Supply the Love: Sierra Leone
Supply the Love: We supply the camera and film and you supply the love! We would love to have you be an ambassador of Print the Love! If you are traveling to an under-resourced community anywhere on the globe in the next year and would like to participate in spreading random photo kindness to the local people, lets chat! Together we can make a difference! Application is online.
The Supply the Love program is 100% supported by donors. If you are not travelling, you can still donate funds towards the camera and film for those who are.
As part of the program, we ask that ambassadors write a short description of their experience. All the words are their own.
Michael in Sierra Leone
I had a wonderful opportunity to travel to the village of Nianahun in eastern Sierra Leone in November 2019 on a trip sponsored by OneVillage Partners. Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world with average family income at $1/day and average life expectancy of 45 years.
OneVillage Partners was founded by a former Peace Corps Volunteer who served in this region. He returned at the end of the civil war to find all of the nearby villages destroyed by rebel soldiers. He set about to help the surviving villagers to rebuild their communities. Over the past 17 years the organization has assisted 18 villages and more that 25,000 people to rebuild their homes, schools, clinics and infrastructure to improve their lives. The villagers use a model of community based decision making whereby they identify the needs of their communities, set priorities, use the technical skills of OneVillage Partners and then provide the labor to complete important projects.
For example, in the past year, our village built 36 latrine buildings to serve the entire community. The result of this is that diarrheal illness has been reduced by 70%. I was fortunate to take along a camera and film for 100 photos provided by Supply the Love. I took photos of community leaders, married couples, village elders, and religious leaders. The photos brought much joy to everyone who was able to keep their photo and share it with their family and friends. Taking photos started off simply and quietly but within minutes villagers were coming from every direction to receive a personal photo. It was very fun and exciting. There was great disappointment when I ran out of film.
However, everyone politely accepted that fact and were very appreciative for the photos that were taken. The opportunity to participate in the Supply the Love Program during my travels made the trip even more rewarding and memorable.
