News like this just tears my heart apart, because when people or children die at such an early age it as if they were never given a chance. This is from couple weeks back, but the article states about 29% of under five deaths in Sierra Leone is caused by Diarrhea. As travelers we've all probably ran into an ugly case of the vicious 'D' word, but 29% is a pretty high death rate for something that could probably be fixed so easy. Sad - just sad.

Today's phrase is a Mende phrase used in Sierra Leone:

nyaa fisama - I am getting better.

Mende is going to be yet another toughie to learn online. For now I suggest going through this Mende Phrasebook published by the Bumumbu Press during colonial times to help Mende speakers learn English. In turn it can help you learn Mende in modern times.

Past Mende words: Nya sinjii ve, wa mu li na

Filed under: Learning, Africa, Sierra Leone