• Sierra Leone covers almost 28,000 square miles and has a 5m population. The recent history has been dominated by a brutal ten-year civil war which lasted until 2002.

    During this time more than 20,000 people were killed,  thousands injured and an estimated two million people were displaced.
    Women and children were particularly targeted and subjected to horrendous sex crimes.  It is estimated that a third of the female population were raped and many children were forced to become soldiers.
    Today Malaria and AIDS are widespread and female circumcision takes place in rural communities.
    Kambia District is one of the poorest areas, 195km north of the capital Freetown and just 8 km from the boarder with Guinea. The road system is poor and the area still devastated by the conflict. Streets are lined with dusty, bullet-ridden homes and dilapidated NGO signs.
    Often poor families can afford to send only boys to school, much of the population are illiterate and life expectancy alarmingly short.
    Despite this, the women are resilient and cheerful. The ravages of the Civil war, although still evident, are contrasted by a peaceful and welcoming community.

  • Girls wait outside RC School, Kambia District.
  • Girls listen during a sex education class, they are being taught how to avoid HIV and teenage pregnancy.
  • Girls listen during a sex education class, they are being taught how to avoid HIV and teenage pregnancy.
  • Girls listen during a sex education class, they are being taught how to avoid HIV and teenage pregnancy.
  • A child waits to be seen by a doctor at Kambia Hospital.A child waits to be seen by a doctor.
  • A mother and baby stand in there door step in Kambia 1 District, Sierra Leone.
  • Family members celebrate the return of Sierra Leone soldier ,Yosuf Koroma after a lengthly posting overseas.
  • The war memorial in Kambia Old Town . The area was devastated by the 10 year civil war.
  • Alimata Kamara, a great grandmother, who does not know her presise age, pictured outside her home in Kambia.
  • Women in the village prepare fresh bread to sell in Kambia town. Bread and rice are Kambia's stable foods.
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