Empower and Strengthen Nonprofits in West Africa

I arrived in Sierra Leone at four in the morning, exhausted but very excited to start the next leg of my journey.

The boat ride into Freetown was surreal. I was blown away by Sierra Leone's beauty, with gorgeous green mountains and white sand beaches. I started off my trip meeting with nonprofits in Freetown and then headed out into the provinces to meet with more partners. It struck me how even over a year after the Ebola outbreak was declared over, there was still so much work to be done towards recovery and GlobalGiving's partners are on the frontlines of making that recovery happen.

I was able to meet with twelve nonprofit partners during my time in Sierra Leone, so I can't list them all, but here a just a few who are doing great work helping their communities recover from Ebola: 

• Glocal Forum Yala Africa: Provides meals to students who cannot afford to bring lunch to school in a community that was economically devastated by Ebola. 
• Kidsave International: Cares for orphans who lost their parents during the outbreak, providing long-term care to the children by finding foster parents or connecting the children with extended relatives. 
• WeOwnTV: Gives a voice to Survivors in their upcoming film about the outbreak. They are planning on holding free screenings of the Survivor film in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia.
• International Medical Corps: Provided treatment during the outbreak and is continuing to support Ebola survivors, who have ongoing health problems and are still processing the trauma they experienced. 

I felt at home so quickly in Sierra Leone because the people are so helpful and positive. People went out of their way to help me find my way around and to help me feel comfortable. Sierra Leone is honestly one of the most amazing places that I've ever been and I can't wait to go back. 

Thank you so much for supporting my work as a Field Traveler! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to meet with so many great organizations in Sierra Leone. I was also very excited that 35 organizations attended my Online Fundraising workshop. Now, I'm onto Ghana for the last and longest leg of my trip but I'll definitely be back to Sierra Leone soon!

I was so excited to start off my trip in Senegal and it definitely did not disappoint! 

I started off in Dakar, a huge and bustling city, where I met with local partners and spread the word about our Online Fundraising Workshop. I was very excited to meet with a potential strategic partner, CONGAD, a consortium of over 120 nonprofits in Senegal. Next, I headed out of Dakar to start my site visits! I was able to meet with 5 partners and to see the amazing work that they are doing! One of the things that I loved about the site visits is that all of the partners were working on very different issues. 

• CREATE! helps rural communities have access to fresh vegetables and fruit. 
• Women's Global Education Project helps young girls go to school and also provides a library and computer lab to all the students in the community. 
• Karuna Center for Peacebuilding is helping rebels in the Casamence region rejoin their communities.
• Trees for the Future is helping farmers shift from mono-crops to sustainable agriculture practices.
• Maison de la Gare aids young Talibe boys who are sent out on the streets to beg.

All of the nonprofit partners were so welcoming and helpful. During my time in Senegal, I became very familiar with Senegalese hospitality, or "Teranga." Project leaders fed me and helped me get around. Even random strangers were willing to help me. When I was waiting in a cafe in Dakar to meet with a partner, a nice woman who was also waiting for her friend sat down with me and gave me lots of tips about traveling in Senegal!

Thank you so much for supporting me and my work as a Field Traveler at GlobalGiving! The first three weeks of my journey were challenging but also incredibly exciting to be able to talk with our partners about their obstacles and successes. I was also thrilled that 14 different nonprofits attended my Online Fundraising Workshop in Dakar. While I was sad to leave Senegal, I'm very excited to spend the next month and a half in Sierra Leone, meeting with more partners and exploring a new place!

Links:

• Check out my blog if you want to learn more about my travels!