What We Do

We started this project with 50 women who wanted to be able to grow crops to feed their children and possibly sell the remainder for some income.

We were helped by many donations of farming/gardening tools and also from the charity WorkAid.

With two crops a year ground nuts, potatoes, okra and rice are now produced and many more women have joined the scheme.

When we suggested building a clinic the community asked instead for a library – somewhere for their children to learn about the wider world and have access to many books.

Now the library is used 24/7 by the school, the children coming to do their homework and late at night the university students coming to take advantage of the solar lighting to study. Sunday School is held there and families bring their children to borrow books.

The prototype for these was designed by Ann Hay who continues to make many of them for shipping to Kori district.

She has shown many other people how to make them too and now the girls of Taiama will learn how to make them when the sewing room is built.

By providing washable sanitary towels in little pouches the girls can continue to attend school without losing study time.

By providing little baby hats and blankets for every newborn in the clinic, mothers are now coming in much greater numbers to have their babies, enabling their babies to be vaccinated much earlier than before.

Many supporters continue to knit and natter in the UK, sending dozens of blankets for all the old folk. These are very popular.

CleanConscience, another successful charity, kindly gave us soap moulds and soap granules so that bars of wonderful scented soap could be made and sold.

This has been a very good project, making money almost from the start for the Kori projects.

Fundraising made it possible to build a piggery slightly away from the village.

The four pigs very quickly turned into 28 piglets which are being fed from crops on the adjacent land.

This is another successful Kori project, providing funding for pig food and care and a home for the pig farmer and his family.

During the Ebola crisis the villages were sealed off which quickly led to starvation.

Rose’s cry for help at the Soroptimist International Conference raised almost £9,000 which enabled us to pay for shipping the rice, getting it out of the port and with the help of the army to get it distributed to the very young and very old, saving many lives.

We approached this topic by encouraging the normal celebration at this time but instead of girls being cut we sent out new clothes and small jewellery to make them feel good.

Cutting has almost ceased in this area. The women who used to carry out this practice now run a micro loans business instead which brings them a small income and just as much status. FGM is now illegal in Sierra Leone.

This village came to our attention because the school had only three walls and a partial roof. Paying a small stipend to the Headmaster so that he could continue to feed his family and educate the children we set about fundraising to rebuild the school.

We were donated funds to build the school, given chairs for the children and subsequently, thanks to a large fundraiser by the Sikh community here, we were able to build a well with a pump and some latrines. The school originally had about 50 children, now there are 150! 

Six years ago, the only secondary school between Moyamba junction and Taiama was severely damaged during a storm, with the roof actually being blown off. You might think this would close the school completely, but you would be wrong!  Despite having no roof and the walls crumbling, children continued to be educated by their dedicated teachers.

The school has now been rebuilt with extra reinforcements strengthening it against future storms. The new verandah protects against the hot sun and makes moving between the classrooms easier during the rainy season. The roof is watertight, and the steel doors are strong.  Walls are plastered, and importantly we have newly painted toilets for both sexes, and a borehole providing clean safe water! The inside of the Bob Simson school is also being equipped, with tables and chairs coming from several different sources.

The Ann Hay Vocational Training Centre is located behind the library in Taiama, and is used for training in areas such as sewing, weaving, and soap making.  The building has large windows, solar power (with a big battery shared with the library) and high ceilings.  Treadle and hand operated sewing machines were donated by the Workaid charity and by individuals, and fabric was also sent.

In a very short time, and despite the global pandemic, students have progressed extremely quickly – they have even been given the contract for making uniforms for the two local secondary schools! Tie dyed items such as bed sheets are being produced, and traditional skills such as weaving are being revived.   In June 2022, 12 students graduated from the centre, 3 of whom were boys.  These students were affected by COVID so this is a huge achievement. 

 For some time, the women have wanted a separate area for the weaving, and tie dyeing.  They also needed somewhere where they could sell the finished products. Things have changed!  The members of Soroptimist International Midland Arden have donated money to construct and plaster a women’s room for this. It is at the back of the library, and has a tin roof and proper beams. It also has metal gates, to prevent curious goats from coming in to eat whatever they can find!  The room is well used.

So, what will they be selling?  There are clothes made from the beautiful, tie-dyed fabric.  The charity which provided the soap making machine, Clean Conscience, sent some window curtain material, which is being made into very stylish suits for gentlemen.  The women have also been given the contract to sew school uniforms for students in Taiama Secondary School and the Bob Simson Technical School in Bai Largo.  This is a huge achievement and is another example of the initiative shown by the people of Kori.

Johanna Raffan was a founding trustee of the Kori Project, as well as being elected as President of Soroptimist International (SIGBI) Federation. She was a senior figure in the world of education. The planting of trees was very dear to Johanna’s heart – and so was our Kori project of which she was Chair. Many Soroptimists from different countries were saddened by her death in 2021, and donated funds to plant a memorial orchard in her memory.

This is to be planted in Taiama.  The area has been ploughed and cleared.  By June 2022, a huge variety of fruit trees had already been planted. These included mangoes, guavas, coconut, oranges, bananas, lime, lemons, plantains and some pineapples.  Once mature these trees will provide fresh fruit for the local people, which will be a wonderful legacy for Johanna!

The new library at the Bob Simson Secondary School in Bai Lago is named after Rose Hutchinson [Rosie] who raised a lot of money for Kori.  Until recently many children had been sent away for secondary school education. Now there is a suitable school locally for them to attend, large numbers are returning to their home area! The popularity of the Bob Simson School has meant there is great pressure on teaching space.

Initially the space will be used as a classroom, so that the large influx of students can be provided with education. The library is a large single room close to the  main school, with a toilet inside. The roof is made of corrugated zinc, as this is much more resistant to rust. A solar panel will be attached once security has been sorted.