From Huffington Post UK
When the BBC approached me to travel to Sierra Leone in West Africa to present the lifeline appeal for international women’s rights charity Womankind Worldwide, I didn’t hesitate to say yes.
Visiting Sierra Leone–a country best known for the atrocities and devastation caused by an 11-year civil war (it is estimated that 250,000 women were raped) – isn’t probably high on most people’s list of things to do. But from the close relationships I built with the women and families I stayed with in the Kibera slum in Kenya, I know just how resilient and entrepreneurial women can be against great adversity with just a little support.
I wanted to see for myself how women in Sierra Leone are transforming their lives and to tell their stories to others. So I packed my bags at the end of rainy January for a whirlwind trip to Sierra Leone with the BBC and Womankind.
The adventure began with a water taxi from the airport -on an island which was experiencing a power cut when we landed -to the capital Freetown. Freetown is a very busy city infamous for its traffic and it didn’t disappoint as we left the city at snails pace early the next morning. Schools, businesses, government buildings and crowds soon gave way to a very rural, tropical landscape. We headed to the city of Bo and the surrounding villages where Womankind’s partners – local women’s rights organizations–are helping women every day. Womankind believes that local women led organizations are best at finding out what women want to change in their local communities and then helping them to do it. And by supporting these organizations to carry out their work, rather than setting up a Womankind office, the change is longer-term and rooted in the community.
Written by Angela Rippon/Read more at Huffington Post UK
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