Annual Reports

May PEACE Prevail in Sierra Leone!
May PEACE Prevail on Earth!

Appeal Letters to Prospective Donors

All Dear Friend:

Sierra Leone Needs Your Help! We are breaking the grip of poverty - community by community, family by family, child by precious child.

This is a plea for help - from a region within our own planet where people suffer on a daily basis.

They suffer substandard living conditions, a lack of education and employable job skills and a lack of means for obtaining clothing and medical care.

The region I am speaking of is Sierra Leone. And I am very familiar with this terrible grip on the people of this area. This grip is called poverty and it is extreme here in this place we call our home country.

I am writing today with the hope that, as you read this letter, your heart will be filled with compassion for the people of my war-torn country. For they desperately need your help.

While most countries in the world are prospering, Sierra Leone is still suffering. Today, this isolated region is still gripped by severe economic depression. And that breaks my heart.

As a concerned Sierra Leonean, I knew I had to do something to help my people. So, in 1991, I joined the Center for Alternative Development Strategies (CADS) Sierra Leone Program as a Researcher. I could not help but be inspired by the commitment of its founders, Dr. A.B. Kargbo, Prof. David Sao Nyakoi, Alpha O. Timbo, among others. And I was truly inspired by the spirit of those they served. I met farm families of Mobekay, Fabaina and Gbonkowailay who cultivated large tracts of land with help facilitated by CADS Sierra Leone.

I met the brave women of the rural communities of Tombo, Makoloh, Warayma, Makabie, Mawoma, Foindu, Masoko, Makairay, Petfu-Hamburg, Batcomp, and Brama Junction in the Koya and York rural districts whom we helped to believe mere money and material things are not sufficient to develop them, but to realize that awareness is a precondition for development, with the basic need to awaken themselves and prepare themselves to identify their own problems and to prepare themselves to devise their own solutions and plan of action.

I saw the transformation that children at the Kissy displaced camp and other camps around the country were undergoing because of the care they were receiving from their guardian parents who survived the war with them. And the legacy of CADS had always been able to reach out to these displaced camp children and their guardians over the past 5 years to provide them with hope for a brighter future.

The best thing that ever happened to me was my connection to Dr. A.B. Kargbo, and the brave rural partners of CADS Sierra Leone, and the whole CADS Sierra Leone organization.

Today, as President & Chief Development Strategist of CADS Sierra Leone, I feel blessed that The Almighty God has given me this opportunity to help with the honorable work of CADS.

And I feel blessed by those donors who, in giving so willingly to our programs, have made CADS Sierra Leone a continual blessing for our beneficiaries in the rural districts of Sierra Leone.

Through their support, CADS Sierra Leone continues to offer short-term emergency relief, such as food, medicines, clothing and shelter.

Even more important, we continue to offer long term solutions to the problems aggravated by a decade-long war - solutions like the CFS program. In 1996 the center's research and development department conducted a Needs Assessment Exercise in the Koya and York rural districts trying to find ways to develop a more viable agricultural sector development scheme for Sierra Leone that would enhance farmers productivity as well as helping the center toward financial independence, more so supporting its extension work that is capable of helping more and more small and medium scale    farmers. And, the Communal Farming Systems (CFS) strategy was recommended and by 1997/98 planting season this unique system was proven to be a workable agricultural strategy for sustainable rural community development when 17 farm associations within the Koya and York Rural districts participated in the CFS program.

The Women’s Development Program towards women's empowerment and gender equality is another productive solution among other solutions of the center. Its equity approach encourages women to be seen as active participants in development, and to gain social and economic equity, etc. for all women. The anti-poverty approach seeks to increase women's productivity through access to productive resources. This we are doing through income generation projects, etc. And our empowerment approach recognizes gender relations as an important variable that needs to be tackled within a wider context.

We have actually made great strides in Sierra Leone. But the demand for our services has increased over the years, and we are extending our services to other poor rural communitiies. And that's why I am writing you now. Because if I am to continue the honorable work Dr. A.B. Kargbo started, I will need your help.

