By Sanna Negus, Finnish Red Cross, in Sierra Leone Narrow
alleyways snake through the ramshackle Mabela slum, which sits
on a slope facing the sea in Freetown. Rain washes down waste,
turning the path gray and slippery. Mothers wash their toddlers
next door to food vendors and pigs foraging on garbage. Metal
water pipes give way to plastic tubes – unofficial plumbing
which fouls the water. The Sierra Leone Red Cross Society says
this community of 20,000 people has one of the highest rates of
cholera in the city. Mabela community Chief Alhaji Alimamy
Kamara says it’s the worst cholera outbreak he’s ever seen, and
thinks the numbers are high because people seek treatment when
it’s already too late. He worries about the community, but notes
that he himself is at high risk. “As a chief, a lot of sick
people come here in my house thinking it’s a clinic.” His
grandson Ibrahim Mansaraf has been a Blue Flag volunteer with
the local Red Cross branch for five years. Together with 44
other volunteers in Mabela, he has b