SHARP Sierra Leone News 0ctober, 2022
Students have had a successful first term October News As we are approaching the end of the first term of the new academic year, as well as harvest time for farmers, we would like to thank all our...
SHARP SIERRA LEONE NEWS September, 2022
Rainy Season Brings Floods Late July through early September is the rainy season in Sierra Leone. Heavy downpours are devastating for families living in the flood prone communities. This year flooding and a mudslide left 11 dead in Freetown,...
SHARP Sierra Leone August, 2022
Students Pass Exams Each of our 18 students in grade 6 passed their national exam and are promoted to high school! The top score at Empowering Children School was 312, obtained by Ibrahim Burreh Conteh, followed by Sallue S Bah...
SHARP Sierra Leone News July, 2022
Welcome to the first edition of SHARP News. This month we will introduce you to our programs. SHARP is a four pronged charity consisting of The Empowering Children School, sustainable agriculture education and a seed bank, disaster relief, and...
Transforming Lives Through Education
The Empowering Children School began in the slums of Congo Town in 2009. The people who live in the slums face many difficulties, including harsh environmental conditions. Flooding occurs regularly, causing loss of lives and property. The school was becoming increasingly crowded, and then 2 years ago lost their lease. A new building in a better area was finally located. Volunteers worked to renovate the building and make a playground. Woodard Mortgage Group at CIMG Residential Mortgage funded furniture, white boards, and computers for all classrooms. The school opened for classes on schedule.
The Solution to Hunger
During the lockdown from COVID 19, SHARP Sierra Leone and Kids Can Make a Difference began a Solution to Hunger Farm. According to the World Food Program in Sierra Leone, around 5.1 million Sierra Leoneans are estimated to lack sufficient nutritious food to live a healthy life, with 789,536 of them being severely food insecure. Only one-fifth of the estimated 5.4 million hectares of arable land in Sierra Leone is used for agriculture.
Residents of the slum communities are living with hunger and poverty. The floods impact them by causing them to lose everything, and having to start over every year. With our many years of experience working with the flood affected victims, we learned that food and dry clothing were the most desperate need of the victims following each flood.
Finding a solution to the hunger problem in the slums was our project during the early waves of COVID 19. The food supply chain restrictions disrupted the market, and prices fluctuated as the demand rose and fell, causing widespread food shortages and starvation in the flood prone communities of Freetown. Board members of SHARP played a significant role in responding to these emergencies each time, with many bags of rice, vegetables, clothing, and sleeping sheets to supply to almost 100 families in this community.
SHARP and Kids Can Make a Difference, along with small holder farmers, began a farm on a 40 acres. Crops were planted, including tomatoes, corn, coconut, and peppers.
The seed loan initiative was begun for small older farmers. Many thanks to the founders of Kids Can Make a Difference. Jane and Larry Levine, and Mary Brownell have been the lead fundraisers on this farm project.