Surviving the Margins: Voices from Freetown’s Bomeh Slum
By: Musa Kamara | Intern Reporter, Epic Radio
Tucked away on the eastern outskirts of Freetown lies Bomeh, a community better known as the city’s main waste disposal site. For decades, thousands of residents have lived here, surrounded by mountains of garbage, inhaling the pungent fumes of burning plastic, and struggling to find dignity in a place most people only associate with waste.
But beyond the stench and the smoke are human stories of children, mothers, and youths striving to survive against all odds in one of Sierra Leone’s most marginalized environments.
For many families in Bomeh, a roof over their heads is never guaranteed. Makeshift structures of zinc, tarpaulin, and scrap wood line the dumpsite. When it rains, floodwater mixed with garbage washes through homes, leaving residents vulnerable to disease and displacement.
Mr. Maligu Koroma, the community chairman and a representative of the City Council, explained that shelter remains the most urgent need.
“We are not only fighting poverty, we are fighting to stay alive. People sleep on heaps of waste because they have nowhere else to go. The government must consider relocation as a real option,” he said.
Koroma also appealed to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation for mosquito nets to curb malaria and urged NGOs and politicians to provide meaningful support.
While the dumpsite receives daily convoys of garbage trucks, safe drinking water rarely makes its way to Bomeh. Residents fetch water from unsafe sources, exposing themselves to waterborne diseases.
Madam Kadiatu Conteh, Chairlady of the Scavengers Association, explained the hardship vividly.
“In the dry season, getting water is like digging for gold. We sometimes pay more than we can afford just for a few gallons. Our children drink unsafe water, and that is why they fall sick often. We need tools, even a bulldozer, to manage this place properly,” she pleaded.
Sanitation is another nightmare. With garbage building up around homes, outbreaks of diarrhea, cholera, and respiratory diseases are a constant threat.
Among the scavengers are young people who should be in school. Instead, they spend their days collecting scraps of metal, bottles, and discarded goods from dump trucks.
Foday Koroma, a youth leader in the area, painted a picture of survival.
“Every day, we run after trucks to see what we can collect—plastic, iron, anything to sell. Some of us do this just to pay school fees or buy food. Life here is about hustling from one day to the next,” he said.
Foday recalled that government officials once visited and collected names for relocation, but no progress has been made since. The community remains hopeful but wary of empty promises.
For Zainab, a 12-year-old schoolgirl, the biggest challenge is education. She walks through piles of garbage every morning just to get to school, carrying the smell of smoke and waste with her.
“Sometimes my friends laugh at me because I come from here. It is hard to focus on school when you are hungry, and when your home is surrounded by garbage,” she admitted quietly.
Her words echo the frustrations of many children in Bomeh who dream of a better future but are weighed down by circumstances beyond their control.
Despite the dire conditions, the residents of Bomeh are not giving up. They are demanding dignity, support, and recognition as Sierra Leonean citizens with basic human rights.
Their appeals are clear:
- Access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
- Provision of adequate shelter and mosquito nets.
- Support for education and youth empowerment.
- A long-term relocation plan that goes beyond collecting names.
For now, Bomeh remains Freetown’s reminder of urban neglect. But within its struggles lies resilience a community surviving on the margins, still hoping for a future where their children can live beyond the dumpsite.
