The challenges of transport
- ellenarnison
- Apr 4
- 2 min read
Prosper's communities are often hard to access
Prosper’s training often takes place in rural market towns or villages of Kenema District. These locations present significant challenges to our teams.
In Kenema District the only paved roads are the three national highways – to the west linking Bo (the second city in Sierra Leone) to Kenema, to the north connecting Kenema to Koidu and Kailahun (other district capitals), and to the south to the Liberian border, via Zimmi. All other roads are dirt roads, in various condition from relatively good to nearly impassable.
Poor roads can affect economic opportunities in a community: if no trucks are running, it can be hard for people to sell their goods and agricultural products will spoil.
Prosper often selects communities to work in, particularly in Kenema District, because the poor accessibility means the training is much more impactful. Towns and villages that can access the highways may well have relationships with other organisations working on economic development.
The Gola Rainforest National Park sits between Kenema District and the border with Liberia. There are many farms in the forests around the villages and towns. One of the reasons Kenema was so badly affected in the civil war was because the forest provided rebel groups with good places to hide and survive, as well as its proximity to Liberia.
In the rainy season it can be very wet, sometimes raining heavily for several days in a row. When this happens, there are floods, and dirt roads become chopped up by trucks leaving routes almost impassible, especially by car.
Public cars (called taxis in Sierra Leone) are the most common way to travel. If you want to travel, you go to the allocated place – like a bus stop - and buy a ticket, wait for the driver to sell tickets for the other seats before you can go.
If roads are in a poor condition, it can be impossible for cars to get through, leaving motorbikes the only option.
This causes other problems – products can’t be transported in or out of an area easily and traders are forced to trust to motorbike riders that their products will get to their destinations safely. Prosper’s linking meetings can help to facilitate cooperative transport relationships where, for example, traders work together to send their goods to market.
Motorbikes might be the only way to go where you want to, but they are an uncomfortable and risky mode of transport: Accidents are common. Motorbikes are traditionally not ridden by women which adds another layer of difficulty to the lives of women in these parts of the country. Prosper encourages its female field staff to ride bikes.
Local governments often lack the resources to maintain local roads. It is not uncommon for villages to coordinate to repair a road linking them to the highways which are crucial for getting goods in and out.
