Whether in the main cities or along
the beautiful coastline which fringes the country, Sierra Leone's population
is working hard to build a better future
by Anna Field
Before finally leaving Makeni for the capital Freetown, I was given the opportunity to visit the base of our partner Caritas Makeni.
One element of their work is providing skills training for 250 girl mothers in the local area, some of whom suffered abuses during the ten-year conflict.
Caritas Makeni offers two-year courses in vocational skills such as catering, weaving, tailoring and the local art of gara and tie-dying.
The age-range of the participants is generally 16-25 and they have crèche facilities for the youngest children, the rest stay with their mothers in their classes.
In addition to the skills training, Caritas Makeni also facilitates some of the rehoming of the young women or reintegration into their communities.
For some of the women, there is great stigma attached to their situation and, where possible, Caritas Makeni support them as they meet their families or provide a social worker to accompany them back to facilitate the process.
Hairdressing
My final partner visit is to the Youth Development Movement, located just outside Freetown and working with both young men and women in providing vocational skills training such as carpentry, soap-making and hairdressing.
When I asked a group of girls why they chose to study hairdressing, one replied: "When I have finished my studies, I will open my own shop and earn money since every woman always wants to have her hair nice". Can't say fairer than that, really!
Following the final visit, I got to experience the side of Sierra Leone that never springs to mind immediately - the beautiful coastline. Sierra Leone has miles and miles of sandy beaches on its Atlantic coast, which offer huge potential to attract tourists.
The particular beach I went to was next to a village which had formed a co-operative to run facilities for tourists including beach huts, a small restaurant which sold the essential cold drinks as well as food, toilets and trips up the river to a local waterfall.
This may all sounds obvious, but the simple things that they had put in place meant that people were happy to pay to go to this beach as they knew of its safety, which at the same time boosted the economy of the small fishing village. And of course it is absolutely beautiful which always helps!