February*
Prophet’s Birthday
April 27
Independence Day
December 25
Christmas
*date varies
Religion in Sierra Leone
60 percent of the population in Sierra Leone are
Muslim. Another 30 percent practice indigenous
beliefs, and 10 percent are Christian.
Muslims are followers of Islam. Islam is an Arabic
word meaning “submission to the will of Allah (God).”
Muslims believe that Allah’s will was revealed to the
prophet Muhammad more than 14 centuries ago
and was captured in the Islamic holy book, the Koran
(Qur’an). Together with the Sunnah, a collection of
sayings attributed to Muhammad, these texts provide
a firm basis for religious and social life for all Muslims,
including rules for diet, dress, hygiene, and more.
Islam is a religion of peace and prayerfulness. A devout
Muslim prays five times daily. If possible, Muslims pray
in a mosque, and on Friday do so with common prayer
and a sermon. Islam also requires that Muslims make
Animism is the term used to categorize the plethora
of localized indigenous religions throughout the world.
Animists live in a world dominated by a complex
interplay of spiritual powers—those of the creator or
creators (gods), the destroyers (demons), the forces
of nature, the deceased (ancestors), and the living
(healers or witches). The manipulation of such powers
through magic, to benefit humans, is subject to strict
rules, including rituals, sacrifices, and trance. Animists
believe that when people die their life force (soul) leaves
the body, joining the invisible world of ancestors. The
invisible world is also populated by nature spirits of the
wind, rain, forest, animals, and earth.
Christians are followers of Jesus, a carpenter and a
Jew from the city of Nazareth in present-day Israel.
Christians believe that Jesus is the only son of God, born
of a virgin woman (Mary) in a stable in Bethlehem. His
story is told in the New Testament of the Christian holy
book, the Bible.
5.9 million
Capital City
Freetown
Official Language
English
Per Capita Income
US$580/year
Youth Literacy Rate
70% male/52% female
Access to Safe Water
84% urban/40% rural
Under 5 Mortality Rate
/1,000 live births
Source: The State of the World’s Children 201 (UNICEF)
Additional sources include the CIA World Factbook and State Department websites.
Plan International USA is part of a global organization that works side by side with communities in 50 developing countries to
end the cycle of poverty for children. We develop solutions community by community to ensure long-term sustainability. Our
level of community engagement, long-term outlook, and constant focus on the needs and priorities of children is unique among
international development organizations. Our solutions are designed up-front to be owned by the community for generations to
come, and range from clean water and health-care programs to education projects and child-protection initiatives.
Promising Futures,
Community by Community
Population
Plan International USA
155 Plan Way • Warwick, RI 02886
1-800-556-7918 • planusa.org
Sierra Leone is located on the west coast of Africa. In the 15th century, a Portuguese
explorer called Pedro de Cintra mapped a mountainous peninsula marking the entrance
to a great harbor surrounded with hills that, when viewed from the ocean, looked like
a resting lion. Pedro named the lion-like mountain region “Sierra Loya” from which the
country derived its name. Beyond the peninsula is a broad plain with wide stripes of lowlying swamps, vast mangrove sandbars, and lagoons. Sierra Leone has a tropical climate
marked by two seasons: the rainy season from May to December and the dry season from
December to April. Heavy downpours, high precipitation, and occasional thunderstorms
characterize the rainy season, while the dry season is marked by hot, humid, and dry
weather. A particularly more severe weather condition is the hamattan, a cold, dry, sandladen northeast wind that blows from the Sahara Desert between November and February.
Sierra Leone March/April*
Easter
a pilgrimage, called the Hajj, to the holy city of Mecca
at least once in their lifetime. Islamic holidays include
Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar,
which commemorates the month in which Muhammad
received the revelations that became the Koran. Eid
al-Fitr is a joyous feast celebrating the end of Ramadan
and the month of fasting. Al-Hijra celebrates the Islamic
New Year.
A Brief History
The earliest settlers in present-day Sierra Leone were
the Limbas, the West Atlantic language group called the
Temene, and the speakers of the Mende language from
the ancient Empire of Ghana. Freetown, the capital,
was founded as a settlement for freed slaves. The first
slave settlers were black and landed on the Freetown
Peninsula in 1787. The Nova Scotians, former North
American slaves who fought for the British during the
American Revolution, arrived in 1792. The Maroons
followed them in 1800 from the mountains of Jamaica.
