By John Baimba Sesay-Freetown
“You arrived earlier than expected”,
Madam Florence Sesay, a staff in the Office of the First lady and a former
college/course mate, had told me. “Yes”, I said, “…it is better to be too early
when interview appointments had been given, than told to come next time for
being late”, I told her, and we joked over it.
Few minutes to the agreed time, the
security detail, an unassuming young gentleman sturdy but appearing friendly,
requested all electronic gadgets from me, in readiness to be ushered into the
First Lady’s Office. I was then ‘escorted’ into the office, to meet the
country’s First Mother.
A beaming smile on the face of Sia
Nyama Koroma (Mrs.) a facsimile of his husband’s trade mark (ever smiling)
captured my attention, coupled with her soft spoken “welcome, take a seat”
words, added to her typical African attire, indicative, also of her love for
Sierra Leone.
Office of First Lady:
Madam Sia Nyama Koroma is First Lady
of the Republic of Sierra Leone. With a solid background in the health sector
as a Bio-Chemist and post graduate degree in Synthetic Organic Chemistry and at
one point heading into Psychiatric Nursing, Madam Koroma sees it incumbent to
support Government’s efforts in nation building and “a point of duty to
complement Government in the health and education sectors”
With a desire to make an impact, by
engaging Sierra Leoneans across the board, the Office of the First Lady has, in
the last couple of years been working on women and children’s issues through a
number of projects.
For instance, the Women Initiative
for Safer Health (WASH) is designed to “improve women’s reproductive health
outcomes” Objectives of the project include, but not limited to;
• Increase productive health
knowledge amongst pregnant women
• Increase awareness of the dangers
of pregnancy in communities
• Increase use of the health
facilities by communities
There also is the First Lady’s
Attitudinal Change in School’s (FLAXIS) Project. It promotes child education
and “examines the concept of attitudinal change in the overall behavior of
young people in schools and has over the years been awarding scholarships to
deserving students. Activities for this project include, introducing “pupil’s
text books and teachers guides on Citizenship Education for Attitudinal and
Behavioral Change…”
Madam Koroma underscored the
importance of “capacity building for our children” as she believes, the
capacity of professionals like nurses must be built whilst highlighting the
need for more scholarship opportunities for the less privileged.
Also under her office is the Danke
Koroma Foundation, which “works to promote the health, education, and
empowerment of women and children”, with specific attention to marginalized and
disadvantaged children.
In essence, the First Lady has been
extremely busy in supporting the country’s development project particularly in
the promotion of women and children’s issues.
Ebola outbreak and impact:
Sierra Leone got attacked by an
unexpected ‘enemy’ which continues to be a prevailing challenge, known as
Ebola.
A rare severe disease that can be
caught by direct body contact with blood and other body fluids from infected
persons, the Ebola Virus Disease has accounted for the deaths of thousands of
people in the Mano River Union countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone
and now also even developed countries now feel the effect of the virus, in
terms of fear, stigma and infections. At the MRU level, the EVD has affected
the economic viability of countries from the framework of their growth
triangles as seen within the Makona River Basin.
Leaders in the aforementioned nations
have, since the outbreak been working round the clock to get the virus under
control. The International Community, though late, in some cases, came in
robustly with all supports available. In Sierra Leone, for instance, the
Chinese took a lead in providing supporting. The British and other development
partners have also been on the ground helping.
The President, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma
has so far demonstrated strong commitment in tackling the virus. This has been
manifested in the number of visits he has paid to Ebola stricken towns, coupled
with his on-the-spot monitoring mechanism, since the outbreak.
EVD, Women, children and regional
approach:
With such laudable initiatives the
First Lady’s Office has been working on, and given the outbreak of the EVD,
Madam Koroma told me, she was very much “concern” given the effect of the virus
on women and children.
“The Virus has had a very devastating
effect in Sierra Leone and the sub region. We have lost women and children as
they have been dying and that has had an adverse effect on the country”
In Sierra Leone, women do take
frontline roles, especially in the upkeep of homes. In most cases, especially
in rural Sierra Leone, they serve as breadbasket for the family. Due to EVD
Madam Koroma believes, even “women master farmers could no longer farm”, thus
affecting even the country’s farming season.
Ebola has taken a sub regional
dimension. The need for regional approach to tackling the challenges brought,
and to be left by the EVD cannot, therefore, be overstated. The First Lady
points to the fact that women make up 52% of Sierra Leone’s population and
“50-60% of EVD deaths are women”
At the regional level, Madam Koroma
said, First Ladies have been working on First Ladies Initiative on Gender
Dimension of Ebola Spread. This should help get a regional approach to
integrate and harmonize countries’ approach to the virus especially in tackling
the post Ebola challenges.
There also, are plans for Social
Fund, to empower Ebola survivors, which is indicative of the commitment of
First Ladies to see how Ebola survivors could be cared for. But “there is a lot
to be done”, she acknowledged.
Local ownership/national response to
Ebola:
“I am grateful to our partners like
MSF, WHO etc. Am happy the Cubans have arrived but the international response
was slow. We need more support, we need more capacity and we need more money”
Madam Koroma calls for more clinicians, more resource support amongst others.
She commended Government’s
commitment, acknowledging, “The commitment is there on the part of Government”,
though highlighting the challenges posed by “cultural practices that are
slowing down the fight Against EVD but we are making progress”
Traditional leaders have a crucial
role in fighting EVD. Late October, President Koroma, visiting Port Loko, north
of Sierra Leone, expressed disappointment over the failure by chiefs to provide
the needed leadership.
Working with traditional and religious
leaders could be productive. In the words of Madam First Lady, “Traditional
leaders are doing their own part but I also think the problem lies with the
people” pointing to the aspect of denial, ignorance and traditional values,
customs and beliefs as having adversely impacted the fight against the virus.
“Traditional beliefs, values and customs are a challenge too” she said.
Empathizing with Nurses:
Nurses, amongst other health
professionals have continued to make a national sacrifice, since a number of them
have lost their lives to the EVD. Madam Koroma recognized same, commending not
just the Nurses but Doctors and other health works.
“I empathize with especially nurses
given the circumstance they are working on” She, however cautioned, they should
do their best in taking infection control seriously, as well as try to “protect
themselves” Psychosocial counseling, she agreed, may play another important
role especially as health workers are now faced with stigma and it is only when
they are “in a good state of mind and be stable to work” that they will
continue to give their best to the ongoing national fight.
Victimizing Ebola affected nations
not the solution:
Madam Koroma said, Ebola is not the
making of the countries now affected. Nations have closed their borders, and in
some, citizens from Ebola affected nations are been stigmatized and victimized.
But for three, airlines that used to fly in and out of Sierra Leone had placed
an embargo on the country.
This, the First lady said, has
affected the efforts of countries to contain the Virus. “Do not victimize us as
countries. Embargo by flights has even affected our efforts in containing the
virus. International response was slow but victimization is totally
unacceptable. This is not our own making and we therefore need all support”
She would want to leave a legacy; she
told me and was emphatic in wanting to leave a “School of Excellence especially
in the rural areas to narrow the gap between the rural people and the capitals”
General impression:
I was left with a good impression
about the First lady and her efforts towards national development over the
years. She has not only been supportive of the president’s dream for a better
Sierra Leone, she had taken the promotion of women and children’s issues as core
of her daily routines. She, indeed, has added more value to what we have been
doing as a country and which I would want to commend her. Thanks to all those
who helped in facilitating this interview.
No comments:
Post a Comment