Concord Times (Freetown)
Rachel Horner
17 April 2008
Freetown — United States Embassy, Pen Sierra Leone and Conservation Society Tuesday celebrated Earth Day by certifying nine students who participated in the beautiful poster, essays, poems competition organized by the Public Affairs Section of the embassy.
Speaking at a ceremony held at the embassy, US Ambassador to Sierra Leone June Carter Perry said environmental health was directly linked to the health of the population. "Availability of clean, healthy water for domestic use is a serious problem in Sierra Leone as it is in much of the world," she said.
Perry said without clean water people could not take medications safely and weak immune systems are exposed to water borne diseases. She observed that the daily tasks of finding clean water for households is usually assigned to women and girls which keep girls out of the classroom.
"The global reliance on oil for fuel has had a profound impact on the environmental safety of the world," she said.
Perry said US has demonstrated their commitment to helping millions of Africans access clean water through two public-private partnerships. She said the aim of the partnership was to help 10 million people achieve consistent access to safe drinking water through the installation of 4,000 pumps in school and communities in the country.
Giving his key note address Raymond Johnson of the Department of Marine, Biology and Oceanography at Fourah Bay College said the celebration was a call to action for people to change their attitudes toward the management of natural resources and environment.
Johnson said the sheer poverty of the country appears to limit alternatives especially with the growing negative impacts of climate change.
He said the inability of governments and private markets to respond to the dramatic increase in the demand for urban services has led to congested slums and poor sanitation thus contributing to high rates of infant's and maternal mortality rates.
Arthur Smith of the English Department at FBC said 37 schools participated in the competition from Primary, Junior, and Senior Secondary School level. Some of the topics included how your city can be cleaned and made environmentally friendly and my dream of a clean and healthy city.
Hannah Adama Bangura, Seong Young Hwang and Simithy Kamara were among the students that received prizes from the Ambassador respectively.
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