Young Life in Freetown: Pets, pets, pets!


Domestic pets are everywhere in Freetown and they add meaning to everyday life.

You hardly go past a street in the city, without seeing a pet. They seem to be in every home. Some keep pets because they feel the need of helping, others see an animal friend. Though few might find pleasure in actually raising a pet, there's no denying the joy of having one. It's like nothing is more beautiful than life with domestic pets in the Freetown municipality.

As Nancy Penyikie, 55, expressed, Mama Kat and Scratch are the best things that have happened to her in a long while. Some years back, she found a cat and its kitten huddled behind a coconut tree in her backyard. She decided to bring them into the house for shelter. Her sick husband didn't favor the idea much because he wasn't a cat lover, but the cat and her kitten needed a home. For months, she and her husband quarreled over the pets but she finally convinced him that they could be the ones the cats had been waiting for.

Eight-year-old Yelie Mbangali confessed that her dog, Peggy, has been the friend she yearned for. She thinks her pet is as brave as her English teacher who hardly ever misses English. She also thanked her father for Peggy, a wonderful gift he gave her on her fifth birthday.

As for ten-year-old Yakuba Koroma, he found the idea of keeping pets disagreeable. He complained that since his mother's English chickens arrived at their house, they have taken his place in his mother's heart. He said the fowls eat up most of the food at home and he really doesn't like them now.

Alhaji Dumbuya confessed that he does not like keeping pets, especially dogs, and cats, but his fifteen-year-old daughter Mabinty does. He said that even though he has scolded her many times about inviting animals into the house, she still hasn't given up.

No matter what he does, his house is filled with all sorts of animals, which actually breaks his heart as a Muslim. However, Alhaji said that raising pets makes his daughter happy and it also keeps her away from bad company, so he gave up and decided to accept her pets wholeheartedly.

Even though some are not able to provide for their pets, they still wouldn't let them go one day without a grain. Many see their pets as family and others believe they give a new lease on life. Domestic pets mean a whole lot to the lives of the people of Freetown. It's fun raising a pet.

For Young Life in Freetown, I'm Inyilla Conteh reporting..

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ebola: The More We Learn, the More We Realize How Much We Don't Know

Image
Alex Bonapha, chairman, Kailahun District Council O bservers say the controversy erupting in Kailahun over the case of a dead baby might just open up critical questions on the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. "While the child appears to be at the center of this controversy, the real question being raised here is the mode of transmission: Is this virus transmitted or transfused?" asks Chernor Bah, chairman of the African Socialist Movement of Sierra Leone. Bah thinks “we need to listen to Mr. Bonapha's concerns.” A lex Bonapha is chairman of Kailahun District Council. In a tersely worded statement sent out Saturday, Bonapha said: "We are strongly contesting the validity of the one case today in Kailahun.  A young child of 9 months, fell ill and was hospitalised at the Nixon Memorial Hospital in Segbwema. They requested blood transfusion and a donor offered his blood. Eventually the child died and a swab was collected to verify the cause of death. It is this
Read more

28 Years Since the Death of Salami Coker

In words that echoed around the world, a commission of inquiry in Sierra Leone held the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) responsible for extrajudicial killings in1992. The junta's attempt to justify these executions retrospectively by decree, on the basis that the 26 people were alleged coup plotters, was an unlawful abuse of executive power, the commission said. In particular, the Commission found that the deputy chairman of the NPRC, Solomon A.J. Musa, was personally responsible for acts of torture on detainees. They called the executions a flagrant violation of international standards.   Among those executed on December 29, 1992, were: Lt. Col James Yaya Kanu, former commanding officer of the 4th Battalion James Bambay Kamara, former Inspector General of Police Corporal Mohammed Mansaray, alias Candapa of the 1st Battalion Warrant Officer Class 1 Kargbo, alias Fernando of the 1st Battalion headquarters Lieutenant colonel (Rtd.) Kahota M.S. Dumbuya, Army Headquarters.
Read more

'Magazine Has Lost A Son'

Image
President Koroma sympathizes with the Fadika family Tuesday, August 8 Moseray Fadika was a keynote speaker at yet another event Friday, Aug. 5, when he felt ill and was rushed to an emergency room.  The man would die later that evening at the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, east London. The cause of death is still unknown.  Fadika’s sudden loss has sent shockwaves through Sierra Leoneans online, across the small West African country and around the world. Frost Illustrated, a weekly newspaper in Fort Wayne, Indiana, described the popular  businessman-philanthropist turned politician as one of the wealthiest men in Sierra Leone, who built his fortune in extractive industries. Sierra Leone is rich in mineral resources. Diamonds, gold, bauxite, rutile and iron ore are known to exist in large quantities. Fadika never made Forbes Africa’s wealthiest lists, and no one knows just how much he was really worth. But by some estimates, he could have been Sierra Leone’s own
Read more