Helping waraffected children in Sierra Leone

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• Helping war-affected
  children in Sierra Leone

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Sierra Leone at a glance

• Sierra Leone is a small African country that
  suffered the atrocities of a brutal, 11-year
  civil war. The conflict left the nation in
  shambles and its communities devastated.
• Population 5.3 million
• Average life expectancy 37.4 years
• (Life expectancy in Canada 79.3 years)
• (Life expectancy in the United States 77.4
  years)
  
• Population under the age of 15 2.35 million
• Average yearly income 150 US
• (Average yearly income in Canada 24,470 US)
• (Average yearly income in the United States
  37,870 US)
  
• Gross domestic product (GDP) 793.4 million US
• (Canadian GDP 856.5 billion US)
• (United States GDP 10.9 trillion US)
• Human Development Index 176/177

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Sierra Leone at a glance

• Health and education services in Sierra Leone do
  not meet basic human needs.
  
• 166 out of every 1,000 babies die upon birth
  (versus 5 in Canada and 7 in the United States)
  
• 27 of children under the age of five are
  underweight
  
• 43 of the population does not have access to
  clean water
  
• In one year
• Sierra Leone spends about 3.7 of its GDP on
  education.
  
• Canada spends about 5.2
• The United States spends about 5.7..
• This means
• Sierra Leone spends about 5.50 per person on
  education.
  
• Canada spends about 1,409 per person on
  education.
  
• The United States spends about 2055.50 per
  person on education.

GDP stands for gross domestic product, which
means the total market value of all the goods and
services produced within the borders of a nation
during a specified period.
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Sierra Leone at a glance Literacy rate
People aged 15 and above who can read and write
Percentage of people
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Civil war in Sierra Leone

• The civil war in Sierra Leone lasted 11 years,
  from 1991 to 2002.
  
• Major players
• Government of Sierra Leone
• The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) a rebel
  group
  
• Primary reasons the war started
• Rebels wanted to overthrow the government
• Greedy people fighting over Sierra Leone's
  diamond mines

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Civil war in Sierra Leone

• RUF Campaign of Terror
• All parties in the war were terrifyingly
  dangerous, but no group was more well-known and
  feared than the RUF because of their "campaign of
  terror."
• This campaign encouraged the rebels to destroy
  lives and property without regard.
  
• Key features of the RUF "campaign of terror"
  included
  
• amputating innocent people's limbs
• burning and pillaging homes
• forced recruitment of child soldiers
• drugs
• brainwashing
• abductions
• rape

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Civil war in Sierra Leone

• The war officially ended in January 2002. By the
  end of the war
  
• almost 100,000 people had been killed
• half the country's population (about 2.5
  million) was displaced from their homes
  
• more than two-thirds of its already weak
  infrastructure was destroyed
  
• homes had been completely torn apart in the
  search for diamonds
  
• rebels burned down and pillaged schools,
  community centres and health clinics
  
• water systems had been intentionally polluted
• Because of the continued trade of conflict
  diamonds and the ongoing battle in Liberia, peace
  in Sierra Leone is fragile.

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About Free The Children

• Free The Children is the largest network of
  children helping children through education in
  the world, having directly impacted over one
  million children in 45 countries through our
  programs.
• The organization was founded in 1995 by Craig
  Kielburger and a group of his 12-year-old
  classmates.
  
• The organization is the lead NGO partner with
  the United Nations Office of the Special
  Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
  
• Free The Children has been profiled on Oprah
  (four times), 60 Minutes (twice), CNN (many
  times) and in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star,
  NY Times, TIME, People, The Economist and many
  other news and print media.
• The organization has received the Roosevelt
  Freedom Medal and the State of the World Forum
  Award. It has been nominated three times for the
  Nobel Peace Prize.

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A track record of success

• Through the voices and actions of young people,
  Free The Children has
  
• Built more than 400 primary schools in Africa,
  Asia and Latin America.
  
• Provided 35,000 children in the developing world
  with education every single day.
  
• Shipped 9 million US worth of essential medical
  supplies to 40 countries.
  
• Implemented alternative income projects, helping
  more than 20,000 poor women and their families.
  
• Delivered 200,000 school and health kits to
  students around the world.
  
