Education

Most people would agree that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. Education allows people to break through barriers and into better jobs and higher standards of living. It is one of the biggest propellants to success and improvement of any advantage the developing world could have.

            However, the education situation in Sierra Leone is desperate. The Blood Diamond War devastated the region in all ways, including this one. During the colonial period, Sierra Leone was actually a leader in education – some of the first universities in the region were founded there. However, the country was so shattered by the war, infrastructure that put children through school were things that either suffered the destruction or fell by the wayside. Sierra Leone currently does not have enough school buildings, supplies or qualified teachers to educate its (approximately) 2.5 million children.

            According to the CIA World Factbook, Sierra Leone has a very young population – the average age of a citizen of Sierra Leone is 19. The future of this country lies solely in its young people. There is no way around that fact. Without a well educated generation to take the place of the one before it, there is little hope for progress. Yet, Sierra Leone’s children are not getting the education they deserve. Also according to the CIA, about 35% of the population is literate – and for women, prospects are bleaker, with female literacy rates sitting at about 24%. These dismal statistics are put in a new light when one realizes that the average school life expectancy (age until which children stay in school) is 12 – 13 for boys, 11 for girls.

            Sierra Leone’s children are being put at a huge disadvantage when they are deprived of a quality education. The country’s future is entirely dependent on a capable and educated generation, ready to lead a nation forward and compete on a global scale. While education may seem to be a superfluous afterthought, it is actually a very necessary investment in the future and stability of the country as a whole.

By Marisa Natale
Khadarlis Volunteer Blogger

Housing and shelter

The poet Maya Angelou once said, “The ache for home lives in all of us.” Last week, we discussed the importance of electricity to the people of Sierra Leone (as with any developing nation). This week, we’re going to touch on a different, and cheerier topic – housing!

It doesn’t sound to be the most exciting. It’s not as revitalizing as discussing renewed agriculture efforts or as sexy as the condom campaigns the Khadarlis are working on. However, it is just as important, and in fact uplifting when you consider the facts.

According to Aisha Khadar, co-founder/Executive Director of Khadarlis for Sierra Leone, the Khadarlis have made a total of ten trips to Sierra Leone since 2007 – to the villages of Jimmi, Senehun, Bandajuma and Kpawama. In those four years, among their other accomplishments, they’ve built a total of thirteen houses for these four villages.

The Khadarlis houses are generally mud huts, but the organization has been working steadily on cement/mud combination huts, to find the best options. While thirteen houses in four years may seem like a sobering figure, think of what this means.

Thirteen families – not just people, but families, which in Sierra Leone may mean extended family as well – now have a place to live. A shelter to call their own. A place to put their heads at the end of the night. People who have been displaced from the familiar, their worlds shattered by the realities of the war.

Khadarlis has big plans going into 2012. Our goal for this segment of our work (shelter and housing) is to reach twelve houses. Twelve! That’s almost as many as we have so far built in four years! It may seem unreachable but it is absolutely possible with the love and kindness of Khadarlis supporters.

If you are interested in helping Khadarlis for Sierra Leone, with time, money or donations, contact Aisha Khadar Desince at Aishadesince@khadarlis.org. or khadarlis@khadarlis.org.

Marisa Natale

Khadarlis Volunteer Blogger

My take by Gisela Badal.

Rebuilding people's hopes and dreams.

 

I was born in Texas but lived most of my life in Guadalajara, Mexico yesterday the war against narcobecame a sad and dangerous reality in my hometown, my family live there and I am afraid for their safety, not much I can do but to pray and hope my family and all citizens are safe.  This reminded me of the story of the founder of Khadarlis.org, because her village got destroyed by wars in Sierra Leone.

The horrors of war are unthinkable, we watch the news everyday and in different parts of the world you can see wars going on, guilty and innocent, get injured or killed, or just live in plain fear of death. And what happens after all the damage is done? Who cares or is willing to help the survivors?

I am convinced that there is a lot of good in the world, all goodness MUST reunite in order for us to impact positively, people’s life.

There are things we can do, and things that we cannot do to help.

The things we cannot do we must leave it to God and pray with faith, and He will take care of it.

But there is so much we can do to help people in need that are trying to rebuild their hometowns and communities.

Khadarlis for Sierra Leone is a great example of human greatness; we can be capable of so much if we focus on something positive and get active.

Supporting Khadarlis in anyway, means giving children the opportunity of enjoying the basics of life, like clean water, basic vaccinations, safety nets against mosquitoes that transmit malaria, education that teach them to read and write, basics of survival and sustainable living.

Khadarlis for Sierra Leone, is working with the people to teach them how to grow their own crops of vegetables and grains!  Food sustainability is an amazing way to help them to be independent.

The impact of this organization on the people's life is invaluable.

 

Gisela Badal.

It does not ends there, also Khadarlis is finding ways of teaching this communities to be energy independent too!

