In Sierra Leone, The People Fighting The Sea To Build A Home

Freetown, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Feb, 2023 ) :Off a path in Cockle Bay, a slum in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, lies the squat, tin-roofed house where Lamrana Bah lives and works.

The widowed mother of six, who sells soft drinks from her front porch, built the home from the ground up -- or, more precisely, from the water up.

Most of the houses here were constructed on land "reclaimed" from the sea.

In a process known here as banking, residents pile layers of tyres, rubbish and sacks of earth into the water, pack the ballast with mud, and then build homes on top.

It is a unique solution to Freetown's problem of overcrowding, rooted in its geography and exacerbated during a decade-long civil war.

"Banking" displays the resourcefulness of a community who with their own muscle and meagre savings battle the sea to make a place of their own.

But their unauthorised homes also face perils ranging from floods to fire, and struggle with lack of roads and basic services.