The world of Tzu Chi May 2020 (Vol.122)

2020 • 05 36 I pushed open my hotel window and looked out. It was near dusk, and the tranquil seaside scenery was refreshingly beautiful. My view could easily have rivalled those offered at a typical coastal tourist destination. I was at a hotel on a small hill in western Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. The view I was enjoying “came at a cost” – USD160 a day to be exact. How much money would this be to the average Sierra Leonean? I would have to venture out of the hotel and look around the city to find out. But first, why is Freetown named as it is?A little history lesson might be in order here. After Sierra Leone was “discovered” by the Europeans during the great seafaring days in the mid-15th century, several countries set up trade there. Portuguese traders came first, followed by the Dutch, French and English. The Europeans initially set their sights on the region’s rich natural resources, such as minerals and timber, but their interest shifted towards slaves as the demand for slaves in theAmericas grew. Sierra Leone became an important centre in the slave trade. After the American War of Independence (1775-1783), some liberated slaves were returned to Sierra Leone. They settled in an area that was named “Free Town” to signify their newfound freedom. Since then, the town has developed from a resettlement area for freed slaves to a bustling city of more than a million people. This was how Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, got its name. Hawkers with wares on their heads As I ambled through the downtown area of Freetown, I found every street and alley teeming with people and activity. Ambulatory vendors, with their wares on their heads, roamed the streets hawking their goods. They were selling a great number of things. It might be a few bananas, several bottles of soda, a handful of toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes, a few pairs of old shoes, some pots and pans, or sundry other items. Everything you could think of, wanted or needed could be found on top of their heads. I asked a soda hawker how much he earned a day. He said about USD2. That moneywas used to support his family, not for his own personal use. So how large are the families in Sierra Leone? Statistics show that women in Sierra Leone give birth to an average of five children; the mothers’ average age when they have their first child is 19. Using these numbers, you can get a rough idea of how big families are here. Needless to say, the money earned by these vendors does not go far. I cannot definitively answer the question of what an impact these vendors might have on Sierra Leone’s economy. But intuitively, I cannot help feeling that it is not a very productive use of the country’s labour force. A large sector of the population has been forced to take up this means of livelihood, and with so many out and about, they must not make much money. Everything in short supply A look around Freetown easily reveals the inadequacies and problems Sierra Leone is facing. Walk into Connaught Hospital, built in 1912 when the nation was still a British colony, and you are immediately struck by the severe lack of medical resources. Though Connaught Hospital is the largest medical facility in Sierra Leone, medical equipment and tools are old and in extremely short supply. Four dialysis machines, donated a few years earlier by Israel, are here at Connaught. These four machines are the only such machines in the entire country and three are out of order. That leaves only one functioning dialysis machine lobal Presence