Sierra Leone: A Blessed Country of paradoxes, Khadarlis for Sierra Leone show cases this paradox in the realm of Nonprofits in the US working in Africa.

Today, the world has become a global village and the USA is said to be leading in this race for equal opportunities for all people irrespective of race, region, or economic disadvantage. Bravo to Uncle Sam for asserting your role and responsibility to make, not only the US but the entire world habitable for mankind!
My Country, Sierra Leone, a small West African territory  is one of the greatest paradoxes in the world: This is the only Country with huge diamond and rut tile  deposits,  arable land, marine resources, large forest reserve, human resource itself is not in short supply, it has the oldest University in West Africa, Fouray Bay College, but literacy rate  still staggers around   85%  and guess what, even love is in abundance but not practiced between  the leaders and their vulnerable subordinates. It is therefore not surprising that, in  the midst of all these endowments, the people of Sierra Leone are still ranked by the United Nations as one of the poorest Countries  in the world with  the highest infant mortality!  Even the element of hope which is normally the last urge to stay alive and wait seem to be failing the people of Sierra Leone. Wait for what!
What is more frustrating for the average Sierra Leonean which leaves them in a complete state of limbo and bewilderment is when people say to them that their Country has no business being poor! "What" exclaimed one of the amputees who lost both limbs in the brutal civil war known as the war for Blood Diamonds. Did I hear you say that "we have no business to be poor? But then look at me, what did I do to deserve my condition?  Have I not been callously forced to sign a bond with poverty? I had just completed High School, when rebels entered my village, burnt down all the houses, killed my father, raped my mother and my two sisters and ordered me to join their ranks. When I refused, they chopped off my two arms. What did I do? I was only a student at the only Government School in Jimmi which Khadarlis for Sierra Leone is now helping to link with Schools and Colleges in the US. Now with both hands amputated, what hope do I have in life?
Stories like these are the motivations behind Khadarlis mission for Sierra Leone! Sometimes, when I contrast the vast potentials of my Country with what obtains on the ground, my heart bleeds to death, my soul is tortured beyond repairs, and I am gripped with a convulsion of agony, pessimism and absurdism  that knows no bounds.
Why is a Country with  beautiful landscape, natural and human resources still wallows in abject poverty? When the two photo Journalists, Kate Kelly and Jonathan Beller published their documentary on the film titled "Leh We Tok" in 2011, I believe that one of their objectives could not be far from capturing the attention of the world to the plight of Sierra Leoneans. But just what kind of interest the people of Sierra Leone craves for is the only right question to ask.
So when Khadarlis for Sierra Leone was founded in 2007, the founders, Aisha Khadar from Sierra Leone and Darlis Johnson from the United States dreamed of a Sierra Leone that will rise from the ashes of war to a prosperous nation by using their Nonprofit to raise awareness and solicit support to accomplish their vision for a Country that deserves the attention of all well meaning philanthropists and individuals who believe in helping the cause of the needy.
If Sierra Leone has no business being  poor, we urge the development and humanitarian community to come forward and help Khadarlis for Sierra Leone to change the lives of Sierra Leoneans around for real. Khadarlis strategy for rebuilding Sierra Leone is unique in the sense that its dedicated staff and volunteers both from Sierra Leone and the US  focuses on a cross-fertilization of ideals, linkages, research, knowledge exchange and forging trade between Sierra Leone and the USA. I am already on board the ship of Khadarlis for Sierra Leone. What about you?

This Little Light of Mine: Electricity in Sierra Leone

            If you follow this blog regularly, you may remember that I posted a piece in February about how important electricity is to the proper development of a society. If you don’t, you can find that post in the archives off in the right sidebar. However, what I didn’t talk much about was the state of Sierra Leone with regards to electricity.

            And to be honest there isn’t much to talk about. Very few cities in Sierra Leone get a steady, reasonable supply of electricity. Freetown at this point is fairly stable, but it is really the only city in Sierra Leone that does. Bo and Kenema also have decent supplies, but electricity access comes and goes. Outside of the urban areas, it is rare for rural villages to have any supply at all, let alone a consistent one.

            Yet signs of improvement are there. At present, Makeni, Koidu and Lungi have new power plants in the works, and the Bumbuna Dam hydro-electric plant has been functional since the end of 2009. Establishing an electricity-based way of life will be incredibly challenging in a country that has existed for so long without it. (although the payoff developmentally speaking will be huge). However, the biggest challenge facing the future will be integrating efforts to bring electricity to Sierra Leone with environmental concerns. Do we wait to bring sustainable electricity to the country, likely delaying access at all, or install what we have with the hopes that progress will follow?

