J Wood
Eva's I'm spending my holiday working with street children in Sierra Leone
Fundraising for Street Child of Sierra Leone
Story
My love for Africa goes back a long way. It started in 1992 with a visit to South Africa. I have been back to Africa many times since, and my love for this continent and its people with their beautiful smiles despite their often less than easy lives has never waned.
Volunteering for a charity that is helping people in Africa lead a better and self-sustained life has been on my heart for a long time. Then, a few months ago, I saw a post on facebook by one of my friends: It looked like she was volunteering in Sierra Leone. I was curious and contacted her. She put me in touch with Street Child of Sierra Leone. This is how it all started.
I am going to Sierra Leone to spend two weeks working for Street Child, an organisation that works to get street children off the streets, provide them with an education and the opportunity to play and be what they are: children.
During the two weeks, I will be based in Makeni, a city with limited electricity and no running water.
I am paying for my own travel and accommodation, but am asking you to please help me help the children on the streets!
It would be fantastic to arrive in Sierra Leone not only with a bag of footballs and t-shirts for the children, but also with money that will go directly to the project that I will be working on.
I am leaving on 26 October. This leaves me 3 weeks to raise £3,000!
I am confident that with your help, I can do it!
Please donate. Every little helps.
To learn more about Street Child of Sierra Leone and their amazing success in only 5 years, read on below, come talk to me or have a look at
their website: http://www.street-child.co.uk/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E0stdzd8Dzw
THANK YOU!
Eva
About Street Child of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world with an estimated 50,000 children living on the streets. This is largely due to the civil war which tore families apart, but instable social situations and poverty also drive the children away from their families and on to the streets.
In urban areas, Street Child of Sierra Leone works with these street children to reunite them with their families, by helping the families to start small family businesses and thus enable them to become financially independent, and not only support the child, but the entire family. Street Child also reintroduces the children to education by funding their first year back at school (after which the families, through Street Child's support, are usually able to support the child's education independently).
In rural areas, Street Child is training teachers and building schools to provide education to children that would otherwise have no means of going to school.
Street Child of Sierra Leone was only founded 2008. They started with one center and 4 social workers, providing care and support for 100 children. Today, 5 years later, they are working in over 25 locations throughout Sierra Leone and have just branched out to Liberia.
They have successfully reunited 2,000 children with their families and returned them to school, and have provided education to 20,000 children in rural areas.
Working in association with a number of West African NGOs, local Governments and the British Government's Department for International Development, Street Child is one of the most broad-reaching charities working in the region today.