Project SIerra
President Penny Bartlett and Programme Action Officer Helen Kanolik were delighted to welcome Anne MacDonald OBE, Quadrennial Project Liaison Officer, to Soroptimist International Poole’s October 2008 programme action meeting.
Soroptimist International Poole has already made several donations to Project SIerra and is continuing to fund raise for the project this year.
Anne described Sierra Leone in some detail. It is amongst the world’s poorest nations and still under recovery from the civil war which destroyed its infrasture and left its population with desperate problems - half the population is aged under 15 years, life expectancy is 41 years and 25% of children don’t live to see their 5th birthday.
She really brought the project alive for us, explaining how our project partner, Hope and Homes for Children oversees the work which is all done by local people to help build the local skills base.
Project SIerra comprises 3 separate projects:
Integrated Child and Family Support
Many children live with elderly and frail grandparents or in single parent families. Using a model of care pioneered in Rwanda, families are assessed for their most urgent needs and are helped to have a means of income. Over 200 families which include 1,000 children are benefitting from this work
Young Mothers
This part of the project helps young, single mothers to reintegrate with their families or to become independent community members through vocational training.
Street Children
More than 50 children are currently being helped in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. Every endeavour is made to reunite children with their family, some of the most vulnerable children being aged as young as 6 years.
Everyone can help Project SIerra by coming along to our fund-raisers, the next being our Wimborne St Giles teas on 23 May.