Water Issues

In Sierra Leone the average life expectancy is 55 in rural areas, and 35 in the slums. This can be blamed on the countries poor living conditions. Almost half the population doesn’t have access to clean and fresh water. Unprotected wells, ponds, rivers and other free standing water sources are where most Sierra Leoneans get their water.

A major reason why contaminated water is spread so easily across Sierra Leone is because of the torrential ran the country receives during the wet season. Because the rain is so heavy and they don’t have the resources to collect it all, floods are very common during this period. Unprotected wells are then filled with waste and spread the contaminated water to other drinking sources.

Even though the country receives so much water, they still have unsubstantial water storage during the dry season. 95% of their fresh water is used for agriculture and farming, but this is all imported into other countries for money. 90 % of food the countries food is imported, but it is all to expensive for residents to buy.

Chemicals used in agriculture production pollute surface waters where rural citizens collect their water. The mining, land degradation and urbanization are all affecting and producing water pollution in Sierra Leone. The government struggles to produce the resources to ensure and maintain water distribution to areas that require clean drinking water. The Sierra Leonean population also lack the awareness for water management and the diseases that surround contaminated water.

 Schools throughout Sierra Leone are teaching children how to make their own oral rehydration salts to treat cholera, a waterborne disease that has spread over Africa in the past year. Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is spread through food and water, and causes diarrhoea, vomiting and severe dehydration. If you do not receive proper treatment, you can die in less than a day. In Sierra Leone they believe by teaching young girls, who usually fetch the water, all about cholera, the symptoms can be prevented.

Many women in Sierra Leone think it is normal for their child to have diarrhoea up to three times a day because of the moon or the tide, but they need to be taught it’s not the case. Hygiene rates are also very low, the lack of clean water and soap means they are always dirty and this contributes to the spread of diseases and infections.

Reservoirs and treatment 

plants in Sierra Leone and falling apart and some are even contaminated, and this issue needs to be addressed. Aid groups are just focusing on the symptoms of water pollution, when they really need to change the way water is distributed, collected and kept clean. 

Health Issues

Since the civil war ended in 2002, health, sickness and disease have been major topics linked to Sierra Leone. Over one million people were forced from their homes and into neighbouring countries that were already riddled with poverty.  According to the United Nations, Sierra Leone is ranked 180 out of 187 countries for living conditions and has one of the highest rates of childhood and maternal mortality in the world.

The maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone is 950 deaths per 100,000 live births, and in the last 20 years they have only dropped their child mortality rate by 50 and are now at 200 deaths per 1000 children under the age of 5. The main reason why so many mothers and children are dying is because there are not enough trained doctors or midwives in Sierra Leone. Some women have to walk up to 3 days to reach a doctors clinic, and by then they have normally given birth and the child has died.

Because the majority of Sierra Leoneans live in rural areas they rely on water from rivers and unprotected wells that are often contaminated and dirty. These water sources are often prone to outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as hepatitis A, cholera, diarrhoea and typhoid fever. Other diseases that are common in Sierra Leone are yellow fever, Lassa fever, malaria, meningitis, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections, like HIV/AIDS. Most of these diseases can be prevented if they were able to receive vaccinations, medicine and mosquito nets. 

Shelter Issues

Between the years 1990 and 2001, the military takeovers and uprisings in Sierra Leone over the diamond mining issues led to the displacement of over half the population at the time. During these 10 years over 1 million people fled to neighbouring countries to take refuge from the civil war that was happening all around them.

Since the government and the conflicting parties declared peace in 2002, over 500,000 Sierra Leoneans have returned home. Sierra Leone hasn’t improved much since this historical day though, the poverty rate is still too high and the population have very low standards of living. In Sierra Leone you either live in handmade, dodgy houses out of sticks and mud or in old homes in the urban towns from before the civil war began.

Because the population in Sierra Leone is rising rapidly there is becoming a shortage of land for housing, many people have to leave the rural and urban areas and build on the steep hills surrounding the villages. Hills that 20 years ago were covered in trees are now full of houses and makeshift terraces. There are no real roads for people to travel on, and just last year 2 young children were killed by having a boulder fall on them whilst walking to school.

The Sierra Leoneans that are living on these hills say that it is a difficult life, that at night they are scared that rocks will fall through their roofs and kill them in their sleep. They complain that the government isn't giving them enough guidance, that there are limited building regulations and they don’t know where to build.

Education Issues

In Sierra Leone it is a legal requirement for all children to attend primary school from the age of six, but this will never be achieved if changes aren't made. During the 11 year civil war 1,270 schools were destroyed and looted and in 2002 67% of school-aged children weren't enrolled.

The government acknowledges that education is an important part in developing a brighter future for Sierra Leone, but they just don’t have the money, resources and infrastructure to build schools and give out educational materials.  

At this moment in time half a million children in Sierra Leone do not attend school, that is 1 out of 3 children, and this is resulting in a generation full of illiterate, unemployed people with no skills. Communities are suffering from this; at this rate Sierra Leone will not achieve the Millennium Development Goal of developing global partnerships. 

Many girls are excluded from receiving the little education they are entitled to; this is because of traditional beliefs, poverty, lack of gender sensitive facilities and sexual violence. These are just a few of the many obstacles that girls are facing surrounding education.

Teenage pregnancy and child marriage are stopping young women getting the education they deserve; only 15% of girls will reach secondary school. Sierra Leone has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in whole world, which is why most girls will drop out of school before they are 15. This is a contributing factor to the high infant and child mortality rate the country has.

In Sierra Leone 62% of girls are married before they are 18, many getting married as young as 11 years old. This locks women into a life of imprisonment; where they are controlled by their husbands, have no opportunities to get jobs, be financially secure and to obtain an education.



 The lack of education is affecting the health and well being of all young children in Sierra Leone, with many of them not even knowing with HIV/AIDS even is. The children that do receive education are taught how to look after themselves, physically and financially. But over 40% of school teachers are unqualified, and are known to sexually abuse some students. UNICEF provides much needed teacher training and support groups, but this is still not enough.  

Food Issues

Sierra Leone is still facing many challenges even though they are no longer at war. As a country full of natural resources and land for agriculture and farming, Sierra Leone is ranked 7^th in the world regarding the levels of poverty.  This statistic has a lot to do with the fact that over 20% of children under the age of 5 are suffering from acute malnutrition.

In 2011 the United Nations found out that six out of ten people are living on less than one and half dollars a day and that 2.5 million people are classified as food-insecure throughout the dry season. There are many reasons why the malnutrition rate in Sierra Leone is very high, but the main causes are the restricted access to good sanitation, health services and drinking water. The population is also suffering because of the persistent poverty and pricing of food. New mothers are also uneducated about how to properly feed their children and this gets passed down through the generations.

Malnutrition is a very serious matter as yearly it kills more people then HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined all over the world and it is affecting 32.5% of children in developing countries.