“I looked for someone among them who would …stand before me in the gap ...” Ezekiel 22:30
2021 Transformation Training Class
Kamalo, Sierra Leone
Roll over each picture to learn more about the participants in the 2021 Kamalo Transformation Training class.
Adama Bangura is a middle-aged, widowed woman with no children, who had an illness about ten years ago that left her unable to use her legs in a normal manner, causing mobility to be extremely difficult. She professes to be a Christian, but she also practices Animism. She tries to provide for herself by selling palm kernels, but it is very difficult.
Adama Bangura
Aminata Turay is a married mother with two children, ages 10 and 8. Aminata has elephantiasis. She is a practicing Muslim and Animist. Aminata helps provide for her family by farming rice and peppers. Her dream is to one day see the end of elephantiasis. She enjoys participating in WOHSL activities because she feels like she belongs.
Aminata Turay
Fatmata Conteh is a married mother with five children, ranging in age from 1 to 20. She has elephantiasis in her right hand. She practices both Islam and Animism. Fatmata farms rice and peppers to help provide for her family. Sallay said she struggles with relationships with her husband’s other wives.
Fatmata Conteh
Fatmata Kamara is a married mother with five children, ranging in age from 15 to 30. She has had elephantiasis for a very long time. She sells soap and small food items to try and provide for her family. All of her children are in high school or college, so she desires to help them with school fees.
Fatmata Kamara
Fatu Bangura is a married mother with a 19-year-old daughter. She has elephantiasis. Fatu practices both Islam and Animism, but says she only goes to the moriman (witch doctor) when things are very difficult in her life. She works on her farm to help provide for her family. Her desire is to see her daughter complete her education (she is currently still in high school) and find a good job. Fatu also hopes to be able to attend the full TT class.
Fatu Bangura
Fatu Sesay is a married mother with an 8-year-old daughter. Fatu has elephantiasis in both feet, making regular mobility more challenging. She is both an Animist and a Muslim. She struggles to provide for herself, relying on family members for assistance.
Fatu Sesay
Hannah Sesay is a married woman with two grown children. She suffers from elephantiasis. Hannah is a practicing Muslim and Animist. She says that before she married a Muslim man, she was a Christian. Hannah sells cooking items to help provide from her family. She is thankful for the love she has found through the WOHSL programming.
Hannah Sesay
Isatu Dumbuya is a married mother with one child. She has elephantiasis in one foot. Isatu practices both Islam and Animism. She grows food products and sells the extra to help provide for her family.
Isatu Dumbuya
Kadiatu Kamara is an unmarried, young woman with four children ages 12 and under. She suffers from post-polio syndrome, making mobility difficult for her. She is living with her family, but would like to get married to the father of her youngest child. She would like to improve her small business of selling palm oil, so she can better provide for her family.
Kadiatu Kamara
Kadie Kamara is a married mother with two children. Elephantiasis in both feet makes mobility painful and challenging. She grows rice, sweet potatoes and peppers to help provide for her family. Kadie would like to live in her own house, as she currently shares a house with two of her husband’s other wives. Kadie practices both Islam and Animism.
Kadie Kamara
Marie Bangura is a married mother of five children. Three are grown and the last two are in their late teens. Marie has had elephantiasis in both feet for many years. She has a small farm where she grows rice and peanuts, selling the extra to help provide for her family.
Marie Bangura
Marie Kamara is a married mother of six children, ranging in age from 12 to 26. She has had elephantiasis for more than 20 years. She practices both Islam and Animism. She sells product from her garden, as well as palm kernel products, to help support her family. Her desire is to better support her family.
Marie Kamara
Memuna Conteh is a married mother with three children ages 15, 12 and 4. She has suffered from elephantiasis for a number of years. Memuna is a Muslim and an Animist. She plants produce for resale to provide for her family.
Memuna Conteh
Nannah Dumbuya is a married woman with four children, ages 8 to 19. She suffers from elephantiasis. Nannah is a practicing Muslim and Animist. She plants peppers, rice and peanuts, selling what she doesn’t need to provide for her family.
Nannah Dumbuya
Queen Kamara is a married mother with one child. She has suffered from elephantiasis for a long time. Queen practices both Islam and Animism. She has a small farm where she grows multiple food sources to help provide for the needs of her family.
Queen Kamara
Rugiatu Sesay is a married mother with three children, ages 15, 10 and 8. Rugiatu has elephantiasis. She practices both Islam and Animism. She helps support her family through farming. She struggles to pay for her children’s school fees. She would love to be able to build a house one day, and to help other people.
Rugiatu Sesay
Rugie Bangura is a “widowed” woman with three adult children. She is considered widowed because her husband left her for another woman. She suffers from elephantiasis. She practices both Islam and Animism. She is supported by her children, but she would like a house of her own.
Rugie Bangura
Yeabu Bangura is a married mother of three grown children. Yeabu was partially blinded by an accident about three years ago. She practices Islam and Animism. She plants a variety of foods on her farm, selling the extra to provide for herself and her family. She would like to be able to help pay for the school fees of her grandchildren.
Yeabu Bangura
Sallay Kamara is a married mother with a 15-year-old daughter. Sallay has had elephantiasis since she was quite young. Sallay is both a Muslim and Animist. She plants sweet potatoes and sells the extra produce to help provide for her family. Sallay feels happiness and belonging when she attends meetings with other women who have the same disability.
Sallay Kamara
Saffie Sesay is a married woman with three children. She suffers from elephantiasis. Saffie is a practicing Muslim and Animist. She engages in subsistent farming, and would like to become better at that to better support her family. Saffie says she is struggling in her marriage. She is glad to be a part of the Women of Hope activities as it has given her friends and has shown her, she is not alone.