HERO OF OUR TIME: Dr.Santigie Sesay: A Man Who Laid His Life For Others

Hero Of Our Time is please to feature another prominent personality in Sierra Leone, he is no other person but Dr. Santigie Sesay the current Director of Reproductive and Child Health in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.

Dr. Santigie Sesay was born on the 8^th of April, 1963, at the Western Area Rural District of Freetown called Devil Hole where his parents settled decades ago from Bombali District, North of Sierra Leone.

Dr. Sesay attended the Rokel Primary School at the Rokel Community from class one to four. He also attended the Hastings Primary School from class five to six, where he graduated with a National Primary School Examination Certificate (NPSE). Dr. Sesay after his NPSE, went to the Peninsular Secondary School where he sat to the GCE O level.

After his GCE O level, Dr. Sesay entered the National School of Nursing where he was trained as a State Registrar Nurse.

He worked briefly as a State Registrar Nurse and left the soil of Sierra Leone to the former Soviet Union now Russia where he pursued General Medicine.
Upon completion of his training in the Soviet Union, Dr. Santigie Sesay returned to Sierra Leone in 1993 when Sierra Leone civil war was raging. Dr. Santigie Sesay did his internship in Pedetritise, Medicine and Surgery and different Gynecologist. He was later certified as a Medical Officer.

Dr. Santigie Sesay worked briefly as a Medical Officer at the Connaught Hospital attached to the Emergency Unit and later transferred to the Koidu Government hospital in Kono District as a Medical Officer in 1997.

The time Dr. Sesay went to Kono was the time the junta overthrew President Ahmed Tejan Kabba. It was difficult for Dr. Sesay and his family during that time to survive but eventually they survived it through the help of God.

When the ECOMOG drove the rebels out of Freetown, Dr. Santigie Sesay and his family were forced to leave Kono because the rebels had taken over that township.

Dr. Santigie Sesay then took refuge in Guinea after they walked for weeks to reach the neighbouring country.

Dr. Santigie Sesay returned to Sierra Leone and they were able to survive but later the rebel invaded Freetown again on January 6^th 1999 and at that time, Dr.Santigie Sesay was in charge of one of the hospitals in Freetown, dealing with the hundreds of casualties as Freetown saw massive destruction of lives and properties at that time.

After the war, Dr. Santigie Sesay was posted to Bonth District, South of Sierra Leone as District Medical Officer (DMO) where he worked for two years, he was them posted to Kambia District North of Sierra Leone as DMO where he worked for one year and eventually went to the United Kingdom where he did his Master’s Degree in Public Health.

In 2005 Dr. Santigie Sesay came back to Sierra Leone and was posted to Kailahun District, East of Sierra Leone, as DMO where he worked close to 4 years.

He worked as DMO in Bombali District North of Sierra Leone for one year and was later posted as Program Manager for Neglected Tropical Diseases in 2009 for four years.

During the time Dr. Santigie Sesay was working at the Neglected Tropical Diseases centre, Sierra Leone was hit by Ebola in May 2014.

3, 590 number of lost their lives in Sierra Leone to an epidemic that devastated families and communities across the country and disrupted every aspects of life.

Dr. Santigie Sesay voluntarily left that position to work at the Ebola treatment center at Hastings, the first treatment center in Freetown that was manned by Sierra Leoneans.

When the Hastings treatment center was opened, a center which was first described as holding center during the three days lock down, it was later transformed to a treatment center because of the number of cases that were reported.

Sierra Leoneans saw a kind of change in the behaviour of people, this Dr. Santigie Sesay said is because of what they were told initially was when one is infected with Ebola; one has one to ten chance of being cured.

“People were afraid to go to the hospitals, nothing was done for those who were infected, so when we opened the Hastings treatment center, we were able to change the perception of people and we were able to save the lives of many people.”

Dr.Santigie Sesay was in charge of the Hastings Treatment facility. When things were getting better, Dr. Santigie Sesay was again posted as the Director of Reproductive and Child Health a position he is currently holding.

Dr. Santigie Sesay due to his love and passion he has for people and his job, he has represented Sierra Leone and showcased his Health Ministry in different international conferences.

He has contributed greatly at local and international conferences, trying to showcase what Sierra Leone is doing relating to the health sector of the country.
While other Medical Doctors are looking for luxurious places, Dr. Sesay finds comfort in his childhood community.

Dr. Santigie Sesay said he loves his childhood village (Devil Hole) in the outskirts of Freetown, a place he currently stays. Even though it is a small village, he loves to see the village developed.

At times Dr. Santigie Sesay said he finds his root once in a while in the Bombali District where his parents came from.

Dr. Santigie Sesay said he was born to be somebody in the Medical field. He also has passion for football of all sorts,locally and internationally.

One thing Hero Of Our Time finds out from Dr. Santigie Sesay is that he is always smiling and cracking jokes, no wonder he said he is happy at all time.

“I feel very much happy when I am with my kids and wife.”

But not on the side of Ebola, Dr. Sesay said it was very difficult for him more so when he would have reached home. “I will go home, stay outside until I undress and take my birth then entered my room. I don't go around my family when I was at home; I was alone in my room because I was the only one who knew what I was going through.”

He said his family did not stop him to work but that they gave him courage to do it while they were praying for him.

On the side of the Ebola, Dr. Santigie Sesay said it was a difficult situation for him at that time to join the Ebola team.

He played a very key role to establish the EOC which was first established at the western area DMT.

Dr. Sesay can’t end without thanking his team at the Hastings Treatment Center. 
“I will always be grateful to the military team, Foday Sahr, the commander was very instrumental, seven personnel were with us including two Doctors-Dr. Jalloh and Songo Brewa, they really inspired me to work in that center. Through their support, we were able to overcome the treat, fear and we saw what happened at the end of the day.”

Dr. Santigie Sesay is  looking forward to see change in the country, as he said, “The change I want to see is on the area that I am working now. I will love to see a Sierra Leone where very few pregnant women will die during child birth than what is currently going on. We can’t say we will wipe it out completely.”
He said he sees the need for the country to have a change in the area of child health mortality, adequate and effective service delivery in the health sector, especially when it comes to women and children.