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 The Kidsave Sierra Leone Programme (KSLP) is Kidsaves latest and most innovative project to give orphans permanent family care in Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world. Approximately 57% of the population lives on less than $1 a day. When a bitter civil war erupted in 1991 and lasting until 2002, the fabric of Sierra Leoneon families was ripped apart and the tradition of Africans taking in orphans vanished. Orphanages, promoted by well-intended individuals, became the traditional method of support for the country’s 2.3 million orphaned children. However, the heart and soul of Sierra Leone resides in the family. Consequently, The Kidsave Sierra Leone Project is an effort to support Sierra Leoneons in returning to their traditions of embracing and caring for all their children.
In 2008 Kidsave provided its Family Visit Model protocol to the Centre for Research, Training, Programme and Development (CRTPD), a community-based nonprofit operating in Kenema, Sierra Leone. CRTPD staff and volunteers adapted it to local customs – insuring that the tenets of child preparation, family training and child protection were well maintained.
Through partnership with CRTPD, the Kidsave Sierra Leone Programme was created with economic capacity building in mind as families cannot afford to take in extra children. Consequently, CRPTD is offering a microloan program to market women to help them build their businesses as a way to built family income and improve the likelihood that they will be able to take an extra child in long-term. At the same time Kidsave Sierra Leone will run a hosting program to give children currently living in the orphanages a chance to meet families in the community. The market women and Kidsave Sierra Leone staff will advocate for the children.
To provide essential start-up funding, Kidsave is investing in refurbished laptop computers which CRTPD will resell to organizations in Sierra Leone. The profit from selling just 25 computers will support 30 children in the Kidsave Sierra Leone program for six months and provide funding for women’s microcredit groups to expand their businesses and purchase rice, beans, palmoil, groundnut (peanut), maize and vegetables to feed their families. It is estimated based on past CRTPD experience that three loan cycles of $150 each will enable women to become self-sufficient enough to afford to add an extra child to their family.
Kidsave is committed to helping the people of Sierra Leone rebuild family connections and provide orphaned children with the opportunity to grow up in permanent families. We are hopeful this test will be the beginning for many more permanent family care programs for orphans throughout Africa.
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