Daily dispatches from Bev Carrick, CAUSE Canada's Executive Director, as she travels Sierra Leone, visiting our West African staff and the women and children who participate in our many programs. 

To read ongoing stories from our overseas interns, visit the Intern Blog.

Saturday, May 26, 2012 - Canoe Ride to a Birthing Hut

Today is our final full day of visiting projects. We visited a CAUSE Canada birthing hut in Waiima, which is located in the south of the country. The trip to Waiima was memorable. It began with a very bumpy truck ride along some treacherous roads which led us to the edge of a neighbouring community where we were met by a large group of excited children. From there we started our hike through the jungle. Read more...

Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Comfort, Support & Care

We arrived in Makeni on Thursday afternoon and drove straight to the Comfort, Support & Care School to attend an impressive inauguration that was attended by all CAUSE Canada managers, local authorities, and local media. Now this school has a remarkable story - it was founded by a group of disabled parents who wanted their children to have access to education in a safe and supportive environment. Read more...

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - Affia Day!

Tuesday is Affia day! Today I get the opportunity to introduce two members of River Park Church to the community they have been supporting over the past 3 years. I asked our River Park friends to come prepared to do some crafts with the children, and prepared they came! It is a very special treat for children in Sierra Leone to be able to play with crafting supplies and it was a memorable experience for us as well. Read more...

Monday, May 21, 2012 - Kabala, Kids, and Kamara

After a satisfying breakfast of fresh mango oatmeal, myself and my 5 guests headed to the CAUSE Canada office for the Monday morning staff meeting. The meeting was extremely interesting – we always start the Monday meetings with a devotional and today we discussed the role of strong women in Africa. The question that was posed by our staff member Mariama who was chairing the meeting was “can a woman be a strong woman all without the help of a man?” Read more...

Friday, May 18, 2012 - The "River" Churches Arrive

The first phase of the trip has ended, we’ve said goodbye to Idil, and today we welcomed the church groups from River Park in Calgary and River’s Edge in Montreal. We now have 4 new travel companions and our travel itinerary for the next few days is action packed! Read more...

Thursday, May 17, 2012 - Strong, Empowered Women

After stopping for a quick lunch in Makeni we continued on to a small village called Kamajimbo to drop in on a literacy class. This is one of my favorite parts of the job – I just love seeing the joy in the women’s faces as they learn to recognize letters and numbers and spell out their own names. It is so empowering for these women to learn that they have the intelligence and ability to learn to read and write. Read more...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Heading North

One of the reasons for my trip to Sierra Leone is to introduce my friend, and CAUSE Canada’s CIDA project officer Idil to our Sierra Leone initiatives. Idil has traveled with CAUSE Canada in the past and has visited our projects in both Guatemala and Honduras. We are thrilled to have her visiting our projects as she is the first CIDA project officer to spend time in our Sierra Leone field office and witness CAUSE Canada’s work first hand. Read more...

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - Reuniting with Old Friends

CAUSE Canada is fortunate to be working alongside many highly educated, dedicated and passionate local staff members. Presently we have over 50 national staff in Sierra Leone, all from a variety of backgrounds. We have been working in Sierra Leone for the past 24 years, which is a testament to our commitment to integrated community development. Read more...

Monday, May 14, 2012 - Greetings from Sierra Leone

After 2 days of travel we have arrived safely in Freetown, Sierra Leone and are adjusting to the 7 hour time difference and hot humid weather (a dramatic change from the May snows we left behind in Canmore). Over the next 2 weeks I will be visiting many of the CAUSE Sierra Leone projects, facilitating a tour for 2 Canadian church groups, officially opening a school in Makeni, visiting the CAUSE Canada birthing hut program, providing a tour for our CIDA project officer, and meeting with our hard working national staff. It promises to be a very exciting and busy few weeks. Read more...