Saving Children in Koidu Town,Kono District Sierra Leone.
20 May 2008 - On a bright morning in late April, thirty mothers and their young children gather outside the house of a local chief in Kono District in rural eastern Sierra Leone. The children twist and turn anxiously as their mothers undress them and hand them to workers from the local health unit. This could be a lifesaving visit: over the next few hours they will be measured and weighed to determine whether they are malnourished and vaccinated against a raft of preventable childhood diseases as part of a monthly health outreach session for children under the age of five.
Mustapha Bawoh, a member of the International Rescue Committee’s child survival program, is on hand to greet the women, examine the children, and make sure the vaccinations are properly administered. Bawoh supervises local health workers and makes sure that they give quality care to pregnant women, new mothers and young children. His work is critical because Sierra Leone has some of the highest maternal and child death rates in the world.
“Many mothers and children in Kono do not have access to good health care,” Bawoh said. “Thanks to Farma Health Services, many more women and children are receiving the vaccinations and medicine they need.”
The goal of Farma Health Services ,s child survival program is to save lives and improve the health of young children in Kono District, one of the areas hit hardest by Sierra Leone’s ten-year long civil war which ended in 2002. In addition to providing vaccinations, the program aims to give children access to high-quality, life-saving treatment for diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia, some of the primary killers of children in Sierra Leone.
The child survival program, which is the first of its kind in the country, depends on the participation of community members. The Farma Health Services works through local volunteers known as community-based distributors who identify vulnerable and ill children and provide treatment in the children’s homes. Before, many mothers had to walk miles to a local health center to get treatment for their children. Now children receive free treatment in their own villages.
“Since Farma Health Services started working as a volunteer, there is less sickness in my community,” said Sia Kanessie, a community-based distributor from the village of Koardu Towm,Gbane Kandor Chiefdom. “We like what We do because we help children get better. We encourage mothers to take their infants to the clinic and to breast feed them. Farma Health Services also work at night, making sure mothers use bed nets to prevent the children from getting malaria.”
Farma and his colleagues have placed trained volunteers in 272 villages throughout Kono District. In addition to providing treatment, they monitor the children’s condition, refer them to local health clinics and follow up with the mothers by encouraging them to attend the monthly outreach sessions. The program has been so successful at reducing childhood mortality that the government has decided to expand the program nationwide.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Navigation of Koidu Town,Kono District.
Kono District
Capital Koidu Town
Province Eastern Province
Government
Paramount Chief Abu Mbawa Kongoba
Population (2004 census)
Total 335,401
Time zone Greenwich Mean Time (UTC-5)
Kono District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Koidu Town, which is also the fourth largest city in Sierra Leone. The other major town in the district is Yengema. The population of Kono District was 335,401 in the 2004 census. Kono District borders the Republic of Guinea to the east, Koinadugu District to the west, Kenema District to the southwest, and Kailahun District to the southeast.
Kono District has been called the "breadbasket" of Sierra Leone because of its economic importance. Every year the District produced hundreds of millions of U.S Dollars worth of diamonds and is home to the largest concentration of artisanal miners in the world. The diamonds from Kono District, since they were discovered in the 1930s, have accounted for more than 50% of the Gross National Product of Sierra Leone. Despite of this huge contribution to the Sierra Leone economy, Kono District remains one of the least developed Districts in the country.
Before the civil war, Kono District had a population well over 600,000[citation needed]; however, it experienced devastation during the Sierra Leone Civil War, which forced many of the residents out of the district. The district was heavily looted and constantly fought over due to the rich diamond reserves in the area.
Contents
1 Demographics
2 Economy
3 Sport
4 Government
5 Towns and villages in Kono District
6 Popular culture
7 Notable people from Kono District
8 Source
Demographics
Kono District has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the country. The Kono people form the largest ethnic group at about 55% of the population.
Economy
Kono District is the largest diamond producer in Sierra Leone. Other important economic activities include gold mining and agricultural production of rice, coffee and cacao.
