Project SIerra
Project SIerra: a Family and a Future is the focus of Soroptimist International for the quadrennial 2007-2011. Soroptimist clubs all over the world are raising funds for this venture, based in Sierra Leone - the target is £1 million.
Project SIerra sees Soroptimist International working in partnership with the charity Hope and Homes for Children. This organisation, in turn, works ‘on the ground’ with HANCI-SL (Help A Needy Child In Sierra Leone). Locally-based expertise ensures effective action.
Sierra Leone is recovering from a long, devastating and bitter civil war. As a contribution towards the challenge of community reconstruction, Project SIerra is concentrating on alienated and marginalised children and families. The project has three components. Firstly, it supports young mothers, many of whom were trafficked into sex slavery during the conflict, and were then estranged from their communities because of the stigma of having an illegitimate child. Secondly, the project works with street children in towns, helping them to return to a caring family environment. Thirdly, it is setting up integrated child and family support for vulnerable families, enabling them to become self-sufficient and thus to face a positive future.
For further information on Project SIerra visit www.projectsierra.org