Sierra Leone, in common with many least developed countries can be a difficult place to work in. The poverty there is so deep-seated, so desperate and consuming that it literally drives people to sell each other out and on a quite casual basis.
A Sierra Leone friend recently returned commented "I went to Guinee and they cleaned me out. I came home to Sierra Leone and they rinsed me."
Everybody that you meet seems to have a friend, a brother, an uncle or a lover and they can cast-iron guarentee that they will be able to sort out your exact problem - if only you can part with some more of your money and they will continue to sort you out until every last $ has been drained.
We have seen first hand how this can corrode trust and break relationships; how projects start and how the money mysteriously disappears before they can complete. We've seen food go missing. Medical supplies like Malaria tablets go missing. Even underwear gets knick(er)ed!
The thing is, when people steal from us, or ask us for a commission or bribe for doing their job, they are really stealing from the children. The result: children go hungry. They get sick and entirely unsurprisngly from Malaria. They go knickerless. In short(s), we think that's pants!
Stolen not just from any children (and that would be bad enough) but from some of the most vulnerable children in Sierra Leone. Or, come to that, the World. This time a year ago, these children were grieving having only just lost their parents to deadly Ebola and many of the children pictured here were living by themselves or in families headed by an older brother or sister. Not in a nice house, or even cramped in a room but living in a particularly grisy slum, under tarpaulin or sleeping under market stalls. There are still many thousands of children living just like this. Today. In Sierra Leone and if you want to help these children then please visit our Sponsor page.
Welcome Progress
So, we welcome the new Pay NO Bribe app launched in October by the Anti-Corruption Commission in Sierra Leone and we've alreday downloaded ours!
The new Pay NO Bribe app allows people to report bribes and corruption anonymously. What's more it's bespoke to Sierra Leone and translated into Krio, Mende and Temne!
Let’s Be Clear - Accountability & Transparency
We want to do things differently in lots of ways including our approach to accountability and transparency.
This is important to us because we know we operate in a continent only just beginning to tackle the corruption eating away at the heart of some public services and businesses.
Hope 4 Ebola Orphans Foundation is firmly anti-corruption and anti-commission because it’s wrong. Because we know it will affect children like those pictured, as they grow up. We know corruption prevents communities and businesses from flourishing and people from being truly free. We will stand against corruption so these children and his generation can be free.
For our part, our website will publish all donations to the Foundation, their source and expenditure including our annual accounts and reports, individual donor amounts and itemised expenditure. This way everyone knows money is spent wisely and is always fully accounted for
Donations – Transparent, Tracked & Reported
We have a transparent donations process so sponsors and donors can track their gift from receipt by the Foundation to delivery in Sierra Leone.
We know how important it is to know your money is being spent correctly. We know this because we dig into our own pockets for this cause and we want to know our money’s being well spent, the same way you do.
In essence, all we ask is for people, associations and organisations to donate by sponsoring a child. One of Ebola’s 12,000 orphans, one of the 3,000 like these pictured, who have no parents to protect them. This way it’s easy to see exactly where your money goes. Something tangible. A real child with their own hopes and dreams.
Sponsors get something back!
Everyone who Sponsors a child receives: - a Big Thank You & Certificate of Sponsorship - Your name & a selfie or favourite photo on our Sponsors Wall of Thanks - a video or written (painted) thank you from your sponsored child! - regular PDF photo reports so you see your sponsored child growing up!
No Deductions for anything. Period.
100% of all sponsorship donations go directly to Ebola's orphans - no deductions, admin or fees.
100% of all village donations go directly to help build our eco community, giving Ebola’s orphans somewhere to live that they can call home – no deductions, admin or fees.
We fundraise separately to cover the Foundation’s running costs and thigns we need like leaflets and posters..
We guarantee these things so you know your donation directly changes children’s lives.
Cash donations
We know some people prefer just to make a cash donation. If you do, please make cash donations direct via Paypal or our website’s secure payments system.
We’ll let you know - down to the last penny - what your kind donation has been spent on and you’ll make an appearance of our Wall of Thanks!
If it’s not possible to use a bank or paypal when cash is collected we ALWAYS follow these transparent procedures:
Individual donations
We always issue a receipt with tax number and Thank You certificate – we’ll post a selfie and details of your donation and certificate on our website.
Group & association donations
Always count any money collected in front of the group. Take a group selfie and we’ll post it on our website with details of your donation. We always give you a receipt with tax number and a Thank You certificate with amount collected. Ask for our Group & Association Sponsor Pack.
Institution & Corporate Sponsors
You will always see where your money goes and we work closely with you to make sure your team get maximum exposure for your kind support. Ask for our Institution & Corporate Sponsor Pack.
Donor privacy
We always respect our donor’s privacy – we won’t publish addresses, we won’t ever share our donor list with third parties and full names can be withheld if requested.
Get on board – join our campaign!
Follow TJ's journey from the beginning and help us change children's lives, in every sense, forever.
