Showing film in the Kenema government hospital ©Amnesty International
This morning, we went to the Kenema government hospital and showed the Amnesty International film in the maternity ward. During the discussion after the film, people shared a number of their experiences.
One of the women, Jenny N.C. Valli, spoke of the poor road networks and challenge to gain access to the hospital. Some of the surrounding villages are not accessible by car and it can take women two to three days before they are able to reach the hospital. She called for the government to take action on this immediately.
Another woman, Nancy Bambura said that she is a victim of four still births. During her last pregnancy, she started experiencing bleeding and was brought to the hospital from a neighbouring town called Bamakoya by ambulance.
She doesn’t remember whether someone paid for her to come because she was unconscious at the time. However, after the viewing, someone told me that some of the patients were afraid to speak freely about being charged because there were nurses present during the discussion.
We went to Nikabo in the afternoon. It is a village on the outskirts of Kenema, known as the “Amnesty Village” because the entire community are Amnesty International members. During the war, a large number of people fled from Nikabo and upon their return decided to become Amnesty members in a bid to maintain peace in the village.
Tania honoured as a special guest ©Amnesty International
We were warmly welcomed by the villagers who asked us to join them in singing and dancing. They explained to us why they are an Amnesty village, and we spoke about our campaign and caravan. Staff from Marie Stopes, an organization which provides sexual and reproductive healthcare services, also joined us to offer free reproductive health care to women for the day.
The drama group performed the play in Mende, the local language of the region and Brima, the section director addressed the group in Mende as well. Tania, the Sierra Leone researcher, was honoured as a special guest and dressed in traditional clothing.
All in all, it was a great day. Tomorrow, we are in Bo, the second largest city in Sierra Leone where we will have a launch event along with other activities.
The news in this blog sound like an exciting big traveling party, did not know that this is how amnesty works. If one realizes that nurses present in the room prevent the women from telling their story, maybe confidential interviews would be more to the point.
Isn´t “Mary Stopes” the worlds largest company providing abortions and pushing for abortion rights? Don´t see why they join AI on this occasion, they probably can pay for their own campaigns.