Sierra Leone
Bert van Dijkhuizen and Beppie van den Tweel travelled to Sierra Leone, just to meet the country, only known from the movie film ‘Blood Diamonds’. This first visit made such a deep impression upon them, that they decided to serve that country in one way or the other. Sierra Leone just came out of a bloody and destructive war. The war caused deep poverty and extensive physical and psychological pain. And despite the fact that Sierra Leone was one of the poorest countries in the world, Bert and Beppie met a strong will to rebuild the country and to make life worthwhile again.
Berend Schaeffner (Tropical Doctor, Family Physician) and Wim Klein Poelhuis (Eye Specialist) crossed our path, both with extensive experience in West Africa. The four of us decided to collaborate in the Foundation Friends of the African Dream (FAD).
In Sierra Leone Rev. James Davies and Rev. Abdul Karim Kamara joined the Foundation as local representatives with solid knowledge of the country. They supervise all our local activities.
It was not only the war that affected the country deeply, it was also the fatal Ebola epidemic that obstructed the further development of the country. Sierra Leone suffered a strong setback and so there are lots of work to rebuild the country.
Sierra Leone, affectionately called ‘Sweet Salone’, has twice the size of The Netherlands and has 7 million inhabitants. The average life expectancy is about 62 years and child mortality is high. From every thousand of children nearly a hundred do not reach the age of five years. The unemployment rate is high amongst youngsters. A major part of the population lives below subsistence level.
