ERD Chief Executive visits Sierra Leone

In November, Fiona Dowling travelled to Sierra Leone to visit the development projects, engage with the West Africa mission office and meet the leadership team and project governors. Fiona witnessed the life-changing impact of three development projects in Sierra Leone: the Seeds of Change project in Mabureh, the Work of our Hands project at the Senan Kerrigan Centre in Bo and the Girls Empowerment projects in Blama.

Seeds of Change works with women to improve their livelihoods, increase food security and foster financial independence through agricultural income-generating initiatives. Women in these communities describe the multiple challenges they face - exclusion from land ownership, education and decision-making and vulnerability to gender-based violence, early marriage and female genital mutilation. Seeds of Change uses a gender-transformative approach to tackle these challenges and is benefitting more than 1,300 people in three communities.
Fiona then travelled to Bo to visit the Work of Our Hands project at the Senan Kerrigan Centre. This project supports 100 vulnerable women and girls who have dropped out of school at a young age, many of whom are single mothers. The project provides life skills through vocational training and has transformed the lives of the participants, teaching them practical skills to secure their livelihoods.

Finally, Fiona travelled to the Girls Empowerment project in Blama. The project works with girls in two secondary schools to support vulnerable girls to complete their education. Beyond formal education, the project supports leadership development, human rights education and grassroots advocacy. Fiona saw first-hand how these students are growing into remarkable future leaders who are inspiring local advocacy.

All three projects challenge human rights issues affecting their communities, and the impact is visible. Women are empowered, personally and in the community; they have a voice. For example, the local community, supported by the project team, worked with the paramount chief to change bye-laws around early marriage
Fiona and Br. Abu Kargbo, West Africa Edmund Rice Mission Coordinator, also had the pleasure of meeting with Ambassador Patrick McManus, Irish Ambassador to Sierra Leone. The meeting focused on building collaboration with other Irish NGOs in Sierra Leone and especially work on preventing gender-based violence. We thank the mission office and the development projects for hosting Fiona, and special thanks to Br. Abu Kargbo for leading the logistics. Fiona’s visit to Sierra Leone will definitely not be her last, and she cannot wait to return to the beautiful country.