
lend their land to local farmers and receive rent, but the requirement to
renew contracts every season reduces the economic viability of this practice. [ read more... ]
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HIV/AIDS
In our travels with CARE, we had the opportunity to consider the impact of
AIDS on Sierra Leone and CARE's HIV/AIDS programming around the country. While
nowhere near as prevalent as in many southern African countries, AIDS is still a
serious problem in Sierra Leone. According to estimates from
UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations
Program on HIV/AIDS, around 3% of the nation's five million people are HIV
positive. The highest concentrations of infected people can be found in the
capital of Freetown and within the Sierra Leonean army.
A common trend we observed in CARE's approach to HIV/AIDS prevention education
was a focus on creating sustainable social infrastructure for the dissemination
of relevant health information. [ read more... ]
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Water
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Sierra Leone suffers not only from many endemic waterborne diseases and a
traditional lack of water supply for six months of the year during a rainy
season, but also from the destruction of village water wells during the
ten-year civil war that concluded just over four years ago.
Development organizations throughout the nation have prioritized the
rebuilding of wells as they reconstruct houses in order to provide a clean and
reliable water supply. Wells are crucial even in villages close to rivers, as
the majority of fresh running water is actually contaminated at points
upstream by runoff of agricultural or human waste. This is particularly a
problem in Sierra Leone as many areas do not have latrines which typically
help to prevent the spread of human waste through the environment. Wells, when
constructed in central community areas, also decrease transportation
distances. Long distances from the water source to the village lead to
increased injuries, such as vertebral damage, to those who physically
transport the water. [ read more... ]
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Post-Conflict Setting
What is the best way to help a people rebuild a country that has been
devastated by a brutal war? How can this be done to ensure the dignity and
integrity of local families and communities? In our travels with CARE through
Sierra Leone, we observed that job creation and mobilization for women and
youths between the ages of 20 and 35, is key in responsibly addressing these
questions. For this reason, we were especially interested in CARE's small
business training initiatives, consistent with the organization's rights-based
approach.
It's important to remember that because of the war, an entire generation was
denied even the most basic primary school education, a generation that came of
age instead, fighting to survive, much of the time in the bush, either hiding
from rebel groups or being coerced into joining the combatants. [ read more... ]
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