In Kono District, in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone, where diamond-rich earth was once exploited to fund a decade-long civil war, a new legacy is being built in its capital, Koidu.
Behind a steel fence, the rooms of a new maternity centre, the Maternal Center of Excellence, are emerging – and about 60% of those wearing hard hats on site are women. Most are working in construction for the first time and are conscious they are helping to build the region’s future. “It is for us, the women who will give birth here. That’s why we are putting in effort to build the hospital,” says Hawa Baryoh, 21, who works in quality control. “That is why you see plenty of women here,” she says proudly.
