Sierra Leone

In 2006 we became involved with a Rotary District project and took up the challenge to help complete a land based clinic for Mercy Ships in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This turned out to involve one of our members (Richard Skinner) actually going to Freetown, Sierra Leone with a group of Rotarians from around our District.

Whilst there the group met two Dutch Ladies who were part of a charity who raised money to feed children orphaned by the civil war. The Rotary group visited the orphanage and, seeing the children deprived of basic needs such as suitable class rooms, vowed to do something to help. To cut a long story short local Rotarians (including Richard) teamed up with the Dutch and walked from the Sierra Leone Embassy in London to Leewarden in Holland, and raised an unexpectedly large amount of money that was originally going to be used to renovate the existing school building. The money raised actually went to build a new secondary school and skills centre. 

Five years after the original visit our legacy in Sierra Leone is a Rotary village comprising of 75 simple dwellings, 5 latrine blocks, school buildings, a dispensary with onsite nurse accommodation, fresh water, proper (long drop) sanitation, and finally a community who were now showing their ability to help themselves. 

Read more about how this was achieved in the January 2017 issue of Titsey Topics and a more detailed background from Rotarians in another Club within the District.