CADS Sierra Leone is a research and development organization pledged to helping the rural people of Sierra Leone help themselves. For about ten years, CADS mission has been to offer a hand up - not a handout - to a people known for self-reliance and pride.

Kindly visit our center’s website at http://www.geocities.com/cadsglobalnet to read more about our programs in Sierra Leone. You see, very sad, but true, Sierra Leone is a country that has generally been "troubled" by an extremely violent war. Atrocities perpetrated by rebels, still raw. Level of political corruption, so abysmal. A country governed by obsolete colonial laws. It is therefore my overall ambition, passion and optimism to be able to ACT honorably to help the suffering people of this troubled country. I am of the opinion that if a few Sierra Leoneans and friends of Sierra Leone should take the lead to embark on development of the country with no political strings attached we will be able to move forward. It is going to be a monumental task, but where there is life, there is hope.

But the problem our center is struggling with is that we have researched and looked into all aspects of grant making institutions, but the chances of getting funds from such sources to fund third world    initiatives like CADS is extremely slim and most times non-existent. We are therefore so much frustrated with such negative attention given to our local efforts. We are talking here about the consequences of a rebel war versus national development. That's what the struggle over overcoming the forces against sustainable stability, peace and development in Sierra Leone. So, with international aid only directed to big international non-governmental organizations like ICRC, Refugees International, Save the Children, OXFAM, CARE, United States Committee for Refugees, among others, generally neglecting the efforts of local NGOs like CADS Sierra Leone, which certainly play a critical role in addressing the social needs of societies big international NGOs and governments often failed to address, we have every reason to be very frustrated, and we need to do something right now. And your concern depends on it.

Frankly, the best way that you can help us sustain our vision of sustainable stability, peace and development of our nation, is to have a strong CADS Program.

That is why I am calling on you, without apology for raising the subject of "sustainable stability, peace and development" to seek support from you and others like you. And with the help of compassionate people like you, we are breaking the grip of poverty - community by community, family by family, child by precious child.

Your generous donation of any amount will do much good in Sierra Leone. Through your loving and     compassionate gift, you'll be offering our less-fortunate neighbors not just a hand up - but the hope they need to fulfill their dreams. Please generously send us a check or kindly do direct transfer of whatever amount you wish to generously donate, to our CADS Sierra Leone Account. These are the details of our account in Freetown.

In Account With: Union Trust Bank Ltd. - PMB 1237, Lightfoot Boston Street, Freetown -- Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Tel: 232 - 22 - 226954 / 222792 / 223319
Fax: 232 - 22 - 226214

Account Type: Current
Account Number: 210 - 007704 - 01

Union Trust Bank -- Sierra Leone Ltd. Corresponding Bank in the United States Details are:

Sent Code: 40-05-15N

Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp.
Limited (HSBC) -- New York, USA
140 Broadway -- B Level
NEW YORK, NY 10005 - 1180
United States of America
Tel: 1 - 212 - 525 - 5000

Please, answer this cry for help with a compassionate heart. Make a special donation today to a people, though far and away, they are good people who truly need your help. Thank you.

For Humanity:
Kenday Samuel Kamara
President & Chief Development Strategist
Website: http://www.geocities.com/cadsglobalnet

P/S: It's a known fact that only a small percentage of those who receive this letter will be moved to respond. I pray you will be one of those rare souls. Please open your hearts to the families struggling to survive in Sierra Leone, and send the most generous gift you can.
Thank you, and may God bless you.

Chad Simmons
Volunteer -- CADS Sierra Leone
511 Brianwood Avenue
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494

Dear Chad:

