Baidu's new community barray
Communities throughout Sierra Leone are making great use of the structures put into plae by Fambul Tok International. After a Fambul Tok intervention in any section, training is conducted for both outreach and reconciliation committee members to ensure that they are able to manage and lead the reconciliation process in their community.
Most communities members are now using Fambul Tok initiatives to work together for the development of their various areas without waiting for external support. The Tingi Tongi and Pokorli sections in Kissi Tongi chiefdom, Kailahun district are practical examples of this motivation, as the two sections have started constructing community barrays where meetings can be held.
Tambatekor, Koindu Kombay and Kabadu villages in Tongi Tingi section held a meeting last year to decide what their next steps in rebuilding would be. With enough rice bring produced on their community farm, they all agreed to sell the crops and use the proceeds to construct their own community barray. Work kicked off immediately as the three villages all provided human resources to achieve their goal.
According to Section Chief Fatoma Josiah, the community members met every weekend to make mud bricks and other local materials. He said roofing has already been completed, as the villages were able to purchase roofing sheets with the proceeds from their community farm.
“We did this to ensure that we are working together and also want to be independent,” Chief Josiah stressed. He said they will no longer wait for external support before embarking on any developmental program, adding that “it does not mean we don’t want external support, but we have to set the pace.”
In Pokorli section, Peace Mothers in four villages (Baidu, Foindu, Mano and Sondokoro) also assisted their section to construct a big community barray. They did this through proceeds from their cassava and vegetable gardens.
Furthermore, it can be recalled that in 2010, Baidu village and two others constructed a community school that now accommodates over hundred pupils.
