In June of 2020, Kadijah Saccoh, a 5 year old girl from Sierra Leone was raped and strangled to death by her older cousin. This tragic case sparked international attention to the crisis of rape as a violence against women that is becoming rampant in Sierra Leone.
In 2019 the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, declared rape and sexual assault a national emergency. He reported that the country had more than 8,500 reported cases of sexual and gender-based violence per year and that seventy percent of survivors of this traumatic experience are under the age of 15.
Rape of young girls and women continues on a daily bases. Sierra Leone is facing problems that the Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy (SLFND) is collaborating with women's organization in Sierra Leone and in the US to address.
2020/2021, I will be walking a 315 mile from Kailahun (Eastern Sierra Leone) to Freetown (Capital city in the Western Area of Sierra Leone) to call attention on this barbaric and harmful attack on girls and women in Sierra Leone. Your funds contributed would go towards preparation for the walk, documentation of stories from survivals, and supporting a national platform for girls and women's safety in Sierra Leone.
Anything that is learned, can be unlearned. The problem of rape culture and sexual violence in Sierra Leone requires awareness, education, counseling, and ongoing support. Your support is crucial to our efforts to raise awareness of this prevalent issue plaguing the country, the African continent and the world.
As a man, I do not know how it feels to walk in the shoes of women and girls facing rape. I am therefore undertaking this walk in solidarity with women and girls. I invite you to walk in my shoes to support women and girls in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy works in partnership with communities to build the foundation for citizens of all ages to deliberate and enact new, non-adversarial alternatives that nurture democratic relationships and decision-making within and among individuals, families, institutions, and the environment.
In 2019 the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, declared rape and sexual assault a national emergency. He reported that the country had more than 8,500 reported cases of sexual and gender-based violence per year and that seventy percent of survivors of this traumatic experience are under the age of 15.
Rape of young girls and women continues on a daily bases. Sierra Leone is facing problems that the Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy (SLFND) is collaborating with women's organization in Sierra Leone and in the US to address.
2020/2021, I will be walking a 315 mile from Kailahun (Eastern Sierra Leone) to Freetown (Capital city in the Western Area of Sierra Leone) to call attention on this barbaric and harmful attack on girls and women in Sierra Leone. Your funds contributed would go towards preparation for the walk, documentation of stories from survivals, and supporting a national platform for girls and women's safety in Sierra Leone.
Anything that is learned, can be unlearned. The problem of rape culture and sexual violence in Sierra Leone requires awareness, education, counseling, and ongoing support. Your support is crucial to our efforts to raise awareness of this prevalent issue plaguing the country, the African continent and the world.
As a man, I do not know how it feels to walk in the shoes of women and girls facing rape. I am therefore undertaking this walk in solidarity with women and girls. I invite you to walk in my shoes to support women and girls in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy works in partnership with communities to build the foundation for citizens of all ages to deliberate and enact new, non-adversarial alternatives that nurture democratic relationships and decision-making within and among individuals, families, institutions, and the environment.
You are welcome to donate to the walk on either link
SLFND STATEMENT: COVID 19
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SLFND STATEMENT: GEORGE FLOYD
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WELCOME!
OUR DREAMconnectedness among peoples and the earth, wounds healing, creativity flowing
OUR PURPOSESierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy works in partnership with communities to build the foundation for citizens of all ages to deliberate and enact new, non-adversarial alternatives that nurture democratic relationships and decision making among and across individuals, families, institutions, and the environment.
OUR APPROACHThe Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy is actively transforming extractive and exploitative dynamics by reviving Africa’s nonviolent, deliberative traditions of decision making—the foundation for a new democracy—through the vehicles of Food Sovereignty & Ecological Resilience, Mass Critical Literacy, and Cooperative Economics. SLFND's current programming in these areas include Ta-Valema Permaculture Farm & Learning Lab, Dovalema Early Childhood Center, and Social Enterprise Cooperatives. Arising from permaculture ethics, domains, and principles, these allow children, adults, and elders to reconnect with their history, with each other, and with the earth.
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Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy has adopted permaculture as a framework
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Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy is organized as an ecosystem
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Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy integrates its programs and focus areas
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OUR BROAD OUTCOME AREAS
Food Sovereignty & Ecological Resilience |
Mass Critical Literacy |
Cooperative Economics |
My visit to SLFND impacted me in many ways. As a teacher, I am very interested in seeing my colleagues in other communities and the schools where they work with their students. I had visited rural village schools and had witnessed the extreme challenges teachers and eager students face: schools in ruins, a scarcity of the most basic school resources and overcrowded classes, to name a few. I talked to many children in my host village who weren't in school because their family could not afford the school fees. Then I visited SLFND! I met the teachers and toured the facilities. I was so impressed with the idea of providing child-centered pre-school for all, with NO school fees, and also providing nutritious meals grown and cooked on site in a permaculture setting. What an amazing way to provide an educational foundation to our world's most precious resource: our children. I was so inspired that I decided to contribute to the cause by supporting one teacher for one year, through monthly donations to SLFND. I hope you, dear reader, can support SLFND. Thank you. |
Having the opportunity to support and be apart of the Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy (SLFND) instilled my belief that community power exists and is thriving. In a world where greed and hatred seem so prevalent, a place like Mondema that is coming together to build a more sustainable and resilient community for themselves gives me hope and inspires me to spread that love and collaboration that I witnessed to the other communities I am apart of. |