Local NGOs in Sierra Leone – Small Budgets, Big Impact

July 7th, 2008 · No Comments

The UN is everywhere in this country. The UN’s Integrated Office in Sierra Leone, or UNIOSL, is set to close up shop sometime in the coming months, after its three year long mission in Sierra Leone; but until that happens, it’s unlikely that the omnipresent existence of the ubiquitous blue and white flag will change. Plenty of other international government bodies and NGOs have incredibly strong presence in Sierra Leone. The country is home to regional offices of Care, Doctors without Borders, USAID, Feed the Children, Christian Aid, World Vision, and more. Driving down the road between Freetown and Makeni is like walking the red carpet at the international development Oscars; all the big names are there.

These organizations do a lot of good work, and almost as importantly, they create a lot of jobs. It has been said that the NGO community makes up 60% of the Sierra Leonean economy. They employ large numbers of both foreign and local staff, and have varying mandates that dictate their long term plans concerning their time in the country. Journalists for Human Rights itself is currently just over one year into its five-year term in Sierra Leone.

It is easy to judge the success of these organizations based on the number of people they employ, the money they spend and the shininess of their big white Land Cruisers. By the same token, it is also easy to overlook the work that’s being done by small local NGOs. These organizations lack big budgets, foreign staff and, at times, the money for local public transport–let alone brand new jeeps. But the work they do for the development of the country is immense.

One such organization is Vision for the Blind, a small charitable group based in Freetown, with regional offices across the country. Recently some Radio Maria reporters and I spent a morning at the Vision offices in Makeni, speaking with beneficiaries and gaining an understanding about the day-to-day work done by the centre’s staff and volunteers. Through teaching valuable skills such as gara tie-dying and soap making, Vision for the Blind gives visually impaired people an opportunity to control the future of their own livelihoods.

Radio Maria reporters Leonard M. Massaquoi, Sheku Sakoh Turay and I produced this report for broadcast on the program “Day Break Salone”.

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