World Changing Centre

Life in Calaba Town

Calaba Town is located in the East End of Freetown and home to 12,459 inhabitants. Exposed to increasingly erratic weather conditions, life is hard for its residents who mostly live in small, zinc houses. During the wet season it is frequently hit by heavy rain which often causes flooding but for the rest of the year it suffers from drought with temperatures rising to +45 Celsius. Following the rebel invasion during the civil war in January 1999, the people of Calaba Town suffered unimaginable consequences. Most adults lost their lives, many houses where burnt down and properties destroyed. As a result, a large proportion of the area’s with children were left orphaned or disabled with no future.   Most suffered terribly in the hands of rebels with some losing their entire family. Children were forced to act as soldiers, were often raped and in some cases had their arms and legs hacked off by rebels. Calaba Town was rebuilt after the civil war ended in 2002 and is now home to many of the ethnic groups who relocated there. Today most locals are engaged in subsistence farming and the people are warm-hearted and generous by nature, with a strong sense of spirituality. However the country is:

Ranked 180^th of 182 countries in the world according to the UN Human Development Index

29% of children die before the age of 5 (UNICEF)

70% of the country lives below the extreme poverty line, the situation for its children is dire. 

Sierra Leone

Calaba Town

Calaba Town is a small town roughly 30 Km East of Freetown. 



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