Wanda Foundation

Origin | The civil war | Current situation | School in Dia | Future projects
The spending of your money

Origin
Josephine Smits-Davis, born in Sierra Leone, travelled to her native country at the end of the civil war in July 2002. There she saw the terrible conditions in which especially the women and children had to live. Many children had been orphaned and left to their own devices. They are all victims of the inhuman civil war that has wreaked havoc on the country. Josephine's heart was touched, so much that initially she wanted to offer immediate, small scale help to the poor women. She managed to convince others and so the idea was born to establish a foundation called Wanda (meaning 'the people'). In order to help the victims of war regain their dignity the Wanda Foundation aims at starting and supporting projects that will improve the situation in the fields of education, agriculture and health care. In trying to achieve our goals the local community stands central in initiating and implementing these projects, this all to guarantee a lasting commitment of everyone involved and to offer people a chance to improve their future within the limits of their own culture.

The civil war and the Kailahun district
The Foundation Wanda is currently working in the village of Dia in the Kissi Kama Chiefdom in the Kailahun District. This district was hit hard by the civil war.
After the independence in 1961 Sierra Leone became a one-party state where corruption flourished. In 1991 the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) started a guerrilla campaign from neighbouring Liberia and in 1992 the military successfully attempted a coup d'état, which triggered a civil war. The civil war started in the Kailahun District, where the RUF fought the government over the exclusive rights to the diamond trade. The fairly honest elections of 1997 seemed to pacify the country to some extent and the RUF was invited to take part in the government but soon large scale fights broke out again. In January 1999 the RUF captured the capital, which started the most gruesome atrocities against the people of Sierra Leone. In July, under great international pressure, a peace treaty between the government and the RUF was signed. However, the situation hardly improved. Not until January 2002, when the civil war that had lasted ten years, officially came to an end, did the human rights situation improve drastically. In February 2002 the civil war came to an end in the Kailahun district as well.
Some refugees, mostly women and children, had been living on the run for ten to twelve years in an unstable environment. Many of them have been traumatised by the war. The civilians have been exposed to murder, abuse, torture, mutilation, rape, kidnapping and deportation. In Sierra Leone thousands of child-soldiers were recruited and, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, forced to commit atrocities. Lawlessness ruled.

The current situation
After years of civil war the economy has come to a halt. The civil war has destroyed the infrastructure and has made Sierra Leone to one of the poorest countries of the world. Rebuilding the country will, depending on the amount of financial and material help, take years. The needs are acute and vast. Many children are put to work as soon as they are old enough and so miss out on school. Now, in a democratic Sierra Leone, the situation is relatively safe and stable. In October 2007 free elections were organised.

The Boyd Primary school in Dia
In March 2003 the question of whether Josephine could help build an elementary school came from the community in Dia. At Easter, on April 20 th , 2003 the start of the development of a primary school in Dia was a fact. 5000 sq. metres were provided by the Chiefdom. By now the school has gained an official status and is called 'Boyd primary School'. The school can be attended by all children, regardless of ethnic background, religion or political inclination. In the first school year 2003/2004 approximately 350 children were enrolled. Now 629 children have been enrolled, half of which is taught in the morning, the other half in the afternoon. The big increase is partly due to the fact that, simultaneously, an UN food programme has started. Because of this the school has too little capacity and a great lack of educational means. Moreover the schoolbuilding only consists of wooden poles and thatched roofs.

Foundation Wanda has developed a plan, together with the community in Dia, to build an extension to this primary school. The school to be built will consist of brick buildings and will have modern educational material to its disposal. The building of this project is to the benefit of local building companies. Currently an official blueprint and budget of the plan has been made and a local contractor has started building the school. It is assumed to be completed in 2008.

What do we want to do in the future?
As soon as the construction of the primary school has been completed, we want to realize with your aid good drinking water facilities at the school. To estimate 80 per cent of all sicknesses in developing countries are caused by a lack of clean drinking water. Also the local population of Dia should be able to make use of this, so that everyone will have access to clean drinking water. Also we want to initiate a sanitation project in order to improve the hygienical situation. We want to make use of solar energy as much as possible.
At a later stage we want to build a vocational institute, so that the children will have further education after primary school. Furthermore Wanda wants to get involved in the fields of health care and micro credits.

Is the money well spent?
The foundation has reliable contacts in Sierra Leone itself, who can monitor the projects . Because of this we are able to provide up-to-date information on the progress. On the News page of this website you can keep track of how your donations are spent. These short communication channels guarantee that your money goes directly to the population.
From research has become clear that development aid has most chance of success if the responsibility of projects is laid among the local people. Wanda has explicitly followed this strategy from the start .
Foundation Wanda thus only facilitates the projects and lays the initiative, management and the implementation among the people themselves. They know best the local circumstances and needs. For this reason the community in Dia has formed a project management committee, in which members of the local community, teachers and parents are united.
Moreover a department Wanda Sierra Leone has been set up, which only exists from people from the country itself. The involvement of the population and the broad basis that is created for our projects must ensure that the money is spent well.
We have been able to anchor those guarantees for a good spending of money during our trip to Sierra Leone in May 2007. The community in Dia is well aware of our project and their enthusiasm and appreciation have convinced us that each Euro will be well spent.