Elana Dallas has returned from Sierra Leone, where she was part of an Amnesty International team researching maternal mortality
The mother and surviving daughter of Yerie Marah, who died in childbirth ©Amnesty International
Back in the UK, trying to make sense of my photos, my notes, and all that we learned about maternal mortality in Sierra Leone. The urgency is indisputable – countless women are dying needlessly and in great pain – but is there the political will in the government and among donors to take immediate, decisive action?
Continue reading ‘Countless women dying needlessly and in great pain’
Elana Dallas is in Koinadugu, Sierra Leone, as part of an Amnesty International team researching maternal mortality
3 February: Today we meet some families of women who’ve died in childbirth in the past few months and the medical staff in their cases. It’s really tough listening to people whose grief is still so raw and absorbing the brief glimpses we have into their lives.
One husband is clearly depressed – he says of his wife, “we used to advise each other”. He has three surviving children (his wife died giving birth to twins, which hadn’t been picked up in her ante-natal checks), and his wife’s sister, who they live with, has five of her own.
Continue reading ‘Grief is still so raw’
Italy marked the Guantánamo anniversary on Jan 17 in Rome, with 254 activists dressed in orange jumpsuits representing 254 prisoners still in Guantánamo, with a corresponding prisoner name and number.
The activists marched in single file around central Rome and during the demonstration, Gianni Alemanno, Mayor of Rome, signed our petition and send out a public statement supporting Amnesty International initiatives.
For pictures from Amnesty International Italy and other section events
Fabio Ciconte
Direttore dell’Ufficio Attivismo
Amnesty International Sezione Italiana
Destroyed building in Gaza, 1 January 2009. © Sharif Sarhan
4 February 2009: As we leave after more than two weeks in Gaza, we are still shocked and horrified by the scale of the destruction caused by the 22-day offensive the Israeli army launched on 27 December. The task of reconstruction will be truly immense.
The main priority in our fact-finding research has been to investigate the Israeli forces’ direct and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and their homes, but, before concluding our visit, we also spent some time focusing on the wholesale destruction of factories, workshops and farms, for which it is difficult or impossible to see any possible justification. What we found was even worse than we had first realized.
Continue reading ‘The task of reconstruction will be truly immense’
Elana Dallas is in Sierra Leone as part of an Amnesty International team researching maternal mortality
Monday 2 February: We’re in Kabala, in the north, a place of rocky hills and outcrops… and cows.
Our itinerary for today has been organized by CARE, who run a number of community projects in the district.
We visit a maternity waiting house in Mannah, where women go from their villages when they’re nine months’ pregnant and wait until the birth. They don’t have to do the journey (often many miles with no transport), there’s a community health worker on hand, and they get a (rare) few days of rest.
Continue reading ‘A maternity waiting house amid the rocky hills and outcrops… and cows’
