Sierra Leone Crisis = International Silence ?

Sierra Leone…

I am sick and tired of one tragedy being more noteworthy than another. I am sick of one loss gaining more awareness on social media platforms and support while another is ignored and lost in the dark.

This is my outlook on the Sierra Leone Mudslide disaster… 

499 dead. Hundreds are currently missing. Where is the world’s outcry? Where are the colored filters on Facebook for Sierra’s Leone’s Mudslide victims?

All hell broke loose in the early hours of Monday (August, 14, 2017), Sierra Leoneans woke up to devastating torrential rains that caused flooding and triggered a massive mudslide. Most the damage done was in the Mortormeh, Kamayama, and Kaningo communities, which are on the outskirts of the capital Freetown.

Sierra Leone government’s initial reports have indicated that as of now, over 499 bodies have been recovered, of that number 150 were children. Search operations are still ongoing. The bodies have been brought to the central morgue in Freetown, but it is estimated that the number of victims may increase to the thousands.

People have lost property, possessions, and hundreds are now homeless with nowhere to go. Most of these people are women and children, mothers and infants that need urgent help and care.

To make matters worse, health workers have warned of an impending health crisis since corpses have been left in the open and the mass burial of bodies is still underway.

There are agencies working on the ground who are doing their best to respond to the disaster, but due to the large scale of destruction it has been described as an unprecedented tragedy for Sierra Leone.

As this all plays out, I am baffled and enraged by the lack of outcry or support from the international community. It’s now Sunday (August, 21, 2017), and I note an echoing silence by some of the international leaders and communities around the world.

The lack of support or a response even is disgusting. Sierra Leone, a country in perpetual conflict has seen its share of trials and tribulations that range from Civil War to the Ebola crisis. This latest disaster feels like the one that is meant to break the people’s will.

The only good thing I have come to find out of this disaster is that African leaders around the continent have officially expressed their support and sympathy to the people of Sierra Leone. Countries like Senegal, and Ivory Coast have made substantial financial donations and sent relief packages to aid the rescue efforts.

Citizens of Sierra Leone who live abroad have also sent back support and assistance to Sierra Leone, but little to nothing else has been said or done by countries like France, UK, Germany, or the USA.

No one tragedy is above another, or holds less severity than another. The attack on Barcelona received support and attention from all the corners of the world, but a mudslide that kills over 400 people in Sierra Leone receives nothing but a whisper? 

This is the problem with the world. This is what makes us in the West isolated and unaware of what is taking place on our own planet. Our media covers only what it feels aligns with its agenda, and everything else is ignored and left in the dark.

I hope and pray that after reading this those who truly care for others will conduct some research on Sierra Leone and attempt to either help or at the very least bring attention to the situation.

We are part of this world, humanity is important, and it’s about time we actually act like it and hold others accountable for it as well.

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