The Ebola virus has affected every household in Sierra Leone as businesses were shut down and schools were closed causing an increase in orphans and teenage pregnancy.
I will be traveling to Sierra Leone to help distribute your donated items to our beneficiaries, share love and scout the land for Phase I of our building project: Build the foundation for our community and training center.
The facility will be built so women and youth can be trained in a skill that will allow them to gain independence and provide for the needs of their children and themselves (food, school fees, medical care, etc.) The facility will also include a library, computer center and tutoring center.
Poor education is a tragedy that has imprisoned people to poverty in Sierra Leone. Please help us to empower future Global leaders in Sierra Leone by clicking on the link to contribute to Empower Children in Sierra Leone GlobalGiving platform.
Thank you in advance for your prayers and support.
2015 Race for HOPE 10K/ 5K & 1-Mile on August 29, 2015 at the beautiful Newport News, VA Mariners Museum Park to Empower Children in Sierra Leone by educating orphans and Building A Training Center for teens.
Whether you want to run in the race, volunteer, sponsor this event or simply make a donation, your participation will make a huge difference!
Sign up for 2015 Race for HOPE today!
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With schools now reopening, after having been closed since July 2014, these children need an opportunity now more than ever to go to school especially after losing one or both parents and sibling(s).
Memuna lost her husband, mother and grandfather to the Ebola virus and is a survivor herself. Memuna has three children of her own, and now she is taking care of her late mother’s children (her siblings) who are now orphans themselves. For Memuna this is a struggle. The Ebola virus has left her disabled and unable to work. She has no way of providing the basic needs or feed her own children, let alone send them to school.
Children orphaned by the Ebola are in need of mandatory school uniforms, shoes and school supplies as well as tuition and fees. With just a dollar a day, these children can thrive and grow without fear of starvation, homelessness, illiteracy, trafficking, child labor, abuse, stigmatization, hunger, trauma and discrimination.
The fight to eliminate Ebola and rebuild after the crisis is long from over. Sierra Leone continues to fight the outbreak with a three-day lock-down this past weekend. More than 3,764 people have lost their battle with the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone alone leaving behind more than 12,000 orphans. School closures have also had a negative effect on the children, especially girls due to early teenage pregnancies. The crisis is real, the need is urgent, and the time to help is now.
We need your help to transform the hearts and minds of these precious children. You can contribute as little as $10 or as much as $1,000. GlobalGiving US will match each dollar donated and GlobalGiving UK will do the same with each pound donated. $365 or £237(A dollar a day or .65 Sterling a day) will take care of an orphan needs for a whole year.
US Friends: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-ebola-orphans-in-sierra-leone/
UK Friends: http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/projects/empower-ebola-orphans-in-sierra-leone/
Donations made by UK taxpayers are also eligible to claim Gift Aid – 25% extra for our project.
Thank you for the impact you are making in our children lives.
Thank you GlobalGiving and to all who have supported our project so far! With your generous donations, we’ve been able to provide food and other essentials to Ebola orphans and their caregivers.
In Sierra Leone we live in communities. It is not unusal to see two or more generations of families living in the same household or compound. This report tells the stories of how two families dealt with the Ebola crisis.
Lionel, Lionnel (twins) and Margrett's parents died during the Ebola outbreak on October 24, 2014. Their grandmother was the first person to contact the deadly Ebola virus. She died a week later. In the coming weeks, their mother and father died simultaneously of Ebola in Gbenderbu Majai Town.
“A lot of children have died during this Ebola pandemic but these three are fortunate to survive after loosing both of their parents." Said their caretaker, Ms. Bangura.
Nine year old Osman is another child who was orphaned by loosing both parents to Ebola. He is the third child from his mother and they live in the Waterloo area of Freetown. Osman's grandfather started complaining that he was feeling ill and he died the following day. A day later, Osman's mother felt tremedously ill complaining of nausea. She died that same day. After the burial of Osman's mom, his dad checked himself into a hospital complaining of a headache. While at the hospital he started vomiting blood and was tranfered to the Hastings Ebola Treatment Center but died that same day.
With your partnership, Osman and his siblings are now cared for by Mamma Salamatu. Lionel, Lionnel and Margrett are cared for by Ms. Bangura, and more than 60 other orphans are now being cared for by nurturing caregivers we are supporting. With your support we are able to give these caregivers the tools they need to house, feed, support and nurture these children. It is no secret that we could not do this without you and the Global Giving family. We are greatly appreciative and forever indebted to you for your generous support. You can imagine the shock if you lost everything you knew and loved in a matter of days and were left stranded, homeless, feeling helpless and hopeless. Your continued support helps us give these children their dignity back and a sense of hope for the future.
Challenges we are facing: One of the biggest challenges is stopping the Ebola virus. While the larger threat has slowed down the virus still continues to spread. Even though it is not in the media anymore Ebola has not been eradicated. We need your help now more than ever. We are working with clinics and hospitals to ensure they have the needed supplies to combat Ebola. Also Sierra Leone has announced a desire to re-open most of the schools by the end of March. We are working with church leaders, community leaders and other organizations in hopes to find caretakers for every child orphaned by Ebola before school reopens. The challenge is two fold: (1) If Ebola continues to spread the schools won't reopen and children who have gone almost a year without any education will be forced to wait even longer. Being out of school has especially affected the girls with teen pregnancy and abuse on the rise. Other children have entered the work-force earning their own money as petty traders. The longer children are out of school, the harder it will be to get them back to school. It is a vicious cycle that has been happening for years however we have an opportunity to help many children right now, but the window of opportunity is short. (2) If Ebola continues to spread and take lives this will leave us with an even larger orphan population.
We will soon start working with students to ensure they have the necessary items for a successful school term. Over the next months, Share HEART in Africa will be training caregivers in activities to provide psychological support for these children.
To join Share HEART in Africa's mailing list, please click here. Again, thank you for your prayers and support.
Many Blessings, Saffiatu HarperLinks:
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