            In this writer’s opinion, it would be more sensible to set up the country’s infrastructure to be based on energy forms that will last for decades to come instead of a source that will put the country years behind the rest of the world by the time it is fully established. However, there is significant value to the idea that sooner is better when it comes to getting Sierra Leone on the track to becoming an equalized world competitor. Electricity access in Sierra Leone is limited and unreliable, and just crucial to development. Hence, while we work on getting it integrated, it is just as important we are looking to the future and sustainability of the systems we plan to implement as part of our development work in years to come.

Marisa | Volunteer Blogger

Khadarlis for Sierra Leone

Marisa@khadarlis.org

Moving towards the Direction of the US Strategy for Africa- Who will join Khadarlis For Sierra Leone to liberate a

Moving  towards the direction of the  US Strategy for Africa, Who will join  Khadarlis For Sierra Leone  to  liberate a  people in dire need of help to survive?

" Some people got everything, Some people got nothing, Some people got hopes and dreams and some people have ways and means" says the song writer, Bob Nesta Marley.
Sometimes I wonder why people in the preferred category in the song writer's saying really get excited about initiatives such as the Khadarlis for Sierra Leone with a passion to help the government and the people of Sierra Leone to fight against poverty and underdevelopment, yet hardly reach out to help in its cause.
The other day my friend was sharing with me one of the latest songs that have been composed by a Sierra Leonean musician and now sung on the streets of Freetown and other parts of the Country.
The song according to him depicts the extreme poverty that is grounding the lives of a nation to a halt. The word in the song is "fehlee" and its equivalent cannot be found in the English dictionary! It simply means in the  Mende Language- lack of the basic necessities of life (such as food, clothing or access to health or education) and the hopelessness and pessimism in getting any near to these basic human rights! What an irony for a nation that is said to be recovering from a brutal conflict!
If a society's socio-economic temperature is said to be measured by  the barometer of what their contemporary musicians have to say, then Sierra Leone is a nation at war with itself; this time though, it is not a civil war but a war to combat or at least alleviate poverty by the year 2015 as visioned in the Millinium Development Goals.
Poverty is eating into the fabric of the Sierra Leonean society and Khadarlis For Sierra Leone is on the move!
In consanance with President Barak Obama's June 14th,2012  Statement on "the role of the Private Sector and the Humanitarian and Development Community in putting structures in place that can reach out to vulnerable groups in remote parts of Africa", Khadarlis for Sierra Leone is at the vanguard of such Presidential policy statements.
Today, Khadarlis For Sierra Leone is registerred both in the USA and in Sierra Leone and our mandate is to push the President's agenda forward and at the same time complement the efforts of the Sierra Leonean government by collaborating and networking with donor agencies and proactively respond to calls for proposals in the areas of Education, Health, Water and Sanitation, Agriculture, Infrastructural Development, Youth Empowerment and Community Development initiatives generally; while at  the same time  soliciting funding for local projects here in the US for Capacity Building, Provision of computers for our computer space, as well as fund raising activities for our programs.
Please do what you can, support, educate, empower, even a small gesture of compassion could bring a pleasant change.

The water vision for Europe, when will it be felt on the ground in villages in Africa?

In today,s global village, lots of ironies  prevail and Africa remains behind in the race for what has come to be referred to as "Water Democracy". The so-called small non-profits no matter their cries and attempts to reach out to their big NGO counter parts, the attention they  deserve still remains lukewarm and sometimes a cry in the wilderness. Right minded people would not stop wondering why working together on common goals like providing safe drinking water remains a  challenge and a determination  for a small non-profit like Khadarlis For Sierra Leone:

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.7 billion people still lack access to clean water. 2.3 billion people suffer from water-borne diseases each year.
While the demand for water is on the rise, the supply is said to be  shrinking and that is true about assessments made in our project areas in Jimmi as mentioned in previous postings on this blog by our erudite volunteer  Blogger, Marisa N. on June 10th, 2012.

The Water Vision for Europe for 2030 for instance aspires to be a vision for all people in Europe and around the globe. This vision is said to be formulated from a people,s perspective in a positive and proactive manner that seeks to encourage ownership by all. Putting people and values at its core, the vision departs from the premise that only if we mobilize people and stakeholders around common values, we will be able to achieve sustainability with regards to water in Europe but what about Africa, if I may ask?