I got your last yesterday. I appreciate your effort regarding getting the computer and the UPS plus shipment for our work in Sierra Leone. Yesterday I was trying to coordinate action in terms of getting our bankers to transfer the amount you had invested but it wasn't easy as we all had thought, since you were able to make transfer from Wisconsin without problems. It's different in Freetown. Our bankers, Union Trust Bank's system of facilitating wire transfers is so clumsy. First, one has to write a letter applying to wire transfer foreign exchange out of the country. This application will have to be cleared by the Bank of Sierra Leone, which is the Central bank. Once cleared then the applicant can make the transfer. But then again there is the wire transfer fees. To transfer $410 to your account in Wisconsin the bank informed me in advance it would cost us not less than $100 in bank charges. This is just ridiculous. It doesn't stop there even though you just recently made two transfers of US dollars into our CADS account, yet, to make a foreign exchange transfer the bank made it abundantly clear that we do have to buy the US dollars from the bank first which they would be selling at $Le2419 for 1 US Dollar, when in fact when they received the dollar transfers they paid us Le1914 for 1USD. So you can imagine how terrible it is, exploitation at its worst, and that's how it goes. So to transfer the $410 as you insisted would not be like having the transfer effected with ease by Tuesday - it won't be like that. It would take a whole week to get UTB to get the clearance for the transfer from the central bank, then it would cost us too much to pay up to $100 bank charges plus the cost we would incur in first buying the US dollars from the bank or outside the banking system as they explained, before the transfer is effected. And this clearly would cost us nearly a thousand dollars just to get the used computer we have asked you to get us, putting too much burden on our bare resources.

Alternatively, we had checked with Western Union Money transfer outlet in Freetown, again to our surprise Western Union does not transfer foreign exchange out of the country, though it facilitates transfers from abroad into Sierra Leone.

Well, we had thought since you would be in Sierra Leone for three months, besides the program fees you had paid you would still have your personal pocket money for your very personal needs. The program fees would only provide the basic living expenses for you, and if you want more than basic living expenses you then need to have your personal pocket money to spend, and you will be spending in Leones . So if you had spent $410 to bring the computer and UPS to Sierra Leone then the $410 would simply be your personal pocket money which we could give you in Leones upon your arrival in Freetown to spend at least saving us the transfer fees, and the ridiculous black market rate of exchange that are so exploitative. But if you say we have to transfer this amount then the said computer will end up costing us close to a thousand dollars, like buying a new desk top computer.

So, I am sure as daylight that you must come with some pocket money as did all other volunteers I had dealt with in the past. So if you really want to help us, don't insist that we must wire transfer the $410 because this will just be too much trouble having to deal with very clumsy and expensive transfer procedures.

Chad, this is the reality in Sierra Leone you will come to understand when eventually you arrive in Sierra Leone. You will have the opportunity of verifying this disclosures when you are in Freetown. I am not kidding. It's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It's simply impossible that a wire transfer from Sierra Leone could be made like a wire transfer from Wisconsin. Welcome to Third World Sierra Leone. True, you made the right decision to venture out to a war ravaged country like Sierra Leone to see for yourself first hand what it means to live in Third World Africa especially in a country picking up the pieces after 10 years of a senseless war over diamonds. Your volunteering experience in Sierra Leone will therefore help to simplify your life, strengthen your spirituality and concretize your commitment to peace and justice. Because the gap between the rich and poor countries, the developed and the underdeveloped is just too unnaturally vast to comprehend.

Even us trying to make a difference doing what we are doing trying to coordinate nonprofit actions to help the worst unprivileged, we are working on shoestrings with very bare resources. Funding is hard to access because we are a just local NGOs, not a western NGO like OXFAM or CARE working in Africa. As observed by Graham Hancock in his book LORDS OF POVERTY - The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business, there is a problem with the billions of dollar assistance given to these international NGOs. Hancock had observed: "EACH YEAR some sixty billion dollars are spent on foreign aid throughout the world. Whether in donations to charities such as Save the Children, OXFAM, CARE, UNICEF, or the Red Cross, in the form of enormous loans from the World Bank, or as direct payments from one government to another, the money is earmarked for the needy, for relief in natural disasters - floods or famines, earthquakes or droughts - and for assistance in the development of nations. The magnitude of generosity from the world's wealthy nations suggests the possibility of easing, if not eliminating, hunger, misery, and poverty; in truth, however, only a small portion of this sixty billion dollars is ever translated into direct assistance. Thanks to bureaucratic inefficiency, misguided policies, large executive salaries, political corruption, and the self-perpetuating "overhead" of the administrative agencies, much of this tremendous wealth is frittered away …. Meanwhile local-level initiatives, relevant and realistic strategies, and the energy and enterprise of the poor in the Third World have been ignored…".

