High Kingdom: a 27-year-old’s battle with kush addiction
Among the many buildings that are scattered in a sprawling neighbourhood in Western Freetown, one shack stands out. It is not a home or office. It is not a stall or shop that sells any of the obvious everyday convenience items, but it gets very busy as early as 7 am. To its diverse clientele, […]
Agony of our sisters: domestic workers in the Middle East
On March 11, at least five Sierra Leonean women died in a fire incident at an apartment block in the Sid El Bouchrieh region of Lebanon. Two others are still in critical condition. They were all women who travelled to Lebanon on the promise of various jobs but ended up working as domestic workers. The […]
Nice throw, no catch: local fishermen lament dwindling fish stock
Not so long ago, local fishermen heading out to sea were almost assured of a good catch as long as they knew their way around the waters that offered an abundance of all manner of fish. Of course, there were those very bad days when they would come back with nothing to show for their […]
Abu’s Temple Run: a journey of ‘pain and sorrow’
In 2020, 26-year-old Abu Kamara (not his real name) sold everything he had to pursue a dream—to migrate to Europe in search of a better life. Twenty-three at the time, he sold off a business he owned and invested up to NLe 20,000 to go on a journey that turned out to be “the most […]