Getting on with the Yele Community Bazaar

Journal #5

Good news has arrived to the town of Yele, as Don from the Lion Heart Foundation, and the Paramount Chief of Yele arrived with the three passports, confiscated a few days before.

After a lot of discussion with the immigration office, and having notified the respective embassies, the issue is – more or less – resolved. Of course, the team celebrated with some palm wine.

Tags: Lion Heart Foundation, Project Yele, Sierra Leone, Yele

Living Sierra Leone

Journal #4

Paul waiting for the ferry in Yele

After spending just over two weeks in Sierra Leone, the Project Yele team is about half-way through its expedition and has already overcome some difficult obstacles, but has also advanced significantly in its objectives.

Tags: Lion Heart Foundation, Project Yele, Sierra Leone, Yele

Yele: getting to know the locals

Journal #3

As the team is getting settled in Yele – and Tori still waiting for her lost luggage to appear – the works on the D-labs are taking shape, aiming to create charcoal briquettes as a clean and cheap fuel.

Briquette Maker

This initiative is inspired by the Massachusetts Institution of Technology’s D-Lab, a department founded by Amy Smith to find simple solutions with available and clean products. As advised by D-Lab experts, the Project Yele Team is focusing on finding methods to make charcoal briquettes from agricultural waste – or biowaste – and teach locals to keep producing them in the future. 

Tags: Lion Heart Foundation, Project Yele, Sierra Leone, Yele

Opoto! ‘White Man’ arrives at Yele

Journal #2

The Project Yele Team has just completed its first week in  Sierra Leone. A lot has happened since.

After 3 days in the country, the first 3 members of the team to travel to the country have ventured through Freetown on their own.

Market in Freetown

Last Thursday, Mauricio, Tori and Paul visited Big Market in Freetown – the oldest market in the country –with the delicate mission of finding underclothing for Tori, as her suitcase is still astray.

Tags: Lion Heart Foundation, Project Yele, Sierra Leone, Yele

What’s the Bazaar all about?

What is Project Yele working on in Sierra Leone?

Having participated in the design and reconstruction of the hydroelectric power plant in Yele, the team wants to ensure that the inhabitants of this rural village make the most of the energy provided.

Hydro electric power plant in construction

In other words, we want to convert this energy into economic activity, through the Community Bazaar.

Tags: Lion Heart Foundation, Project Yele, Sierra Leone, Yele

“Welcome to the past”

Journal #1

After a few minor complications, delays and luggage loss, the first three members of the Project Yele Team – Mauricio, Paul and Tori – are finally settled in Sierra Leone.

Arrival at the airport

First Impressions

Paul and Mauricio arrived from Brussels and were greeted by the personnel of Lion Heart Foundation, a Dutch NGO. They immediately headed to the first stop of the journey – Freetown.

Tags: Lion Heart Foundation, Project Yele, Sierra Leone, Yele

Getting ready!

Only 2 days to go until  Antal, Mauricio, Paul and Tori head to Sierra Leone to continue their mission in Yele. The four members will be traveling to Sierra Leone on July 11, 2011 to continue the work they’ve been developing during the past year, and to put all those months of fundraising efforts to good use.

The Yele Team!

Preparations for the trip are long: visas, flights, passports, medication, vaccinations (including yellow fever or typhoid), working material, clothing, transport… All has been taken care of, to the very last detail, and they are ready to go!

Tags: Lion Heart Foundation, Project Yele, Sierra Leone, Yele