• Provided 123,000 people with access to proper
  sanitation and clean water.
  

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Free The Children in Sierra Leone

• Free The Children has worked in Sierra Leone
  since 2000 to rebuild entire communities by
  constructing schools and training teachers.
  
• In the last five years, Free The Children has
• built schools to provide education to more than
  3,000 war-affected children in three areas of
  Sierra Leone
  
• provided wages for teachers
• shipped
• 1 million US worth of medical supplies
• 50 wheelchairs and other medical equipment for
  war-affected children
  
• more than 7,000 school and health kits
• provided communities with access to safe water
  through wells and sanitation units

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Free The Children project locations in Sierra
Leone
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How can you help?

• Through the Adopt a Village campaign, students
  will help poor and marginalized children and
  their families meet their basic human needs.
  
• This includes access to
• primary education
• alternative income projects
• health care services
• clean drinking water and proper sanitation
  systems

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Education Adopt a Village

• Education is a human right with immense power to
  transform. On its foundation rest the
  corner-stones of freedom, democracy and
  sustainable human development. Kofi Annan,
  United Nations Secretary General

• Free The Children believes that education,
  particularly for girls, gives the highest return
  of any social investment in the developing world.
  
• In the Education phase of the Adopt a Village
  campaign, you will share the gift of education
  with your peers by raising funds for
  
• building schools
• supporting teacher wages and training
• furnishing classrooms

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Poverty and child labour in Sierra Leone

• "That so many children should be forced to
  workand endure the hardship and abuse that so
  often comes with itis more than simply
  unacceptable. It is unconscionable. These
  children need to spend time learning and
  developing, not labouring in a desperate attempt
  simply to survive."
• Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF

• In Sierra Leone
• there are more than 305,000 child labourers
• 70 of the population lives below the national
  poverty line
  
• 57 of the population lives on less than 1 a
  day
  
• the number increases to 75 for those who live
  on less than 2 per day

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Alternative Income Adopt a Village

• Alternative Income projects provide poor
  families, especially women, with a source of
  income to help rebuild their lives in the
  aftermath of the civil war and to send their
  children to school.
• In the Alternative Income phase of the Adopt a
  Village campaign, your fundraising efforts will
  provide families, especially women, with a
  sustainable source of income through productive
  resources like
• milking animals (cows and goats)
• sewing machines

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Health care in Sierra Leone

• People, especially children, are malnourished and
  in desperate need of basic health services.
  
• 50 of Sierra Leone's population is
  under-nourished
  
• Only 42 of births are attended by a skilled
  health personnel

Sierra Leone has the highest under-five
mortality rate in the world
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Health Care Adopt a Village

• Health care programs are essential to any
  community's development. Proper health care helps
  reduce the prevalence of preventable diseases and
  allows people to lead healthy and productive
  lives.
• In the Health Care phase of the Adopt a Village
  campaign, your fundraising efforts will support
  
  
• construction of health centres
• family and health education
• shipping of essential medical supplies
• nutritious lunch program

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Water and sanitation in Sierra Leone
"We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis,
malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases
that plague the developing world until we have
also won the battle for safe drinking water,
sanitation and basic health care.
Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General

• According to the United Nations Development
  Program, in 2000

This refers to daily availability of at least 20
litres per person from a sourcesuch as a
household connection, protected well or spring,
or rainwater collectionwithin one kilometre of
the dwelling. This refers to adequate human wast
e disposal facilities (private or shared, but not
public) that can effectively prevent human,
animal and insect contact with the waste.
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Water and Sanitation Adopt a Village

• Clean water and sanitation projects are vital to
  develop healthy communities. Safe water and
  proper sanitation helps reduce the prevalence of
  preventable diseases.
• In the Water and Sanitation phase of the Adopt a
  Village campaign, students will support the
  construction of
  
• community wells
• clean water systems for families

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Be the difference that makes the difference!

• Adopt a Village and help the children of Sierra
  Leone!

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Be the difference that makes the difference!

• Adopt a Village and help the children of Sierra
  Leone!

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• For more information on how to get involved
• in the Adopt a Village campaign,
• please contact the Youth Programming Team
• by calling 416.925.5894 or by e-mail at
  youth_at_freethechildren.com.
  
• Visit our website at www.freethechildren.com!