"Project SIerra is a four year partnership between Soroptimist International and Hope and Homes for Children which will transform the lives of some of the most deprived children and women in the world."  Source: Project SIerra Website.

• Strengthen families at risk of breakdown;
• Help young children living on the streets return home; and
• Empower vulnerable young mothers

so as to enable young children to grow up in a caring family environment thereby giving them an opportunity to reach their potential.

It has three main components:

• Integrated child and family support;
• Young mother support; and
• Children living on the streets.

The following provides some background and is taken directly from the Project SIerra website:

"Sierra Leone is one of the poorest nations on earth. More than 70% of the population are unemployed and live below the national poverty line, surviving on just 52p ($1 USD) a day. Life expectancy for women is 42 years and nearly a third of all children die before their fifth birthday. In 2003 the country celebrated its first year of peace in over a decade. During the ten-year civil war 500,000 people were murdered, raped or left with horrific injuries and over half the population was made homeless. Vital services such as health, social care, water and sanitation still remain deeply affected. Communities are now trying to rebuild their social and physical infrastructures. Starting again from nothing, they face the challenges of a population that is impoverished and traumatised. Lone women or frail grandparents head many households.

Project SIerra will:

• Improve the health and life chances of thousands of deprived women and children living in abject poverty
• Promote stability and self-reliance in post conflict society
• Provide education, training, small business and life skills support to enable families to become self-sufficient and support their children
• Build the capacity of local childcare professionals and create models of excellence that can be shared with other countries in Africa
• Enable more children to grow up in a caring family

Additionally, Project SIerra will actively contribute to the UN Millennium Development Goals. Each child and family’s needs are individually assessed and access to food, education and healthcare are provided accordingly."

If you would like to help Soroptimist International with Project SIerra, and it is within the 2007 to 2011 timeframe, you may send a donation to:

Project SIerra
Soroptimist International South West Pacific
PO Box Q817
QVB Post Office
Sydney NSW 2000

clearly stating that the donation is for Project SIerra, the SI Quadrennial Project 2007-11 and that you learnt about this from Soroptimist International Brisbane City.

Project SIerra ties into our club's focus on human trafficking too. Human Rights Watch reported on 26 February 2001 that, "Throughout the nine year Sierra Leonean conflict there has been widespread and systematic sexual violence against women and girls including individual and gang rape, sexual assault with objects, and sexual slavery. In thousands of cases, sexual violence has been followed by the abduction of women and girls and forced bondage to male combatants in slavery-like conditions often accompanied by forced labor. These sexual crimes are most often characterized by extraordinary brutality and are frequently preceded or followed by violent acts against other family members. The rebel factions used sexual violence as a weapon to terrorize, humiliate, punish and ultimately control the civilian population into submission." Source: Sexual Violence within the SIerra Leone Conflict. 

 In January 2003, Human Watch published a 75 page report on "Sierra Leone: We'll Kill You If You Cry - Sexual Violence in the Sierra Leone Conflict".  This is available online for you to read but be warned, it details the horrific things and conditions these women and children endured.