Sport
Kono is home to Sierra Leonean Premier League club the Diamond Stars of Kono. The club is one of the oldest, biggest, and most popular soccer clubs in Sierra Leone. The club have won the Sierra Leonean FA Cup once, in 1992
Government
Kono District has nine Representatives in the Sierra Leonean Parliament, of which eight members were elected for a 5-year term. Below is the list of Kono District Representatives Sierra Leonean Parliament:
Name Party
Komba Claudius Gbamanja SLPP
Tamba Kaingbanja SLPP
Komba Eric Koedoyoma SLPP
Sahr Matturi SLPP
Abdul Kai Foday SLPP
Augustine Bockarie SLPP
William Emmanuel Tommy APC
Kai Thomas SLPP
P.C. Abu Mbawa Kongobah Non
Towns and villages in Kono District
Foindu
Jaiama-Nimokoro
Jaima-Sewafe
Kaima
Koidu Town, capital and largest city
Motema
Ndoyogbo
Nemeseidu
Ngiehun
Peyima
Seidu
Simbakoro
Tefeya
Tomondu
Tombodu, third largest city
Yengema, second largest city
Yamandu
Capital Koidu Town
Province Eastern Province
Government
Paramount Chief Abu Mbawa Kongoba
Population (2004 census)
Total 335,401
Time zone Greenwich Mean Time (UTC-5)
Kono District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Koidu Town, which is also the fourth largest city in Sierra Leone. The other major town in the district is Yengema. The population of Kono District was 335,401 in the 2004 census. Kono District borders the Republic of Guinea to the east, Koinadugu District to the west, Kenema District to the southwest, and Kailahun District to the southeast.
Kono District has been called the "breadbasket" of Sierra Leone because of its economic importance. Every year the District produced hundreds of millions of U.S Dollars worth of diamonds and is home to the largest concentration of artisanal miners in the world. The diamonds from Kono District, since they were discovered in the 1930s, have accounted for more than 50% of the Gross National Product of Sierra Leone. Despite of this huge contribution to the Sierra Leone economy, Kono District remains one of the least developed Districts in the country.
Before the civil war, Kono District had a population well over 600,000[citation needed]; however, it experienced devastation during the Sierra Leone Civil War, which forced many of the residents out of the district. The district was heavily looted and constantly fought over due to the rich diamond reserves in the area.
Contents
1 Demographics
2 Economy
3 Sport
4 Government
5 Towns and villages in Kono District
6 Popular culture
7 Notable people from Kono District
8 Source
Demographics
Kono District has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the country. The Kono people form the largest ethnic group at about 55% of the population.
Economy
Kono District is the largest diamond producer in Sierra Leone. Other important economic activities include gold mining and agricultural production of rice, coffee and cacao.
Sport
Kono is home to Sierra Leonean Premier League club the Diamond Stars of Kono. The club is one of the oldest, biggest, and most popular soccer clubs in Sierra Leone. The club have won the Sierra Leonean FA Cup once, in 1992
Government
Kono District has nine Representatives in the Sierra Leonean Parliament, of which eight members were elected for a 5-year term. Below is the list of Kono District Representatives Sierra Leonean Parliament:
Name Party
Komba Claudius Gbamanja SLPP
Tamba Kaingbanja SLPP
Komba Eric Koedoyoma SLPP
Sahr Matturi SLPP
Abdul Kai Foday SLPP
Augustine Bockarie SLPP
William Emmanuel Tommy APC
Kai Thomas SLPP
P.C. Abu Mbawa Kongobah Non
Towns and villages in Kono District
Foindu
Jaiama-Nimokoro
Jaima-Sewafe
Kaima
Koidu Town, capital and largest city
Motema
Ndoyogbo
Nemeseidu
Ngiehun
Peyima
Seidu
Simbakoro
Tefeya
Tomondu
Tombodu, third largest city
Yengema, second largest city
Yamandu
Health Hope In Kono District.