I am not trying here to censure here the activities of these big time international NGOs, but I do want to bring to your attention that the important work of local NGOs like CADS Sierra Leone should not be disregarded. For years CADS has been knocking at doors of big corporations and individuals kindly asking for donations to support its important work in Sierra Leone but it is not been fortunate to get any help but the rhetorical responses that we regret we are not a grant making organization, or we are dealing directly with governments or dealing directly with the United Nations Development Program.

And one thing I want to emphasize, local nonprofits like CADS do play a critical role in societies. Big international NGOs and governments have often failed to address key social needs. So it s nonprofits such as social and economic development local NGOs like CADS Sierra Leone that step in to improve the countries we live in. If the search for development solutions in Sierra Leone is to succeed, "the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails whilst daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

So as you will find out for yourself Mr. Simmons, in Sierra Leone where we are active in serving local community needs, we are conducting our operations in very challenging conditions, made worse by a war of over a decade that has badly disrupted the social and economic fabric of our society. And it is against such dismal background our organization has shown so much resilience to carry on its operations concerned about the development and prosperity of Sierra Leone through assisting disadvantaged communities and facilitating investments into Sierra Leone and the West Coast of Africa.

So we are very much excited to have you volunteer in Sierra Leone through CADS. I have looked up to the West to raise funds for CADS, promoting a vigorous fundraising drive in the United States, but it has not been an easy ride. We are just getting trickles in support. So I do trust your working with us will be an inspiration for our program that you will be relentless to help us target donors who will commend our resolve in Sierra Leone against the background of extremely inadequate working resources. We have solid program objectives we are very passionate about achieving.

Sierra Leone has been plagued by a bloody armed conflict, which has predominantly contributed to the disruption of social order and its economic growth:

And there is the need to re-establish a firm economic and social foundation through the design and implementation of desired and realistic action-oriented development program. To urgently and systematically provide the right advocacy for the international community to be more supportive to the millions of Sierra Leoneans at risk from war, disease and hunger in Sierra Leone.

The establishment of CADS Sierra Leone is therefore a crucial strategy to contributing towards the stable and peaceful development of Sierra Leone and to lead Sierra Leoneans out of the deprivation and despair that cloud their troubled lives -- and guiding them toward brighter, dignified and happier lives.

CADS Sierra Leone is therefore a people's local action for development. CADS exists to successfully make the poor to overcome bondage, misery and suffering using practical alternative development strategies as instruments of social change. CADS helps people to organize themselves and ascertain their rights and train people utilize development infrastructure, overcoming the impediments, and CADS seeks to make Government function where there is indifference towards suffering of the weaker sections of society.

Then of course, the center pledges its loyalty to the Laws governing the operations of non- governmental organizations in Sierra Leone and the world at large, to reaffirm its humanitarian commitments to honestly address the empirical needs of its target groups and communities in the areas of rural, social, community development, health education, gender issues, agriculture, appropriate technology, relief rehabilitation, skills promotion, human rights and small business promotion and consultancy services.

Our objectives are clear: CADS Sierra Leone is generally intended to revive the civil structure of Sierra Leone. The center's fundamental objectives include the following:

To motivate, organize and facilitate the development and functioning of farm associations to effectively coordinate programs that address the developmental needs of the rural people.

To support and conduct training programs in a wide range of developmental areas such as rural, social and community development, human rights, gender issues, appropriate technology, small scale industry, skills and trades promotion, agriculture, health education, relief and rehabilitation, and small business promotion and development.

To promote agriculture and entrepreneurship development by establishing demonstration farms, credit schemes, marketing outlets, and income generation activities.

To advocate for a more constructive international community action for the resolution of the conflict in Sierra Leone.

To also advocate for a more compassionate and impartial international community action for support and donor assistance to local NGOs' important work in Sierra Leone.

