Our big plan
The people of Kroo Bay told us what they need for their
children to be healthier. They set us the challenge to help
them. And we don’t like to fail. So we made a plan and with
your support we’ve started to make big changes.
A year ago expectant mother in Kroo Bay would've been lucky to get one of the two shabby-looking beds in the tumbledown heath centre.
We're changing things
- We've renovated the rundown and filthy clinic.
- We're providing vital equipment like delivery beds so mothers can give birth in comfort and safely.
- We're training healthcare workers.
- We're doing all of this with the govenment so that they can continue long after we've left.
Diseases we know how to treat are still killing too many children in Kroo Bay.
We're changing things?
- We've trained 270 Blue Flag Volunteers to quickly recognise and treat killer illnesses like diarrhoea that hit hard during the floods.
- We're speaking to parents about why it's so important to sleep under a mosquito net and get vaccinations and how such simple things as rehydration salts can save their child's life.
30-year-old Sunkari's baby girl died because she didn't have a measly £15 to pay for medicine. Very few people in Kroo Bay can afford to pay for basic healthcare.
We're changing things
- We're making sure the clinic is supplied with the necessary medicines, which will be free for patients.
- We're supporting the Sierra Leonean government to abolish fees for healthcare.
- We're raising awareness among the public about their rights to good health.
The people of Kroo Bay know the biggest threst to their health is the filthy river that runs through the heart of their community, bringing killer diseases like diarrhoea, cholera and malaria.
We're changing things
- We've helped clear and bank the river to stop the flooding.
- We've provided the tools to continue banking the river each year.
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We've provided four large bins to dispose of rubbish safely.
- We're campaining with the people of Kroo Bay to get the government to stop people dumping rubbish in the river.
What’s more…
We’re showing you what’s happening in Kroo Bay, but we don’t think it’s fair to work with just 6,000 people. So we’re doing similar work with five other slum communities in Freetown. And that's just our work in Freetown.
Save the Children works in more than 40 of the world's poorest countries. There are 10 million children dying every year before their fifth birthday. We don't want a single family to go through that.
That’s the challenge.
