Kadiatu Koroma - Sierra Leone
Kadiatu Koroma lives in Mile 91, Sierra Leone, with her husband and five of their children. The family has lived there for ten years since fleeing their previous home during the civil war. Then, they were homeless, without income and the children were unable to attend school. Now, with the support of VSO partner, SLYEO, Kadiatu is running a flourishing business and her children are going to school.
The poetically named Mile 91 in Sierra Leone – so called because it’s precisely 91 miles from the capital, Freetown – is a thriving town. It’s a centre of commerce for villages in the surrounding area and is where local residents find amenities such as banks and communication services.
But with a population of just 10,000, it is still small and like any small town around the world, you don’t have the choice you’d find in the capital city. This is where Kadiatu Koroma comes in: every week she makes the six hour round trip to Freetown to stock up on products that can’t be sourced locally and then sells them on from a small stall outside the front of her home.
Throughout the day people come and go, stocking up on basics like onions and rice and luxuries like sweets and palm wine. The chatter and laughter suggests that like all good proprietors of ‘corner shops’ Kadiatu is also a source of news and gossip! Later in the afternoon two of her children – Daniel and Osman - return from school. With respective ambitions to be a businessman and “the president”, their education has only been made possible as a result of profits from their mother’s business, which pays their school fees.
The family has lived in Mile 91 for ten years. Originally from the city of Makeni, which is some three hours away by car, they were exiled during the war. Kadiatu, husband Andrew and six of their children travelled by foot and at night for one month to reach the camp for displaced persons at Mile 91. They were later given some land by the local chief and built their current house.
While Kadiatu speaks about the ten-year war in a very matter of fact way, the truth is two of her children were killed, the rest missed out on their schooling and the family was left with no possessions and no source of income. This story is echoed by thousands all around the country and is the reason why organisations like VSO partner SLYEO (Sierra Leone Youth Empowerment Organisation) are so crucial.
It is through SLYEO’s microcredit scheme, which supports both individuals and small groups of entrepreneurs, that Kadiatu obtained the loan to get her small business off the ground.
The scheme has been developed to ensure it has the best chance of success, which means it is about more than lending people money. VSO volunteer Jacob Waqo explains: “SLYEO runs Learning Circles, which are programmes of adult education, and those that complete the course come away with basic literacy and numeracy skills. Graduates of the programme are then supported to open a bank account and it is only then that they are entitled to apply for a small loan. Because sixty per cent of Sierra Leone’s population is illiterate, this compulsory foundation is a crucial part of ensuring the success of the subsequent business.”
Groups are entitled to apply for a loan of up to 2.5 million Leones (approximately £400) and individuals like Kadiatu can seek one million Leones (approximately £160) and can also access skills training in specific areas, such as animal husbandry and farming. They are given a three month “grazing period” before paying their loan off over the following year.
Jacob has been volunteering at SLYEO’s Mile 91 district office as Project Officer for Secure Livelihoods for almost two years. Before applying to VSO he managed a microcredit programme for a Kenyan NGO, so brings a wealth of experience to Sierra Leone. In the time he has been at SLYEO he has helped develop the strategic plan for the microcredit scheme, overseen the pilot projects and is now supporting the expansion of the scheme from only lending to groups, to helping individuals like Kadiatu.
So far 48 loans have been offered to groups and individuals with some 600 people in total feeling the benefit. At any one time 38 Learning Circles, each with 30 participants, are in operation so the potential for the programme to benefit thousands more is huge.
As well as Jacob’s support for the grassroots entrepreneurial activity, there are VSO volunteers working at the head office in Freetown. Rajeev Vishwakarmais is working as a fundraising adviser and Dennis Muli is working as a Finance Manager; they are helping the organisation access and manage donor funds more effectively so that it can continue to offer small loans to communities around the country.
The continued support of VSO and its volunteers is vital to ensure more families like the Koromas of Mile 91 can rebuild their lives.