Health & Hope After the Conflict in Koidu Town,Kono District.
Amina Issa Mohamud, a member of the health unit at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), arrives at a small village in Kono district in Eastern Sierra Leone, in the course of a daily field visit. The village of Bendu is one of nearly 300 villages supported by the IRC Child Survival Program. Amina conducts a door-to-door search for sick children with the approval of the village chief. She finds a child named Sasco who has a fever, most likely from malaria. Amina learns from Sasco's grandmother that his father is at work on the family farm, and his mother has gone to take a younger sibling to be immunized. The village chief tells the community health worker to take Sasco to the health center, some five kilometers away, where a nurse administers an antimalarial medication. Amina returns for a follow-up visit a few days later. Malaria is a leading killer of children in Kono and without treatment, Sasco could well have died; instead, Amina finds him happily playing around his parents, who thank her warmly. Sasco's story illustrates how even in a country ravaged by years of conflict and destruction, simple actions can yield big rewards. Sierra Leone is just emerging from 10 years of a vicious war that devastated the country's infrastructure and terrorized its civilians. Kono district, which never had much infrastructure even before the war, was at the epicenter of the conflict on the country's eastern border with Guinea. Peace was finally declared in January 2002, after United Nations and British troops intervened. Since then, hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people have been returning to Kono to find destroyed homes, schools and health clinics.
The health situation is grave in Sierra Leone, which still has the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world, and it is even worse in Kono. Nearly one out of every three children dies before his/her fifth birthday, and women have a one in six chance of dying during pregnancy and childbirth. Malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia remain the major killers, and children the principal victims. Destroyed clinics, impassable roads, and low literacy levels make it hard to provide adequate care – less than one in 10 women in Kono, for example, know how to read.
Nevertheless, opportunities exist for improving health in Sierra Leone, as Amina demonstrated in Bendu. Returning refugees and internally displaced people have benefited from health services and education in Guinea camps. Many mothers now use oral rehydration salts when their children have diarrhea, and a large network of trained traditional birth attendants is in place. The Ministry of Health and Sanitation is taking measures to empower community health workers, and several community organizations are promoting community health. The IRC and other organizations are collaborating with the ministry to rebuild health facilities. As a result, Kono now has 62 working clinics.
Even more encouraging is that much of what needs to be done can be accomplished simply and inexpensively, and with the active participation of local communities. These low-tech solutions can survive a breakdown of infrastructure or other disruptions of war. Dr. Emmanuel d'Harcourt, IRC senior technical advisor for child survival, said, "It sounds simple, but it saves lives, and these simple solutions do not break down when war strikes." The IRC Child Survival Program in Kono uses a strategy called the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI).
IMCI is practiced at the community and household levels; it helps parents and health workers to work together to improve child health, using an integrated approach in which the child's nutrition, vaccination and treatment needs are all considered together. IRC's health program also uses participatory methodologies to improve the quality of health care. The IRC coordinates with community health workers, local leaders and women's groups to offer a variety of services. These range from immunization, prenatal clinics, and mosquito net distribution, to the provision of ORS, vitamin A, iron and zinc tablets. Community health workers provide basic services while community groups and leaders support health activities and disseminate key health messages. These activities are reaching more than 21,000 women of childbearing age and 16,000 children under five, and may eventually impact all 200,000 women and children in Kono district.
Some of these activities have proven to have other, unexpected consequences. For example, the IRC distributes long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets in Kono as part of its efforts to combat malaria, which accounts for more than half of child deaths in Sierra Leone. IRC staff gives the nets to prevent malaria, but one mother who purchased a net expressed her appreciation, for finally being able to sleep soundly after many nights interrupted by biting mosquitoes. Distribution of the nets has also increased vaccination coverage, as the IRC has developed innovative protocol using the nets as an incentive to complete a child's course of vaccinations. The success of interventions such as these, and the survival of children like Sasco, is the motivation – and the inspiration - for the program, instilling a sense of hope as Sierra Leoneans rebuild their war-torn nation.
