OUR JOURNEY

Sierra Leone is threatened by alienation within the world economy. The wounds of our country’s history, including civil wars, coup d’etat, health epidemics, current environmental disasters, and COVID-19, have devastated our medical services, educational structure, standards, economic, cultural, and social fabric; of our communities, especially York Village. York village is a very historic village concerning the dynamics of slavery. The legacy of poverty has left Sierra Leone with one of the world's highest maternal and infant mortality rates. The highest rate of female school drop-out in Africa and socio-economic downfall. Infectious, vector-borne diseases and malnutrition are also leading public health challenges.

 

In rural communities like York Village, relative isolation and economic barriers prevent families from accessing quality health care. Many would-be patients living in extreme poverty cannot afford to make hours-long trips to Freetown (Capital). Nor can they afford the cost of transportation to get there. During the rainy season, the dirt roads become flooded to the point that they are impossible to navigate.  York Village has two Primary schools and one Secondary school. School-age children cannot reach school on time for a full day of academic learning. As a result, the children are falling behind. After school, the children cannot go home on time to attend to their homework.  Many dropouts, children are roaming the streets with nothing to do and enter a life of vagrancy, college graduates who can not find jobs because of a scarcity of employment, and nepotism. This situation allows them to pursue antisocial activities, including prostitution and drug trafficking.