Sierra Leone First Lady raises poverty awareness Mrs. Koroma will be in Dubai to speak at a dinner organised by All As One Freetown, 03 June 2008 - The first lady of Sierra Leone is coming to the UAE on a mission: to help free her country’s children from the poverty that kills or orphans hundreds each year. Sia Koroma, whose husband Ernest Bai Koroma was elected president last November, and who is known in her homeland as the “Mother of the Nation”, is making her first trip to the Middle East and Dubai next week, ahead of African Child’s Day, and plans to use the visit to raise awareness and funds for her country’s children. “I hope my visit will give me the opportunity to profile Sierra Leone to an international audience,” said Mrs Koroma. “Although the country is poor by international standards, there is a lot of potential for development and investment.” Mrs Koroma will be in Dubai on June 13 on an unofficial visit, speaking at a dinner organised by the Dubai-based charity All As One (AAO). “We want to [tell] the world that we need help to raise the country from the extreme poverty.” The welfare of the young is an issue close to the first lady’s heart. To see first-hand the work being done to help the orphans of Sierra Leone, Mrs Koroma, a former nurse, this week visited an AAO-run orphanage in the slums of Freetown. Her trip caused much excitement among the 43 children at the home, who dressed in their best clothes, and held balloons and hand-painted signs welcoming their special guest. “I am very happy to support orphanages such as All As One. Their work is vital,” said Mrs Koroma. “I feel they are doing a great job in looking after children who are vulnerable. The war in Sierra Leone has left some very difficult legacies and increased orphans is one of them.” The 11-year civil war, which ended in 2002, saw young girls sexually abused and forced into the sex trade, and many young boys made child soldiers. Most lost one or both parents. Diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV also left many children with no parents. The war killed tens of thousands, displaced hundred of thousands more and crippled the country’s people and economy. Sierra Leone is ranked bottom of 177 countries in the UN Human Development Index. It has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world; one in four children do not live beyond five years. And one in six pregnant women dies. “There is a general duty on all of us to protect vulnerable children,” said Mrs Koroma. “The government takes child protection seriously,” she said. “We want to support the work undertaken by NGOs, such as All As One orphanage, who are working with some of our most vulnerable children and thereby offering them better life chances.” Scooping a child up in her arms, Mrs Koroma expressed delight at the work AAO had done to give the children hope for a happier future and a life away from the city streets. “I see this as another opportunity to make a real difference to women and children. I want to give the children a better future, to improve their quality of life, give them a better education, better health and make them into better adults.” Mrs Koroma knows something of poverty herself. Having fled Sierra Leone for the UK with her two daughters when the war began in 1991, she trained as a psychology nursing at King’s College in London in a bid to “make ends meet”. Since her husband became president, Mrs Koroma has been planning her attack on Sierra Leone’s development crisis. But she knows the path will not be smooth. “Poverty is a significant barrier for children to enjoy the privileges of good education, health and other services. The government is taking practical steps to combat poverty. In the end I believe that the children in Sierra Leone look to a better future.” Photograph: Sia Koroma holds a child as she visits an All As One orphanage in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Andrew Parsons / The National SOURCE: The National (Leah Oatway) About All As One: All As One (AAO) is an NGO founded in 1997 with the mission to respond to the critical dilemma of the orphaned, abandoned, abused and destitute children in Sierra Leone. AAO’s first priority is to provide shelter, medical care, schooling, meals, clothing, social interaction and love for the children in its direct legal custody at its Center in Freetown. In addition, both the clinic and the school serve the surrounding community. AAO has reached out to many families over the years, establishing single mothers with their own businesses and temporarily assisting with housing costs, when a family would otherwise be put onto the streets. For more information, visit www.allasone.org For further information, please contact: Matthew Morgan-Jones Country Director. Dubai, UAE All As One T: +971 4 311 6578 F: +971 4 332 8810 E: matthew@aaodubai.org