I am thankful for all the people that is involved in this humble labor and activism, I admire greatly the passion and commitment.

Visit today Khadarlis.org and please support their efforts in the way you can.

 

We need each others.

 

 

May you be a voice that will be echoed, May we be the followers and be followed, because loving one another involves taking care of each other. Taking care of each other means to be a guide and a pastor for their sheep.

Humans have an amazing power, and that power needs to be used to help each other.

To prosper and succeed in our goals, we need each other, we are not of lonely nature, we are meant to be together, and working for a common goal, giving you the amazing feeling of belonging to something bigger than you alone, something bigger with a bigger meaning. Khadarlis is rebuilding Sierra Leone, they are building communities that once were destroyed by wars.

Can you imagine how horrible it would be if that happened to you or one of your loved ones?

 They are our loved ones, they are our brother and sister our mother, daughter and son.

The world doesn’t revolve around us, we should revolve around God’s love, and only then He will provide with all the help we need to make this world a good place to live, for us, and generations to come.

Would you like to be the instrument of His love? Do you believe that we can learn to love one another? Have you experience in your own flesh this amazing love?

Khadarlis gives you the opportunity to use the power of love and make wonders.

Because Khadarlis is doing amazing things to help rebuild Sierra Leone, and one thing that you can do to experience and share this love, is to support Khadarlis's efforts.

You can visit www.Khadarlis.Org and learn more about the miracles of love.

There is so much need, and when we help them, we help ourselves and our future generations.

 You can help the children of the devastated Sierra Leone with a small donation, it doesn’t need to be lots of money, every penny counts and counts a lot, for example with a small donation  of 10 dollars you can save a child’s life by purchasing and delivering a mosquito net, we will educate the family in the proper use to avoid deaths by mosquito bites, also Khadarlis will deliver safe immunizations to 150 children by purchasing 150 auto-disable syringes, Khadarlis also will stop bouts of dehydration and diarrhea in children, by purchasing 150 sachets of oral re hydration salts.

As you can see, little will go a long way in Sierra Leone and your small or big donation will work as an instrument of love.

Gisela Badal.

Volunteer writer at khadarlis for Sierra Leone

Electricity: The Silent Pillars of Society

Electricity: The Silent Pillars of Society

            A quiet hum in your kitchen; the flickering of the lamps; and of course that paper bill at the end of the month. For many of us, this is when we think of our electricity – when we hear it, must pay for it, or when it is out. However, the daily lives of the people of Sierra Leone are affected deeply by the lack of electricity.

            What do you think of when I say the word electricity? Many of us immediately are given an impression of luxury – as though electricity fuels our modern conveniences like laptops, microwave ovens and televisions. While of course it does do this for us, the electricity we have available makes many more essential functions possible – things we usually take for granted.

            In fact, we even usually take our modern conveniences for granted, ones that often cannot function without electricity. Our refrigerators make it possible for us to keep food fresh – and with the average income in Sierra Leone amounting to less than $200 (and an average household size of ten persons), wasting money on spoiled food is hardly an option. Electricity also allows us to use telephones and mass-communications systems.

            Additionally, the value of electricity cannot be underestimated with respect to hospitals and disease treatment/prevention. X-ray machines, heart monitors, MRI machines, fridges, blood banks, telephones, computers, alarms – the list of electricity-dependent equipment in a hospital is endless. Furthermore, disease prevention efforts become more efficient when able to utilize the tools of mass communication and speedy transport.

            What about electricity on a national level? Why is national availability of electricity important to the development and competitive suitability of a country? Well, everyone knows trains (central both for development and infrastructure) are run on petrol or coal. But increasingly, efficient, responsible and speedy trains are using electricity for power. Without efficient trade systems, any country could hardly be expected to compete on the world stage.

            Speaking of trade, where does manufacturing come in for the people of Sierra Leone? The answer is that it mainly doesn’t. Sierra Leone remains a largely agrarian economy, but to push it into an industrial, competitive one, electricity is an absolute must. The production of radio, cinema, books, newspapers – all the elements of a country’s culture – can be modernized with the use of electricity.

            The importance of electricity for any country – especially one in the developing world – cannot be underestimated. Thanks to the great folks at Khadarlis, several villages in Sierra Leone now have access or are in the process of gaining access to electricity. They are even able to produce their own energy in a locally appropriate, sustainable fashion – to avoid dependence on both fossil fuels, and unreliable electricity from big cities like Freetown. So the next time someone asks “What’s the big deal?” when you mention electricity in the developing world, think of Khadarlis – and the wonderful work being done there on behalf of Sierra Leone.

Marisa ( Volunteer @Khadarlis)

  Marisa Natale

Khadarlis for Sierra Leone

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Vivisection is a social evil because if it advances human knowledge, it does so at the expense of human character.  ~George Bernard Shaw