Advancing Education, Healthcare, and Agriculture in Sierra Leone

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Advancing Education, Healthcare, and Agriculture in Sierra Leone

Sunday, October 27, 2013

mambuSince the civil war ended in 2002, Sierra Leoneans have been engaged with the reconstruction of its country’s government, infrastructure, and hope. Local organizations like Faith Healing Development Organization and people like Reverend Francis Mambu have been crucial to addressing immediate community needs, while also looking forward to the holistic development needed for the future of their countrymen.

Sierra Leone is in the demanding process of building its democracy, government system and infrastructure after facing a decade of brutal civil war. The war led to widespread poverty, destruction of its education system and low productivity in all sectors that the country is still recovering from today, twelve years after the war ended.

Faith Healing Development Organization (FHDO) was established to answer the cries and hunger of the people of Sierra Leone. In partnership with Bread and Water for Africa®, the organization focuses on education, health, and agriculture projects that serve the districts of Rokel, Grafton, Bo, Bunumbu, and Kenema, Sierra Leone.

“FHDO was born out of deep sorrow in my heart when I saw people suffering during the war,” says Reverend Frances Mambu (pictured below), founder and executive director for Faith Healing Development Organization.

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A Brief Overview:

Healthcare:

Faith Healing Development Organization operates four clinics in four of the cities it serves. These clinics focus on maternal (pre-and-post natal) healthcare for women and infants.

Most recently, FHDO’s clinics were able to partner with Bread and Water for Africa to address and treat the deadly cholera outbreak that plagued Sierra Leone early in 2013. Thanks to your support, our partnership, and FHDO’s expertise, a crisis that would have decimated their communities was hedged through effective and timely treatment.

Education:

With five primary schools and four secondary schools, Faith Healing Development Organization has provided a quality, affordable education for more than 700 local children.

Today, FHDO is working around the clock to erect a new structure for the Waterloo Primary School to increase the attendance capacity and meet the rising demand for slots in their school. School attendance has always been a challenge to enforce amongst locals, and the new rising demand speaks to the quality of the education that FHDO’s schools are able to provide.

Agriculture:

A subsistence agricultural program was implemented early on in order to increase stable food production and provide an income for local women. FHDO and Bread and Water for Africa partner to provide funding for small scale women’s cooperative groups that plant and harvest staple vegetables and grains to feed their families, as well as to sell any surplus crops to earn the fees necessary to send their children to school.

 

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