On August 14th I woke up to terrifying messages and pictures floating on social media platforms about the devastating mudslide and flooding in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
I was heartbroken when I saw corpses piled. In the first five hours authorities recovered about 200 corpses from the mud while thousand of families displaced. This includes children who went to sleep hoping to wake up in the morning and go to school. I saw pictures of people trying to save themselves and I imagined how heartless the person behind the camera could be.
In 2014 the same country lost thousands of lives to the Ebola virus followed by another flooding in 2015 September which also displaced thousands. 'Pray for Freetown' is the hashtag dominating on social media at the moment. I asked myself how much difference would it make? Facebook has not created 'My heart with Freetown' profile update because of bla bla bla.
I am still wondering what is wrong with this small beautiful country full of gems. Is this supernatural? What went wrong in the beginning of time? Did anything go wrong in the first place?
How can we support Sierra Leone? Help me know in the comment.
@mibangs
this is a problem common in Africa... bad planning resulting to bad drainage system and relief...
am sure most of the major issues there is where the water will flow past... and no good rapid response in africa..
Africa is full of greed...abuse in homes ( which is why i posted yesterday on absentee husbands on rise...check it out) and corruption... which includes moral corruption.. imagine someone taking videos while people are drowning!
The problem of africa lies not in strong leadership alone but strong institutions which are lacking... i plan to post on the ills of leadership in africa.. i just wish the people of free town success in rebuilding while praying for the repose of the dead souls!
You said it well @kenhudoy. I am originally from Freetown and I know how poor urban planning is a very big problem but the leaders don't prioritize it.
We need to redefine leadership in Africa
Very correct...also women are marginalized in Africa...check out my latest blog post on absentee husbands...regards