Annual report of the Medical and Sanitary Department / Sierra Leone.

  • Sierra Leone. Medical and Sanitary Department.
Date:
[1925]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Medical and Sanitary Department / Sierra Leone. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    80/86 (page 72)
    elimination of these swampy areas lias produced a noticeable diminution in the numbers of mosquitoes present in the village and constitutes an excellent anti-malaria measure : a large extent of fsecallv contaminated soil has been adequately dealt with, so that breeding places of ankylostomes and sources of many other intestinal parasites have been destroyed. Again the bush clearing oi ide the fence has not only removed a permanent shelter for many insects such as Shwf/iitm but has also rendered available a large tract of land adjacent to the village suitable for the cultivation of low crops and for the planting of trees of economic value : this immediate advantage has been appreciated by the people, who are now being advised by the Agricultural Department as to the best use to make of the area. The area included inside the fence contains a considerable extent of uncleared land. This is cleared by the chiefs and used to extend and lay out the village on new and better lines. The village of Kaiyima is now practically a new village, the old houses having been demolished and new ones built in proper lines and properly spaced. Extension to Other I iUcu/es.—Already several other large villages have set to work to imitate the example of Kaiyima, and during my recent visit to Jiama, Nimnti Yemma, the chief asked me to undertake similar work in his village. This I did, constructing latrines, fence and road and clearing as at Kaiyima. Dr. Gordon, on proceeding to Jiama, Nimmi Korro, inaugurated the same scheme there at the chief’s request and Dr. Kenner has completed this and, in addition, has carried out the scheme at Kainkordu, a village situated in the eastern side of the Ivonno District, at the request, of the paramount chief. Maintenance Work re//aired.—The most laborious piece of work involved in the scheme is the construction of the fence. This fence will not require to be rebuilt if the people are properly supervised during the period of its existence. It is necessary at first as an actual protection to the water, but once the people have been educated to understand that the water must be protected, the fence will no longer be necessary. The success which the chiefs have so far had in obtaining their people’s acceptance of the new code justifies the belief that by the time the fence has been destroyed, as it will be by white ants, the conditions which rendered it necessary will have ceased to exist. The upkeep of the latrines, the road and clearing, and the care of the trained streams, will not involve any labour beyond what should reasonably be required of any people living in a village community.