To share information and assessment of development needs and opportunities.

To identify and discuss critical development problems facing Sierra Leone.

To draw the attention of the Sierra Leone government and civil society to workable development alternatives for Sierra Leone.

To generate sufficient resources for the support of the projects and programs of CADS Sierra Leone.

And our methodology, the center primarily conducts research and surveys in its various communities of operations - villages, districts, refugees and displaced camps, market places, and other related areas for identification of issues affecting the living and development conditions of the population to be able to formulate development plans for improving the standards of living of beneficiaries in their communities through participative efforts, and through assistance from foreign or local donor sources for implementation of designed projects.

But we are generally handicapped because we are not AFRICARE, CARE or OXFAM. But, that notwithstanding, we are still faithful to what we believe in, hopeful that one day the donor community would come to appreciate our work.

Well, Chad, let me not trouble you with a very long lecture. I hope however, you will appreciate my frankness to consider bringing the computer and UPS you have earmarked, trusting that you would get back your money you could use as your personal pocket money during your sojourn in Sierra Leone. This will make things easy for us and we will not be losing a whole lot of needed funds to sustain especially our agricultural development programs.

I have attached your three-month volunteer schedule including pertinent information about your arrival arrangements and general tips. This we supposed to have mailed with a video tape on Sierra Leone but would have taken forever to reach you in Wisconsin. So I am sending as attachment file. I hope this will address most of the issues you want to take up with me.

If you do have any further questions, just let me know. I am obliged to provide you with every information to make your volunteering in Sierra Leone a worthwhile experience.

My very best wishes to your girl friend, and your mom and dad. To you Bon Voyage - Sierra Leone Warmly Welcomes You.

Thank you.
For Peace and Unity:
Kenday Samuel Kamara
President & Chief Development Strategist
CADS Sierra Leone Programs
Website: http://www.geocities.com/cadsglobalnet

Dear Nele:

We have received the information below you sent to our cadssaleone@hotmail.com address. The message read:

>>>>>>>>>

From: Nele Jahnke <dasgekennzeichneteIch@gmx.de>
To: cadssaleone@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 20:05:02 +0100 (MET)

hello,

could you send me informations about social projects and information about the possibility to help(not financial help). it would be great.

thank you.
nele jahnke
rodenbergstr. 12
10439 berlin
germany

or e-mail:dasgekennzeichneteich@gmx.de

>>>>>>>>>

Nele, the truth is we are breaking the grip of poverty - community by community, family by family, child by precious child.

We have always pleaded for compasionate assistance - from a region within our own planet where people suffer on a daily basis.

They suffer substandard living conditions, a lack of education and employable job skills and a lack of means for obtaining clothing and medical care.

The region I am speaking of is Sierra Leone. And I am very familiar with this terrible grip on the people of this area. This grip is called poverty and it is extreme here in this place we call our home country.

I am writing today with the hope that, as you read this letter, your heart will be filled with compassion for the people of my war-torn country. For they desperately need your help.

While most countries in the world are prospering, Sierra Leone is still suffering. Today, this isolated region is still gripped by severe economic depression. And that breaks my heart.

As a concerned Sierra Leonean, I knew I had to do something to help my people. So, in 1991, I joined the Center for Alternative Development Strategies (CADS) Sierra Leone Program as a Researcher. I could not help but be inspired by the commitment of its founders, Dr. A.B. Kargbo, Prof. David Sao Nyakoi, Alpha O. Timbo, among others. And I was truly inspired by the spirit of those they served. I met farm families of Mobekay, Fabaina and Gbonkowailay who cultivated large tracts of land with help facilitated by CADS Sierra Leone.

I met the brave women of the rural communities of Tombo, Makoloh, Warayma, Makabie, Mawoma, Foindu, Masoko, Makairay, Petfu-Hamburg, Batcomp, and Brama Junction in the Koya and York rural districts whom we helped to believe mere money and material things are not sufficient to develop them, but to realize that awareness is a precondition for development, with the basic need to awaken themselves and prepare themselves to identify their own problems and to prepare themselves to devise their own solutions and plan of action.

