We in the West take for granted the enormous variety of food that we have access to and especially that we can refrigerate, freeze or otherwise preserve it. This is not possible for most people in Sierra Leone. We also have far removed ourselves from the amount of physical labor required to grow the food we eat and have taken out the worry of having a successful crop to feed our families.
For many the day starts with reheated rice from the night before or some kind of sweet rice porridge. Very tasty and filling and certainly gets you started on your day. The big meal in the day happens around three o’clock and this will be rice with a palm oil and potato leaf sauce with maybe some small fish or a peanut sauce. The challenge in this country is getting enough protein. The day may end with a small bowl of rice refried and served with fried plantain or some other green. Many eat only two meals a day and in some cases only one.
I visited several villages where World Renew has worked with Women’s Cooperatives to increase rice yield. The women work together in groups to plant rice swamps with some new high-yield rice seed varieties and if the cooperative grows they may receive a labour saving rice mill to process the rice. They have helped to build rice stores, dry, secure buildings to store enough rice for the season and save enough to start seedlings for the next year. This is proving to be very successful and the women are very proud of their production levels. As the success increases they add other women’s groups and thus increase the overall food security of a community or region. Clearly it was the women who did all the work but the men who wanted to get into the photographs. Give us this day our daily bread has a far deeper meaning in this part of the world.