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About Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, a West African nation, about 29,925 square miles (71,740 sq km); slightly smaller than South Carolina with a population of 6 million people. The nation has a tropical climate and is rich in minerals including diamonds, titanium ore (rutile), bauxite, gold, iron ore, platinum, as well as forests, abundant fresh water, and rich offshore fishing grounds. However, Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries on the planet with the average person living on less than $1 a day.
A civil war began in 1991 and did not end until 2002, when United Nations troops defeated the rebel militia and reinstated a democracy. Over 70,000 ex-combatants have been disarmed since the war ended.
On the 2011 Human Development Index measuring health, education and wealth the United Nations ranks Sierra Leone 180th of 187 countries.
The adverse effect of the war has brought untold suffering to thousands of children who were made virtually homeless, and some were made orphans as a result of the violent attacks on their parents by the rebels.
While I was in Sierra Leone, I visited villages where children had no means of education as most of their parents were farmers. Others are forced to be petty traders and street hawkers and the ones who are in school are forced to walk more than six miles to and from school each day.
From a personal perspective, being a Sierra Leonean, and in addition to my visits the last couple of years, Sierra Leone has a long way to go. Corruption is disabling potential grown and the infrastructure of this beautiful country.
With your help, we have been able to send clothing, shoes, medical supplies, school supplies and give scholarships to orphans and needy families in Freetown and villages across Sierra Leone.