I saw the transformation that children at the Kissy displaced camp and other camps around the country were undergoing because of the care they were receiving from their guardian parents who survived the war with them. And the legacy of CADS had always been able to reach out to these displaced camp children and their guardians over the past 5 years to provide them with hope for a brighter future.

The best thing that ever happened to me was my connection to Dr. A.B. Kargbo, and the brave rural partners of CADS Sierra Leone, and the whole CADS Sierra Leone organization.

Today, as President & Chief Development Strategist of CADS Sierra Leone, I feel blessed that The Almighty God has given me this opportunity to help with the honorable work of CADS.

And I feel blessed by those donors who, in giving so willingly to our programs, have made CADS Sierra Leone a continual blessing for our beneficiaries in the rural districts of Sierra Leone.

Through their support, CADS Sierra Leone continues to offer short-term emergency relief, such as food, medicines, clothing and shelter.

Even more important, we continue to offer long term solutions to the problems aggravated by a decade-long war - solutions like the CFS program. In 1996 the center's research and development department conducted a Needs Assessment Exercise in the Koya and York rural districts trying to find ways to develop a more viable agricultural sector development scheme for Sierra Leone that would enhance farmers productivity as well as helping the center toward financial independence, more so supporting its extension work that is capable of helping more and more small and medium scale    farmers. And, the Communal Farming Systems (CFS) strategy was recommended and by 1997/98 planting season this unique system was proven to be a workable agricultural strategy for sustainable rural community development when 17 farm associations within the Koya and York Rural districts participated in the CFS program.

The Women’s Development Program towards women's empowerment and gender equality is another productive solution among other solutions of the center. Its equity approach encourages women to be seen as active participants in development, and to gain social and economic equity, etc. for all women. The anti-poverty approach seeks to increase women's productivity through access to productive resources. This we are doing through income generation projects, etc. And our empowerment approach recognizes gender relations as an important variable that needs to be tackled within a wider context.

We have actually made great strides in Sierra Leone. But the demand for our services has increased over the years, and we are extending our services to other poor rural communitiies. And that's why I am writing you now. Because if I am to continue the honorable work Dr. A.B. Kargbo started, I will need your help.

CADS Sierra Leone is a research and development organization pledged to helping the rural people of Sierra Leone help themselves. For about ten years, CADS mission has been to offer a hand up - not a handout - to a people known for self-reliance and pride.

Kindly visit our center’s website at http://www.geocities.com/cadsglobalnet to read more about our programs in Sierra Leone. You see, very sad, but true, Sierra Leone is a country that has generally been "troubled" by an extremely violent war. Atrocities perpetrated by rebels, still raw. Level of political corruption, so abysmal. A country governed by obsolete colonial laws. It is therefore my overall ambition, passion and optimism to be able to ACT honorably to help the suffering people of this troubled country. I am of the opinion that if a few Sierra Leoneans and friends of Sierra Leone should take the lead to embark on development of the country with no political strings attached we will be able to move forward. It is going to be a monumental task, but where there is life, there is hope.

But the problem our center is struggling with is that we have researched and looked into all aspects of grant making institutions, but the chances of getting funds from such sources to fund third world initiatives like CADS is extremely slim and most times non-existent. We are therefore so much frustrated with such negative attention given to our local efforts. We are talking here about the consequences of a rebel war versus national development. That's what the struggle over overcoming the forces against sustainable stability, peace and development in Sierra Leone. So, with international aid only directed to big international non-governmental organizations like ICRC, Refugees International, Save the Children, OXFAM, CARE, United States Committee for Refugees, among others, generally neglecting the efforts of local NGOs like CADS Sierra Leone, which certainly play a critical role in addressing the social needs of societies big international NGOs and governments often failed to address, we have every reason to be very frustrated, and we need to do something right now. And your concern depends on it.

Frankly, the best way that you can help us sustain our vision of sustainable stability, peace and development of our nation, is to have a strong CADS Program.

