Every home in Sierra Leone is well stocked with candles, gasoline lanterns and trusty flashlights. These are life essentials in the capital, Freetown, where electricity is intermittent at best; in many of the provinces residents have long resigned themselves to darkness.
Like stable power supply, access to other basic amenities is a challenge. In 2009, Sierra Leone was placed third from last in the UNDP Human Development Index and it’s not hard to see why. Only half the country has access to safe water sources, while sanitation facilities fall short even of that. Freetown has continued to expand into the neighbouring hills with slums adding to the poor sanitary and environmental conditions.