Khadarlis for Sierra Leone has a huge interest in linking with organizations linked to water and sanitation in order to collaborate and network on behalf of the communities we serve in Sierra Leone. We are passionate about  subscribing to the text of the vision as was presented on the 30th of June 2009 in Brussels, prominent among those visions are that:

Water is an essential human need and access to its supply and sanitation as a basic human right could only be fully practicalized on the ground through the agencies of grass root organizations like khadarlis for Sierra Leone by means of  a programmatic approach to water related projects.

We are therefore still calling on our readers and philanthropist groups to join hands with khadarlis to achieve a meaningful water democracy where we all can apply the principles of transparency, integrity and equity on behalf of our impoverished population. Visit us at www.khadarlis.org and meet with our team leaders for mutual cooperation and information sharing.

Let the River Flow: Signs of Progress in Water Work

            Clean water is one of the most persistent problems in the developing world today. More than a billion people on our planet have absolutely no access to any clean water. Having clean water is another crucial step towards development for many third world countries. Every 15 seconds, a child dies from water-related illness, and this is the leading cause of death for children under 5. Fortunately, over the past five years, Khadarlis for Sierra Leone has worked hard to provide access to clean water for the villages it services.

            In 2008, on the organization’s second trip to Sierra Leone, we built our first water well in Jimmi. The establishment of a well gives access to clean, safe water, which directly impacts the health of the community. When children live longer, they are able to attend school longer, and grow up safely to become productive members of their communities. On top of that, a reduced mortality rate, especially among children, helps to create more stable family structures, providing a good foundation for further reform.

            On Khadarlis 4^th trip to Sierra Leone, in 2009, we conducted tests and evaluations to check the quality of the supply system in Jimmi (as well as the quality of the water). This confirmed the effectiveness of the system design in Jimmi, and allowed Khadarlis to install their 2^nd water well – this time in Senehun.

            These are the only 2 water wells Khadarlis has been able to build to date. During the trip in 2011, we were able to perform some maintenance on the water supply systems to help ensure the quality of the water it was producing. The next steps in water work for Khadarlis really revolve around money. Currently we are attempting to find donors and apply for grants to raise the $5,000 we need to establish a third well in Sierra Leone. If you are interested in helping another community take a huge step towards becoming a safe place to live, you can find donation information at http://khadarlis.org/. Khadarlis has made huge progress towards making clean water a reality for all people in Sierra Leone, and they will continue to do so as we head into the second half of 2012.

Marisa N.

Volunteer Blogger | Khadarlis for Sierra Leone

Can Diaspora Members help to rebuild their post-conflict communities?

The answer is obviously yes! One historic fact is that since the beginning of creation, the world has always revolved around the adage that " No man is an Island" and as we moved further into history, we witnessed the slave trade in which Africans were the ultimate victims in all the varied desguises of slavery and slave trade. In any case, some form of exchange and mutual benefits accompained the slave trade trade which culminated into the relationships and co-existence that exists today among blacks and whites all over the world.

Even though the scriptures vivdly gave expositions about how we should relate as humans on earth, the buttom line is that efforts must be made at all times to reach out to the less privileged in society and the responsibilities of the state, in most cases are not sufficient to improve the lives of vulnerable groups in the modern state phenomonon. Besides, since people are always migrating for varied reasons and settling in other societies, yet remain committed and sensitive  to the needs of their families and loved ones in their countries of origin, the role of the Diaspora has become very inportant and now considered an effective tool for social and economic development of many countries including Sierra Leone.
Several studies have examined the role of organised diasporas in rebuilding their communities and home territories and at the same time offering community services in their destination countries.

Furthermore, John F. Kennedy's famous inaugural speech: " Ask not what your Country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your Country." seems to have a broad appeal to the Khadarlis For Sierra Leone Team with its cross-fertilization of volunteers from all walks of life in the United States, backed by our philanthropists around the globe all mobilizing skills and resources to impact the lives of our beneficiaries is one of the mysteries of the nonprofit world.

We are still using this medium to appeal to the hearts and souls of our readers and supporters to continue devoting their health and their wealth to the service of vulnerable groups in the thick forests of Jimmi  Bagbo and beyond. We all know that things are difficult these days, but at the same time, " It is not because things are difficult that we dare not venture; it is because we dare not venture that things are difficult..." I submit!