Livewire – Amnesty International blogging for human rights

Ameen speaks in the mosque ©Amnesty International

We split up today and did a number of different things in Bo. This morning, I went to a local radio station with Solomon, the section campaigner and the musicians.

The musicians were interviewed about their involvement in Amnesty International’s campaign on maternal mortality and why they think maternal mortality is an important issue to focus on in Sierra Leone. Solomon was asked questions about Amnesty International, the caravan and the reasons behind the high maternal mortality rates in the country.

Everyone was pleased with the interview and the musicians feel that they have really benefited from being part of the caravan and would like to continue the work in the longer-term.

At midday, I went to the central mosque in Bo with some volunteers. As it is Friday, there was a guaranteed large turn out. Ameen, the Sierra Leone campaigner, got permission from the Imam to speak about Amnesty International’s campaign during the prayer session.

The Imam reiterated the message throughout his sermon. I was standing outside, engaging people on the campaign when a woman asked me to join them for prayers.

I sat next to Rachel, a teacher in Bo who was asking me questions about our campaign. She told me teachers in her school counsel students about the dangers of early marriage and their reproductive rights, but that more needs to be done to address these issues.

After the prayers, a large number of women approached me to wish us well with the campaign and offer their support. We managed to collect a large number of petition and postcard signatures.

The launch in the afternoon was great. The “south cultural group”, which is a group of former soldiers, performed a dance and magic trick and the “Bo drama group” did their own play on maternal mortality.

Tomorrow we have meetings with local partners and we are going to Gerihun, a village near Bo which is a former refugee camp.