By Foday Moriba Conteh
As part of their efforts in supporting the August 14 2017 mudslide flood victims in the country, the SPIRITANS Sierra Leone & Liberia of the Catholic Mission with funds from the World Mercy Fund/ Barmherzigkeit Dublin 14, Ireland has on Thursday 5th August, 2021 donated assorted food items, which includes bags of rice, onions, Maggi worth millions of Leones with cash to 100 households of the mudslide victims on the project titled: “Livelihood Support To Motomeh Mudslide Victims”. The ceremony took place at St. Martin De Porres Hall on Black Hall Road in Freetown.
It could be recalled that in the early hours of 14th August 2017, torrential rains caused parts of Mount Sugar Loaf, a range of hills surrounding Freetown, to slide into the Regent Village vicinity which led to heavy loss of lives and properties.
The flood caused widespread destruction of at least 1,245 properties with over 300 houses being destroyed. According to ONS information, the mudslide rendered 11,816 people displaced of which over 7,000 were sheltered in temporary camps in Freetown.
Speaking to this medium, Development Coordinator for Spiritans, Rev. Father Augustine Berewa, commended the World Mercy Fund/ Barmherzigkeit Dublin 14, Ireland for funding the project.
He said that the Spiritans also known as Holy Ghost fathers were catholic mission missionaries who doesn’t only believed in praying but rather also believed in relating the love of God to one another.
He stated that after the 14 August 2017 torrential rains which caused parts of Mount Sugar Loaf to slide into the Regent Village vicinity the floods caused widespread destruction of properties and the loss of lives, adding that they thought it fit that they should not only be praying for the victims but rather to also find a way to support these victims of which they reached out to individuals and institutions in order to support the Spiritans so they can support the Mudslide victims.
Rev. Father Augustine Berewa revealed that World Mercy Fund responded to them by providing the funds for the implementation of the said project in the country as a way of supporting the victims, stating that this is not the first time they have been supporting disaster victims as they have been supporting them over the years.
He disclosed that this donation supported 100 households who are victims of the Mud Slide as part of the organization’s support in mitigating the negative impact of the Mud Slide on the victims.
Yusuf Conteh, one of the beneficiaries, applauded the Spiritans of the Catholic Mission and the World Mercy Fund for considering them at this crucial moment in their lives, adding that the said Mud Slide destroyed all what they had leaving them with nothing but said with the supports they are receiving will definitely held them greatly.
He assured the organization that they will make good use of the donated items in order to support themselves and their families in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
