Livewire – Amnesty International blogging for human rights

Grande finale of the Amnesty International caravan ©Amnesty International

Today was the final day of the caravan. We drove from Bo to Waterloo, a town on the outskirts of Freetown. After a quick radio interview for the musicians, we assembled in the field and prepared for the event.

The hot sun was beaming down on the caravan stage and the crowd was scattered on the outskirts of the field, watching the introductions from a distance. Just when we thought we would collapse from heat exhaustion, the sky started rumbling and the rain poured down.

When it rains in Sierra Leone it really does pour, but it was such sweet relief from the sun that we all stayed outside and relished it. Just as quickly, the rain disappeared, the clouds parted and the show continued. At the end of the event, Brima (Sierra Leone Director) acknowledged all the participants on the caravan and we all went on stage to sing the maternal mortality song.

Violet Kawa (Chairwoman of Amnesty International Sierra Leone) explains the petition to a group ©Amnesty International

During the past 2 weeks, we have travelled across Sierra Leone with activists, musicians and a drama group to engage with local communities, including in rural areas, on problems around the high level of maternal mortality in the country.

We discussed the human rights dimensions around maternal health, the fact that the high rate of maternal death is unacceptable but also avoidable and encouraged people to become active in demanding their rights and accountability from the authorities.

It’s been an enriching experience, which we have all learned a lot from both professionally and personally in terms of working with people, adjusting to circumstances and learning about the realities of people affected by maternal mortality. While each place differed slightly in the issues surrounding maternal mortality, they had common factors including poor road networks, lack of medicine, high costs of accessing healthcare and many more.

The experience impacted on all of us and we are all dedicated to continuing the work. We will keep working with local partners including NGOs and Community Based Organisations to see how they can continue the work in the longer-term throughout the country and together hope to significantly reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone.