As a mother and grandmother, I am grateful that my family no longer has to worry about the black fly and that children will not suffer from blindness. But the land in my original village was better than this land. In this village, most of the young men and women have gone to the city looking for work. Many of the older people suffer from the after-effects of onchocerciasis which has affected their ability to work. The village has no support systems, the water is bad, there are no services.
Life is hard here.
The issues surrounding resettlement of the land that people abandoned in trying to escape disease are very complex. Finding solutions is vital for the future. The conditions of farming are not similar from where the people are moving from to where they are moving into. These areas are not ready for any kind of development. We have to make sure that when people come and do produce something, they are able to sell whatever output they have from the land.