Wellbody Alliance
Making Healthcare Accessible to the Poorest of Rural Sierra Leone
Location: Sierra Leone
Wellbody Alliance: Grantee in 2010
Since 2007, Wellbody Alliance (formerly known as Global Action Foundation) has provided healthcare and medical services to the poorest in the Kono District of Sierra Leone. The country was torn apart by a brutal civil war that raged over a decade; after ending in 2002, the nation was left shattered and its most at-risk residents were in great need. Many were victims of atrocities that included abduction, rape
In 2008, Wellbody established a primary care clinic in Dorma that can treat up to 20,000 patients a year. Its care primarily focuses on children (prenatal and pediatric services), surgical and emergency treatment (especially for amputees), and management of chronic conditions, among them AIDS/HIV. Wellbody also recruits, trains, and supports a corp of community wellness workers who deliver healthcare to remote and neglected villages as well as to amputee resettlement camps.
Above and beyond the devastation caused by the civil war, Wellbody realized that the extreme poverty of the region was a root cause of most health problems. Unaddressed, the issues would persist, so the team started a palm kernel farm and processing plant to create a social enterprise. Many poor people do grow small quantities of palm kernels, they but could not afford to process the kernels into the more lucrative palm oil. Much needed income was lost as they would sell just the fruit to larger farms. The farm and processing center, along with valuable new plans for managing the entire supply chain, can bring that income to the poor farmers.
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GRANT SUMMARY AND PURPOSE
2010: $25,000 to support the construction of an automated palm oil processing plan in Dorma, Sierra Leone.
IMPACT
Increase the earnings opportunities for poor farmers, raising living standards and health conditions. Issues in the development and maintenance of an uninterrupted supply of palm kernels