When fighting from Sierra Leone’s civil war came to their village in 2002, the inhabitants of Koromasilaya fled their homes for safety elsewhere. When they returned to their village several years later, there was nothing left to come back to. Their homes had been destroyed and any personal property left behind had been stolen.

Cholera and other diseases, which quickly spread due to poor sewage and trash disposal, soon took their toll since the village had no medical clinic. A number of women died in childbirth, unable to reach medical care in time.
There were also no schools and no passable roads. Women and children in the village hauled wood by hand to the town of Kabala, three hours away, to sell on the local market. With the meager earnings, they bought food. Many villagers did not have enough to eat.

“During these years, we were discouraged and very disorganized; the village itself had nothing to offer. When my son fell sick I had to walk for hours to seek medical attention” said Dusu bah Conteh, a mother from the village. “I have three children, and none of them ever attended school.”

USAID assistance began in Koromasilaya in 2005 through the Livelihood Expansion and Asset Development program (LEAD), which focused on organizing the community to discuss common problems and possible solutions. After the village community determined transportation to be a priority, USAID provided the tools and equipment to construct a road.

“Since we have a road, we can transport food and wood to the closest market, and can earn more money” a villager said. “In addition, our children can now go to school because of the road.”

 

 

USAID assistance also provided funding for three wells in the village, which now ensure an abundance of safe drinking water that has led to a drop in cholera among children. USAID also gave rice mills and cassava processing machines to help farmers increase their agricultural productivity.

The initiative that had the greatest impact, however, was the establishment of a saving and loan association to make funds available to the community. Villagers mobilized their own savings to make loans. In order to administer these community loans, the village formed a committee managed by three women respected throughout the village for their honesty and thrift.

The loans had an immediate effect through financing of such initiatives as the building of latrines and providing micro-credit to start small enterprises. Some villagers have used micro-credit to cover medical emergencies.

This was the case for Mohamed Camara who has suffered for many years from stomach problems. “I would have died if I could not borrow from the loan saving association and pay for the hospitalization,” he said. Mr Camara is now in good health, and has paid off his loan. Pregnant women from the village have also received proper medical attention paid for by micro loans.
One woman from the village, Agia Sama Kabe, is paying for her son’s university education through a micro loan.

The village itself has benefited from the loans by using the interest earned to build a mosque and buy a common field close to the village, which is reserved exclusively for cultivating food for the elderly who can no longer work.

Now the village of Koromasilaya looks optimistically to the future with new ideas and new plans. Some projects being considered include hiring a resident nurse, buying a communal truck to transport farm goods to market, and building a marketplace of its own.