My Year 8 Blog!

The Republic of Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa. The name Sierra Leone was adapted from the Portuguese name for the country: Serra Leoa. The literal meaning is “Lion Mountains.” During the 1700s Sierra Leone was an important centre of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It was established by freed slaves, who in 1791 founded the capital, Freetown. From 1991 to 2000, the country suffered greatly under a devastating civil war. The average life span of a Sierra Leonean is 38 years for men and only 42 years for women, which is only about half the life-span an Australian would have.

This might help you understand why not many people would want to live there. As you probably know, some athletes from Sierra Leone, who were supposed to participate in the Commonwealth Games, ran away and were found a few days later in one of Sydney’s wealthier suburbs. Here is what some of them had to say about their home country… “I want to seek asylum here and I won’t go back to my country. The people come- the government comes- and they kill my sister.” Musa Kamara said. “They catch me and beat me up and shot me on my leg.”, said Mohamed Sesi “I would prefer to die than to go back to that country,” Lamin Tucker said, “I would die instead of going back to that country.”

Hearing this made me think about all the luxuries I have right here in Australia. Although the Civil War ended years ago, the government still sends out to get people who don’t please them. In Australia everyone has fresh drinking water, and most have enough food. In Sierra Leone the only people who have that are the people from the government who collect taxes, but instead of helping their people, they go out and buy new cars for themselves.

People like those from Sierra Leone come to Australia in search of Asylum, and to live here. Most come illegaly, and so our government detains them in one of Australia’s 7 detention centres till they get Visa’s etc. Our class decided to help people in detention centres, by selling cakes, muffins, slices and cookies at our school. We raised an amazing $205.10!!! It may not sound like much, but it’s a start.