The final wave of settlers were the Recaptives. These
numbered about 70,000 and included a mixture of
West Africans liberated from slave ships captured by the
British navy. The Freetown Peninsula became a melting
pot for various language groups from which the Krio
language developed. In 1808, Sierra Leone became a
British crown colony. The first prime minister following
independence in 1961 was Sir Milton Margai, leader of
the Sierra Leone People’s Party. In 1978, under Siaka
Stevens’s presidency, Sierra Leone became a republic
and a one-party state. After 18 years in power, Stevens
transferred power to his handpicked successor, Major
General Joseph S. Momoh. In 1991, civil war broke out
in the eastern part of Sierra Leone. In 1992, the military
seized power and forced Momoh to flee to neighboring
Guinea. In 1996, multiparty elections were conducted,
and the country was returned to civilian rule under the
presidency of Ahmad Tejan Kabba. In 1997, the military
once more took control. In February 1998, the West
African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, led by Nigeria,
succeeded in ousting the military and returned Ahmad
Tejan Kabba to power. In a defiant move, the junta and
its allies retreated to the interior of the country where
they instilled fear on the population by killing and
maiming civilians as well as razing villages and towns.
Thousands of people fled their homes. Many children
were separated from their parents while others were
forcefully enlisted into the army.
Plan’s work in Sierra Leone focuses
on the following areas:
Education
Maternal and child health
Youth employment
Education
Plan’s work in Sierra Leone is centered on education
renewal to rebuild and revitalize education facilities.
Aside from supporting teacher training, Plan sets up
psychosocial trauma, counseling, and peace education
workshops. For schoolchildren, sports, athletics, and
cultural competitions, as well as the formation of peace
clubs, help to engage children outside of formal learning
environments. In addition, Plan supports schools and
committees to improve the availability and quality
of education and advocates for school designs that
promote active learning.
Maternal and child health
Plan advocates for increased access to health services,
fostering partnerships to address health issues such
as malaria, HIV and AIDS, birth registration, and
other critical challenges. As Sierra Leone has one of
the world’s highest infant mortality rates, with 70
percent of deaths caused by malaria, we are focused on
implementing malaria prevention and control projects
over a five-year period.
sector is dominated by subsistence farming, and most
of the cultivable land is exhausted due to poor farming
practices. Rice, the staple food, is mostly prepared
white and eaten with potato or cassava leaves. Other
farm produce includes yams, cassava tuber, corn, millet,
sorghum, and groundnuts. Cash crops include cocoa,
coffee, and palm kernel. The principal source of foreign
exchange in Sierra Leone is mineral exports of bauxite,
rutile, titanium, and others.
Ethnic Diversity
We promote youth economic and skills-based
empowerment and work to increase youth participation
and decision-making through formation of youth
groups.
Like most African countries, Sierra Leone’s population
consists of many ethnic groups, each with its own
distinct but interrelated culture and language. This
unique composition provides a rich tapestry of cultures
skilled in art and craftwork. This diversity of cultures
is part of a vast ethnic network extending into several
countries in West Africa. The largest ethnic groups in
Sierra Leone are the Temne (north) and the Mende
(south). Together, they comprise about 60 percent of
the population. The other prominent groups are the
Limba and the Creole, which comprise 10 percent and 2
percent of the population, respectively.
Economic Security
Language
The primary source of livelihood is agriculture, which
accounts for 49 percent of the country’s GDP. This
Although English is the official language in Sierra Leone,
there are more than 14 other languages, with Krio
Youth employment
being the language spoken by all Sierra Leoneans. It is
very likely that you will encounter a language barrier
in communicating with your sponsored child, as the
majority of the children do not know enough English to
write a letter. Those who cannot write will be assigned
to community workers and volunteers who will explain
your letters and help the children compose their
responses.
Here are a few phrases in Krio that you might want
to use in your communication with your sponsored
child:
Ah du o, how you du?
Hello, how are you?
How de go dey go?
How are things going?
Tenki ya
Thank you
Dem fambul
My regards to the family
Holidays
Holidays are very important to your sponsored child
and family. The most important ones have religious
significance:
January 1
New Year’s Day