If you have asked us to provide you with nformation about our social projects and information about the possibility to help our organization, NOT FINANCIALLY, we will then ask you to donate a USED HAULAGE TRUCK/VEHICLE. Our center generally seeks material assistance especially in the area of farm tools, fertilizers, and transportation (an haulage truck) for our rural farm projects helping thousands of rural poor families. Now is about time we start another crop season, and moving seeds, farm tools as well as harvested produce from point A to B is a big, big problem for our organization and the people we are helping. So if you can donate a truck like a used Mercedez Benz truck with a very good tonnage to CADS for the people of Gbonkolenken and Bomabli district we are assisting, true, you have helped over 200,000 families in these areas. Please read our organzational profile attached to have a feel of what we are struggling to do. And you can also visit our website at http://www.geocities.com/cadsglobalnet for further information with photos depicting our work.

Your generous kind donation of an haulage truck will do much good in Sierra Leone. Through your loving and compassionate gift, you'll be offering our less-fortunate neighbors not just a hand up - but the hope they need to fulfill their dreams. Please generously ship this truck to our headquarters in Freetown to:

CADS Sierra Leone
61 Sackville Street
PMB 1290
Freetown, Sierra Leone
West Africa
Tel: (232 22) 224839

We will be able to receive the truck duty free as we an NGO, helping the rural poor, the government of Sierra Leone will waive all custom duties and taxes. So you do not need to send us any more, please, just send us the haulage truck to support our rural programs helping hundreds of thousands of people in the Gbonkolenken, Bombali, Koya and York districts in Sierra Leone.

Please, answer this cry for help with a compassionate heart as you have in fact indicated in your message received. Make this kind donation today to a people, though far and away, they are good people who truly need your help. Thank you.

For Humanity:
Kenday Samuel Kamara
President & Chief Development Strategist
Website: http://www.geocities.com/cadsglobalnet

P/S: It's a known fact that only a small percentage of those who receive this letter will be moved to respond. I pray you will be one of those rare souls. Please open your hearts to the families struggling to survive in Sierra Leone, and send the most generous gift you can.
Thank you, and may God bless you.

Dear Sir/Madam:

Re: Campaign Against Corruption in Sierra Leone -- First National Conference on Personal Values, Integrity, Honesty and Patriotism.

While most countries in the world are prospering, Sierra Leone is still suffering. Today, this isolated region is still gripped by severe economic depression. And that breaks our hearts. As concerned Sierra Leoneans, we know we had to do something about this. So in 1989, the Center for Alternative Development Strategies (CADS) Sierra Leone was conceived and fully established in 1991. And today we continue to be inspired by the spirit of those we are serving. We have worked with families of Mobekay, Fabaina and Gbonkowailay who cultivated large tracts of land with help facilitated by CADS Sierra Leone.

We have also worked with the brave women of the rural communities of Tombo, Makoloh, Warayma, Makabie, Mawoma, Foindu, Masoko, Makairay, Petfu-Hamburg, Batcomp, and Brama Junction in the Koya and York rural districts whom we helped to believe mere money and material things are not sufficient to develop them, but to realize that awareness is a precondition for development, with the basic need to awaken themselves and prepare themselves to identify their own problems and to prepare themselves to devise their own solutions and plan of action.

And we saw the transformation that children at the Kissy displaced camp and other camps around the country were undergoing because of the care they were receiving from their guardian parents who survived the war with them. And the legacy of CADS had always been able to reach out to these displaced camp children and their guardians over the past 5 years to provide them with hope for a brighter future.

And we feel blessed by those donors who, in giving so willingly to our programs, have made CADS Sierra Leone a continual blessing for our beneficiaries in the rural districts of Sierra Leone.

Through their support, CADS Sierra Leone continues to offer short-term emergency relief, such as food, medicines, clothing and shelter.

Even more important, we continue to offer long term solutions to the problems aggravated by a decade-long war - solutions like the CFS program. In 1996 the center's research and development department conducted a Needs Assessment Exercise in the Koya and York rural districts trying to find ways to develop a more viable agricultural sector development scheme for Sierra Leone that would enhance farmers productivity as well as helping the center toward financial independence, more so supporting its extension work that is capable of helping more and more small and medium scale     farmers. And, the Communal Farming Systems (CFS) strategy was recommended and by 1997/98 planting season this unique system was proven to be a workable agricultural strategy for sustainable rural community development when 17 farm associations within the Koya and York Rural districts participated in the CFS program.

