2005 Press Releases

US Ambassador Reaches out to Sierra Leone

Freetown
Dec 21, 2005
Contact: PAO
Tel: 226481

United States Ambassador Thomas N. Hull inaugurated a community grain store in Shenge, on December 19.  Funding for the project came from the Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Project.   The project cost $5,442 and benefits 1200 people in the Shenge community.  The Shenge community relies on fishing and agriculture.  The grain store will help them store their harvest and get it to market with greater economic gain. 
 
 Ambassador Hull, applauding the work in Shenge said, “we are pleased to fund projects where people use the money well.”  He further remarked on the importance of agriculture and its role in building the economy.  He encouraged youth to stay in the village and be productive members of their communities.

Setting the spotlight on another project, Ambassador Hull launched a play funded by the US Ambassador’s Democracy and Human Rights Fund on December 20. This project has a value of $18,539.  Emphasizing the fight against domestic violence, the Ambassador, Minister of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs and other dignitaries attended the opening of “Wi ol na fribon” project at the British Council in Freetown.  This project, to be implemented by Pampana Communications, is designed to undertake a vigorous awareness and behavior change campaign using community theatre to raise the consciousness of people in rural communities about their rights.  Specifically, the campaign will focus and attempt to address some of the most common, but serious violations, which include child trafficking and child labor, forced and early marriage of girls, the right of girls to education and the problem of arbitrary arrests and detentions. 

Pampana Communications is using the project to address a situation in which people see issues of politics and democracy as the domain of a chosen few and violations of a person’s rights, like abuse and exploitation of women and children, as inevitable burdens of life.  Pampana Communications aims to raise awareness and will use drama and story-telling to reach the local population.