Child Headed Households
Sierra Cares Foundation supports the children of Pate Bana and Makeni who became orphaned during the ebola crisis from 2014-2019. In Pate Bana, we lost 90% of the parents, leaving the remaining adults to care for the orphaned children. Currently, we sponsor these children to ensure they have access to education, food stability and shelter. Our goal is to ensure every child in this community has the opportunity to thrive and grow to feel supported by their community.
Click to view each image*
We currently have 69 children who need sponsorship (some are sponsored at $35 a month) to pay for school fees and a partisan nutrition program. We want to continue to support these children with their education and will do so via sponsorship and engagement with their families and/or caregivers during non-school times. Nutrition is essential and we want to build the program to continue to provide food and nourishment for these children as well. In addition to the orphan children, there are several children who need assistance with school fees each year and we would like to provide a scholarship program to assist with these needs to support single parents or poverty-working families, as no child should be without basic education. This will also prevent the children from being forced to work in labor camps, forced marriage or child prostitution, as children who are not enrolled are highly vulnerable to this situation.
* Please note that some images are stock photos in order to protect the anonymity of the women in our program, as many have been repatriated from human trafficking situations and still are at risk.