Growing up in Kono, Sierra Leone, it was hard for Khadijah Barrie to wake up at 5 am to fetch water for her family before walking to school. Not only did she have to walk miles to bring water for her family, but the walk to and from school was 5 miles each way. Sadly, clean water wasn’t available at her school either, and the education received in this area was subpar compared to other sites. On top of that, most children couldn’t afford uniforms and shoes to wear to school and didn’t have seats or desks to do their schoolwork on.
When Khadijah went home to visit, she realized that nothing had changed in 40 years. Children were still sent to walk for miles to fetch water for their families before school, the education is still subpar, schools still don’t have accessible clean water, and there is still the issue of no uniforms, seats, or desks. She decided then that she would find a way to help the families in her community back home have access to necessities that she could not access as a child. She wants her community to have access to their basic needs.
Living in New York, Khadijah Barrie has encountered so many Sierra Leonean women who have needed help filling out job applications while she was on job hunts herself. Some Sierra Leonean women fill out job applications in groups, with at least one person who also speaks English. Some women hand out notes while on the train in hopes of finding someone who speaks their language and can help them with their needs.
Other women, unfortunately, have controlling spouses who hinder them from doing things outside of their homes. Khadijah Barrie would like to be able to help those women as well. This way, they'll be able to independently do the things they need to strive in New York as Sierra Leonean women.
What can we address immediately? How do we know this problem is being solved?
Our current goal is to raise $20,000 to build a solar power borehole for the people located in Kono District, in the Motema area in Joe Town. The site doesn't have any clean water for the families living there, and we would like to make accessible clean water a reality. People will know that this problem is being solved by seeing the continuous progress I plan to share with the public.
Is this problem solvable?
This problem is solvable with the proper system like Khadijah Barrie Initiative Foundation INC. It can benefit the masses of women that lack the skills to help themselves and their families.
