Today Sierre Leone is still rebuilding itself and still considered a fragile state and faces constant challenge of reconstruction, poverty and corruption.  As a result of the atrocities and Polio many individuals are unable to travel and face a personal battle everyday.  Those who are lucky to receive a wheelchair find the equipment will only last a year or two before it is redundant due to a lack of skills and funds to repair the wheelchair. 

Case Studies

Aminata Momoh, aged 12, had been unable to attend school after contracting polio
Aminata had been attending school, but had to leave in class 3 because it was impossible for her to travel from her hilltop village Meima to the nearest school three kilometres away. The only way she could travel to school was if her father or somebody carried her on his back, and as she got older this became very difficult, and eventually impossible.
It was recommended that she should be provided with a wheelchair, but the only one available was an adult white plastic type which had to be modified.
As a result of this, Aminata is now attending school, but the aim is to provide her with an appropriate children's wheelchair made at the wheelchair workshop in Sierra Leone.

Sahr Nyuma, aged 49, is a farmer and father of three whose fingers and legs were amputated by rebel soldiers
Sahr was living with his family in 1998 when rebels entered their village and hacked off his fingers and legs with machetes. After the gunmen had left, he was rescued by his relatives and later taken to neighbouring Guinea for surgery.
The rough ground in his village and farm made it difficult for him to walk with artificial limbs, and he was recommended as being suitable for a wheelchair as an alternative mobility aid.
Sahr has been one of the first people to receive a specially built wheelchair, which has enabled him to go into town more and means he has not fallen over for some time.

Kadiatu Koroma, aged 25, is a mother-of-two who does hairdressing and needlework, and has needed a wheelchair since contracting polio
Kadiatu Koroma is using her fifth wheelchair since she developed polio. She has two children – a boy called Abubakar Koroma who is nine years old and in class 2 at school, and a girl called Masata Koroma, who is aged six – and she has to support them on her own after her husband left her.
Her wheelchairs have enabled Kadiatu to go to her workshop and make money to support her children. However, she has had problems with wheelchairs breaking and being difficult to repair, and not being the right size. She believes these problems will be addressed when wheelchairs are made in Sierra Leone.