Project SIerra- More notes from the field

Greetings from Sierra Leone--somewhere between Makeni and Freetown. Network coverage has been inconsistent over the past two days, while we travelled to the northern part of the country.

After leaving Bo we went to Makeni, where HHC and their partner HANCI have a project. We were greeted with another festive welcome, and participated in a community assembly. The level of community support for the work our partners is doing is incredible--and is one of the reasons Project SIerra has been so successful here. Our contributions have provided a more stable source of funding, allowing our partners to expand their capacity to serve women and girls in need. We visited some of the beneficiaries of the program--stories about them to follow.

Yesterday we took a very long (and very bumpy!) road to Kamakwie and a community called Tambakha. This village is so remote, the people have been largely ignored by the national government. And HANCI is the only NGO providing services there. The other NGO's have come and gone, unable to deal with the magnitude of challenges.

The people in Tambakha live in abject poverty. HANCI and HHC, with our support, have rebuilt homes damaged in the war, created schools and an orphanage (there is a high number of orphans in this community), constructed a stable water supply system, and have helped the community plant a palm oil plantation.

The community has rallied, inspired by what they can become as a result of our support. More than 50 percent of the children are now in school, and education has become an important community value.

This community is so poor, but we were treated like royalty, with a big community celebration--with the paramount chief and all of the town elders in attendance. As tokens of appreciation we were given kola nuts (which most of our group took small bites from), and two live goats! These are riches to this community, so the gifts show the depth of their gratitude for our help.

Everyone on the tour was moved deeply by the transformations in this community--as a result of Project SIerra. But this day's visit also shows how significant the needs of women and girls are in Sierra Leone, and why supporting Project SIerra is so vitally important.

The January 2010 Project Sierra Study Tour Team

Cathy Standiford
2009-2010 President
Soroptimist International of the Americas
www.soroptimist.org