Sad news

Friday Susu Sesay contacted me from Freetown, Sierra Leone, and brought me the sad news that his mother Fatmata Conteh-Sesay passed away that Friday morning, June 20th. A few weeks ago she was admitted to the 34 Military Hospital in Freetown due to a heart condition. This was the last time I've been in touch with her, May 31, wishing her a fast and full recovery, and she was full of hope. Last week she went home and was doing well, but on Thursday she was rushed to the hospital again, where she passed away shortly after. She will be laid to rest on Tuesday June 24th.

Fatmata Conteh was a police woman in Freetown. From Sierra Leone she joined the African Union police mission in Somalia for several years. After I made a crowdfunding call here on Facebook, several of my friends and family chipped in to help her pay for her medical check and other preparations for this mission. After coming back she recently moved from Freetown to Waterloo, a small town just outside Freetown. I visited those places and the family in 2014.

 
Fatmata Conteh-Sesay leaves five children behind of whom Susu is the eldest.

 
Today I'm also reminded of the day when Susu contacted me New Year's 2016, to tell me that my good friend Isata Sesay had passed away, Fatmata's sister who really had been as a mother to Susu. Now the family has been struck again with grieve. I wish them strength and standing together to bear this loss.

Fatmata Conteh
with her boarding pass for Mogdishu