On August 14, 2017, Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown faced three days of torrential rainfall, devastating floods and mudslides which left more than 3,000 people homeless and 499 confirmed dead. Soon after this devastation, the Nana Dee Foundation team decided to visit Sierra Leone and the victims to see the damage caused and to find out exactly what help was needed.
Nana Dee and the Sierra Leonean NDF representatives visited local schools, orphanages and the temporary shelters that had been set up for the mudslide victims. There were several campsites dotted around but in the temporary shelter that we visited, there were approximately 100 people including adults and children living there. Wells for a clean drinking water supply had been set up and temporary toilets were being dug up to keep the spreading of diseases to a minimum. There were also other charity groups present on the site. We met with many individuals who explained to us that their loved ones were still missing from the mudslide and they were desperate to locate them. We also met with many children who were now left orphaned as they had lost their parents on the night of the mudslide.
As soon as we had established what was needed by the children and individuals in the camp site, we went back to our warehouse in Freetown and sorted out clothes and items in which we believed would be of some benefit for the victims.
The following day, the team returned with some educational resources, sachets of drinking water, food, financial support for school fees, a wheel chair and a walking frame. The children and their carers were all very happy and thanked us for our generosity.
Whilst we were in Freetown we also had time to visit some of the other orphanages that we work with and have been supporting in the past. We also took them some much needed resources, which were greatly appreciated. It was great to see the children and their carers all doing so well and they were happy to see us.
