The Sierra Leone project is Miracle of Help's most ambitious to date. Sierra Leone has the second highest infant mortality rate in the world, and one out of five babies do not survive to age five. Inspired by a firsthand account of the poverty and lack of medical services for pregnant women in the rural Eastern Region province of Sierra Leone, the Miracle of Help (MOH) team is helping those communities build a women's center, known there as a Maternal-Child Health Post (MCHP), for safe childbirth and pre- and post-natal care. The center is located in the village of Ngolahun, a village of slightly over 2,000 people, with no electricity or running water. Four smaller villages (Bunumbuwo, Njala, Baaka, and Tagbama) with a combined population of about 1,200, are within one day’s walking distance, and will also receive services from the MCHP.

In Kenema,  we are in the process of building a mixed-use structure to serve as a skills training center (photo above), with a wood-working shop, restaurant, laundry, and internet cafe. These small businesses will support the MCHP. The center will also house a conference room for meeting with officials, an important component of working with the Sierra Leone government.