Amina Issa Mohamud, a member of the health unit at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), arrives at a small village in Kono district in Eastern Sierra Leone, in the course of a daily field visit. The village of Bendu is one of nearly 300 villages supported by the IRC Child Survival Program. Amina conducts a door-to-door search for sick children with the approval of the village chief. She finds a child named Sasco who has a fever, most likely from malaria. Amina learns from Sasco's grandmother that his father is at work on the family farm, and his mother has gone to take a younger sibling to be immunized. The village chief tells the community health worker to take Sasco to the health center, some five kilometers away, where a nurse administers an antimalarial medication. Amina returns for a follow-up visit a few days later. Malaria is a leading killer of children in Kono and without treatment, Sasco could well have died; instead, Amina finds him happily playing around his parents, who thank her warmly. Sasco's story illustrates how even in a country ravaged by years of conflict and destruction, simple actions can yield big rewards. Sierra Leone is just emerging from 10 years of a vicious war that devastated the country's infrastructure and terrorized its civilians. Kono district, which never had much infrastructure even before the war, was at the epicenter of the conflict on the country's eastern border with Guinea. Peace was finally declared in January 2002, after United Nations and British troops intervened. Since then, hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people have been returning to Kono to find destroyed homes, schools and health clinics.
The health situation is grave in Sierra Leone, which still has the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world, and it is even worse in Kono. Nearly one out of every three children dies before his/her fifth birthday, and women have a one in six chance of dying during pregnancy and childbirth. Malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia remain the major killers, and children the principal victims. Destroyed clinics, impassable roads, and low literacy levels make it hard to provide adequate care – less than one in 10 women in Kono, for example, know how to read.
Nevertheless, opportunities exist for improving health in Sierra Leone, as Amina demonstrated in Bendu. Returning refugees and internally displaced people have benefited from health services and education in Guinea camps. Many mothers now use oral rehydration salts when their children have diarrhea, and a large network of trained traditional birth attendants is in place. The Ministry of Health and Sanitation is taking measures to empower community health workers, and several community organizations are promoting community health. The IRC and other organizations are collaborating with the ministry to rebuild health facilities. As a result, Kono now has 62 working clinics.
Even more encouraging is that much of what needs to be done can be accomplished simply and inexpensively, and with the active participation of local communities. These low-tech solutions can survive a breakdown of infrastructure or other disruptions of war. Dr. Emmanuel d'Harcourt, IRC senior technical advisor for child survival, said, "It sounds simple, but it saves lives, and these simple solutions do not break down when war strikes." The IRC Child Survival Program in Kono uses a strategy called the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI).
IMCI is practiced at the community and household levels; it helps parents and health workers to work together to improve child health, using an integrated approach in which the child's nutrition, vaccination and treatment needs are all considered together. IRC's health program also uses participatory methodologies to improve the quality of health care. The IRC coordinates with community health workers, local leaders and women's groups to offer a variety of services. These range from immunization, prenatal clinics, and mosquito net distribution, to the provision of ORS, vitamin A, iron and zinc tablets. Community health workers provide basic services while community groups and leaders support health activities and disseminate key health messages. These activities are reaching more than 21,000 women of childbearing age and 16,000 children under five, and may eventually impact all 200,000 women and children in Kono district.
Some of these activities have proven to have other, unexpected consequences. For example, the IRC distributes long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets in Kono as part of its efforts to combat malaria, which accounts for more than half of child deaths in Sierra Leone. IRC staff gives the nets to prevent malaria, but one mother who purchased a net expressed her appreciation, for finally being able to sleep soundly after many nights interrupted by biting mosquitoes. Distribution of the nets has also increased vaccination coverage, as the IRC has developed innovative protocol using the nets as an incentive to complete a child's course of vaccinations. The success of interventions such as these, and the survival of children like Sasco, is the motivation – and the inspiration - for the program, instilling a sense of hope as Sierra Leoneans rebuild their war-torn nation.
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