Washington, DC — Africare has backed recently inspired discussions to increase aid and awareness in Africa 's Sierra Leone through several local and national partnerships. On Thursday December 14, 2006 from 5:30 – 8:30pm, the Africare House in Washington DC will open its doors to one of DC Metro Area's premier non-profit organizations, the Sierra Leone Fund, and host a community discussion about Sierra Leone 's newfound international buzz sparked by Friday's release of the film "Blood Diamond." Confirmed attendees include representatives from actor Isaiah Washington's Gondobay Manga Foundation, ABC Channel 7's Sam Ford, and award-winning Sierra Leonean filmographer, Sorious Samura. The event aspires to unite a community in its efforts to increase aid and awareness to Sierra Leone .
"It speaks to Africare's mission in general," comments Travis Adkins, Program Manager for East and West Anglophone Africa."We help in Sierra Leone … but also there's a way for us to give assistance here; Even if it's something as small as lending our space in this case. It helps in terms of grass roots assistance, in terms of capacity building, in terms of people helping people."
That same helping hand first entered Sierra Leone in 1984 when Africare was requested by the Ministry of health to replicate a similar program they had developed in Gambia. Their goal, in partnership with UNICEF and the World Bank, was to improve management distribution of essential drugs to rural areas. Alan Alemian was a member of that team, and a key player in the emergency relief programs developed to aid refugees when civil war erupted in 1991.
"We should be very, very proud of what we did in Sierra Leone," comments Alemian. "We saved lives and we kept people productive."
The emergency camps, in addition to food distribution and medical assistance, developed agricultural relief programs that provided land for displaced refugees to produce their own subsistence crops and reduce dependence on food aid. These programs continued throughout the duration of the war before transitioning into post-conflict programs like CORAD.
"CORAD stands for Consortium for Rehabilitation and Development," notes Adkins. "It focuses on health and revitalization of livelihoods… because a lot of people lost their livelihoods during the war."
Sierra Leone is one of twenty-five countries in Africa currently benefiting from self-help programs like CORAD set up by Africare staff. Jeneba Ghatt, co-founder of The Sierra Leone Fund, says her non-profit aims to develop similar programs in Sierra Leone that specialize in health, education, sanitation and nutrition.
"I co-founded the Sierra Leone Fund with another expatriate who wanted to finally do our part to help out our native country rather than passively wait for others to do it for us," said Ghatt.
Ghatt will use Thursday's debut of the Sierra Leone Fund as an opportunity to reach out to international awareness, philanthropic and giving communities to garner support for aiding change in Sierra Leone. The Africare House proudly hosts the event, harboring a 36-year legacy of community and global partnerships. An invitation is extended to members of media organizations to meet emerging and past leaders of development work in Sierra Leone. The reception begins at 5:30pm at the Africare House in Washington DC on Thursday, December 14.
Africare is a leading non-profit organization based in Washington D.C., currently providing over 150 development programs to 25 nations in Africa. The organization has delivered over $480 million in assistance to the continent since it was founded in 1970.
