By Sonja Knudson | Program Fellow
On August 14, 2017, deadly floods and mudslides swept through Sierra Leone’s capital city Freetown, killing more than 1,000 people and devastating the city’s outskirts, where thousands were left homeless. The need for basic necessities and relief services was high, but more than 1,300 of you responded, raising more than $120,000 so far to support our vetted, local partners helping those in need. Today I’d like to share updates from three of those partners about the progress they’ve made since August.
The mudslides left many young people in Freetown at higher risk of unemployment, sexual exploitation, and hunger and left many families lacking the most basic necessities. Advocacy Initiative for Development (AID) mobilized to address community needs, from food to psychosocial support and family counseling. To date, AID has served 225 households comprising 806 affected people, provided counseling services to survivors and victims, and advocated for safe hygiene practices especially for displaced victims living in camps.
By listening to the heart-wrenching stories of survivors in individual and group counseling sessions, Develop Africa is helping Sierra Leoneans cope with the trauma of surviving a natural disaster. Beyond these psychosocial services, Develop Africa is helping survivors reintegrate into their community by connecting them to business and vocational opportunities, and helping families get back into homes with rental assistance.
For families who lost nearly everything, Touch the Nations stepped in to fill in the gaps and provide basic necessities. Since the tragedy, they have been able to provide food and emergency relief supplies to those affected.
Thank you for helping mudslide survivors in Sierra Leone—your continued support makes the vital work of our partners possible. We’ll continue to share updates on the continuing recovery efforts over the weeks and months to come.
Warmly,
Sonja + the GlobalGiving Team
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When a disaster strikes, recovery efforts led by people who live and work in affected communities are often overlooked and underfunded. GlobalGiving is changing this reality. Since 2004, we've been shifting decision-making power to crises-affected communities through trust-based grantmaking and support.
We make it easy, quick, and safe to support people on the ground who understand needs in their communities better than anyone else.
They were there long before the news cameras arrived, and they’ll be there long after the cameras leave. They know how to make their communities more resilient to future disasters, and they’re already hard at work. GlobalGiving puts donations and grants directly into their hands. Because the status quo—which gives the vast majority of funding to a few large organizations—doesn’t make sense.
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