Pictures reveal how a village in Sierra Leone is recovering from the Ebola crisis

People from a remote village in Sierra Leone have documented the rebuilding of their community from the Ebola epidemic – by taking photographs of themselves getting on with daily life. The project involved 11 villagers, aged from 8 to 75, who were given digital cameras so they could provide an insight into life in the jungle.

The village is located in a region known locally as “the place where bad things come from”. In 2014 it reported some of the first cases of the Ebola virus to hit the country, while in 1991 it was the setting of the first shots of the Sierra Leone Civil War; a war that would last 11 years and claim the lives of 50,000 people.

Before the outbreak, Tombohuaun relied on a dirty underground spring for its water supply, there were no plumbing or dedicated hygiene provisions in the village. The spread of Ebola has had a massive impact on the village, with nearly everyone involved in the project having lost a family member or friend to the disease.

One of the biggest instigators of the eradication of Ebola in the country was the implementation of hand-washing stations and toilets, with the World Health Organisation remarking in 2016 that Sierra Leone’s dedication to building community participation and hygiene had “clearly paid off”.

WaterAid and other NGO’s entered Tombohuaun during the crisis to educate residents on the importance of hygiene and protection of water supply. With help from WaterAid’s Untapped appeal, the community has been building toilets and hand-washing points, and helping with preparations to install water pumps, which will soon bring huge health and economic benefits to the village.

Kokoyeh, 8, the youngest participant in the photography project, says: “I feel happy when people ask me to get a photo of them. I love the photo I took of Bockarie when he was drinking water. The water was collected from the muddy spring where everyone collects water. Sometimes when I drink it, I have stomach pain.”

Haja, 31, has lost two children to diarrhoea caused by drinking dirty water, and treasures the photos she has taken of her surviving children. She says: “I realised after the death of my children that the water is not good to drink. I look to the future and hope that such things won’t happen again.”

Haja also photographed the protective clothing worn during the Ebola crisis, which now has a second life as a rain mac. She adds: “During Ebola, they quarantined the area and my husband and I got separated. They taught us how to wash our hands and we were washing our hands every day.”

Matu, 40, took a photo of the toilet she was building. “A good photo is when you can explain the meaning behind it. I am now renovating my toilet and putting up sticks to create a wall. If you don’t have a decent toilet, you will get diseases. Until now, both men and women go to the bush [to defecate]. At night it’s dangerous as there are snakes,” she says.

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