Global Relief Society Women Lead Worldwide Initiative to Support Communities in Alleviating Child Malnutrition and Enhancing Maternal Health
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joins with eight leading nonprofit organizations to improve maternal and child health worldwide. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 12, 2024 – Today, the Relief Society General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announces the expansion of the Church’s global efforts […]
Sierra Leone’s Fight Against Lymphatic Filariasis: Progress, Challenges, and Hope
This story was originally published on USAID’s Act to End Neglected Tropical Diseases | West Program website. It has been republished here with permission. Meet Kebie Koroma, a 14-year-old from the village of Kakamathor, located in Bombali district in the north of Sierra Leone. At the age of two, Kebie’s parents noticed something unusual on […]
Speaking Technically: Investing in the Fight Against Neglected Tropical Diseases
We recently spoke with Dr. Angela Weaver, Vice President for Neglected Tropical Diseases. Angela leads Helen Keller Intl’s work to control and eliminate these diseases – specifically lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), river blindness (onchocerciasis), schistosomiasis, intestinal worms (soil-transmitted helminths), and trachoma. Often called “diseases of poverty”, this group of parasitic and bacterial diseases can cause blindness, […]
Preventive Treatment Helps Build Healthy Futures for Children in Sierra Leone
Nurse Aminata Sama always dreamed of helping her community stay healthy. She thought her work would focus on helping people address minor health concerns and never imagined she would contribute to eliminating a devastating disease from Sierra Leone. One of three children, Aminata’s father was a security guard and her mother traded local palm oil. […]
2023 Year in Review: Forces for Good [Photo Essay]
Every day, members of the Helen Keller Intl community are choosing to be forces for good. Community health heroes, entrepreneurs, parents, youth, and Helen Keller staff work tirelessly to help improve health, nutrition, and vision for people in their communities, countries, and around the world. We’re highlighting some of the incredible contributions made by members […]
How Baking Bread is Changing Lives: The Success of Sweet Potatoes
Five years ago, a difficult economic situation forced Thaimu Banugura to leave his hometown, Jaiama Nimikoro Kono, in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Despite having completed his West African Certificate Exams to graduate from secondary school, Thaimu struggled to find work in his new home of Makeni in Sierra Leone’s Northern Province, and he […]
Empowering Mothers: Transforming Nutrition in Rural Communities in Sierra Leone
In rural communities across Sierra Leone, limited access to nutritious and diverse food has been a constant concern. 33-year-old Mariama Koroma knows this reality all too well. A farmer and single mother of three children, Mariama lives in Rogbere village in Tonkolili, Sierra Leone’s northern province. Like many other mothers in her community, she has […]
Looking Bravely: Supporting Nutrition for Expectant and Newborn Mothers
We recently spoke with Anita Agartha Kargbo, a program officer for nutrition in Sierra Leone. Anita has been part of the nutrition and research team at Helen Keller — which she calls her “dream organization” — since joining as an intern in 2010. With degrees in community development, nutrition, and agriculture, Anita helps families, especially […]
Helping Mothers in Sierra Leone Build Brighter Futures for Themselves and Their Babies
In a small community health clinic in Matotoka township in the northern provinces of Sierra Leone, 25-year-old Kadiatu Bangura cradles her six-month-old baby, Gabriel, with pride. Nurse Aminata Conteh gives Gabriel four droplets of vitamin A, a crucial micronutrient that helps build strong immune systems and protect vision, especially for children under the age of […]
Sierra Leone Poised for Liberation from “Bigfut” [A Photo Essay]
Once upon a time, lymphatic filariasis plagued the entire country of Sierra Leone. The parasite-borne neglected tropical disease, transmitted through mosquitos, causes severe swelling and painful enlargement of body parts. In Sierra Leone’s Krio language, the extreme swelling of legs is called “bigfut.” Although it is preventable and treatable, once it reaches the stage of […]
