I'm jumping ahead of the day-by-day story, but I got an email from Erica this morning and I wanted to share the information. I'll set it up for you....
As we were sitting in the airport in Freetown, Sierra Leone, waiting for our departure there was an Asian lady sitting in front of me. Members of our team were sitting all around here and at some point, she inquired about our group and why we were in Sierra Leone. After a brief explanation of our effort to bring supplies and help at The Covering and in the community, she shared with us that she is a freelance photographer.
She was doing a piece on the maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone, hoping to raise awareness to the plight of Sierra Leonean women. She had been at the very same hospital we visited earlier in the week. We were probably there at the same time and just didn't know it.
She was at the hospital photographing women in the maternity ward. She was very kind and interesting to speak with. We already knew the maternal mortality rate was very high. She gave us the statistic of 1 in every 8 women die during childbirth. We had 8 women on our team who were mothers. Statistically speaking, if we lived in Sierra Leone, one of would not be alive today.
Anyway....some contact information was exchanged and she sent Erica a link to her website so that we could see her photographs. They are astonishing, to say the least. She has done work in the Congo, Afghanistan and Israel, winning awards along the way. Here is the link to her website. I hope you'll take a look and have a better understanding of the lives of the people in Sierra Leone.
Jean Chung Photography Go to the Portfolios tab and you will see the Sierra Leone link.
I have no words for this. The lump in my throat...the twisting in my gut...the horror and despair of it...no words.
ReplyDeleteBut I thank you for sharing it. This is reality, and we cannot blind ourselves to it.
...kelli