The Women's Development Program towards women's empowerment and gender equality is another productive solution among other solutions of the center. Its equity approach encourages women to be seen as active participants in development, and to gain social and economic equity, etc. for all women. The anti-poverty approach seeks to increase women's productivity through access to productive resources. This we are doing through income generation projects, etc. And our empowerment approach recognizes gender relations as an important variable that needs to be tackled within a wider context.

We have actually made great strides in Sierra Leone. But the country truly needs a sustained process of education as well, to enlighten Sierra Leoneans to the true principles of survival and national prosperity through the upholding of the virtues of personal values, integrity, honesty and patriotism.

Acts of dishonesty and corruption in government break the bonds of respect among human beings and have no justification. To the contrary, they deserve the most absolute recoil on the part of all humanity.

And in providing civil channels of participation and communication, this needs articulation and advocacy for individual citizens to fully understand the rubrics of personal values, integrity, honesty and patriotism, and we must strive for a participatory process of the eventual establishment of a sane society in Sierra Leone driven by the knowledge of the citizenry.

With the growing complexity of the challenges confronting Sierra Leoneans, the expanding role of civil society in governance and development must be recognized in our national campaign for the upholding of personal values, integrity, honesty and patriotism, and a strong need for research based knowledge on the crucial challenges facing our civil society, and how we are going to strategize to get the message of upholding personal values heard and practiced by all Sierra Leoneans.

Therefore, bringing together civil society activists and practitioners as well as civil servants, policy makers and politicians to be reminded about the core issues facing our civil society to generate new knowledge and innovation in practice consistent with the principles of upholding personal values, integrity, honesty and patriotism is all what we have so far to strongly project our message.

Our First National Conference on Personal Values, Integrity, Honesty and Patriotism recognizes the crucial role knowledge and information can play to strengthen civil society and promote people driven promotion for the upholding of personal values. This strong belief in the empowering nature of knowledge is mirrored in the old Sanskrit proverb "One that liberates is knowledge" that Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India has reminded us about. She further explained that people need knowledge which liberates them from the bondage of today and tomorrow.

Our appeal to be able to host this First National Conference on Personal Values, Integrity, Honesty and Patriotism constitutes a strong call to do even more to construct a world full of peace, harmony and respectfulness for all humanity, including the suffering people of Sierra Leone.

This emerging perspective can be best described as national "community" development with a critical and purposeful emphasis on community as the motive force for change. Practitioners and theorists alike are coming to recognize that a country's ability to foster change on its own belief is key to sustainable development.

This First National Conference is a face-to-face, hands-on-approach to problem-solving, with its implicit belief that people could rise above their particular interests to pursue a common good.

I have enclosed a program document which further justifies the significance of this First National Conference on personal values, Integrity, honesty and Patriotism. I hope you will find it more resourceful.

Since the solution to many national problems requires a combination of internal and external resources and because these resources are increasingly limited, it is essential that public and private sectors, local and foreign sources, become part of the development process in a fundamentally different way.

Can we therefore count on you to help finance the conference?

We have come up with a reasonable budget and we are trying to raise $48,000 by march 2002 to be able to pay for the following:

-- Rental of Conference Hall
-- Rental of Public Address System
-- Making of Extra Large National Flag
-- Making of 25,000 small Flags (for resale to raise funds that will go to support the rural projects of CADS)
-- Printing of Leaflets
-- Printing of Conference Materials - brochures, booklets, questionnaires and newsletters.
-- Hospitality Costs for up to 3000 expected Conference Participants including the Head of State, government and political leaders, civil servants, small and medium business operators, local NGO activists, INGO experts, teachers and lecturers, journalists, among others.

Please consider making a pledge today to donate generously to support our genuine effort to engage in a process of change that taps personal civic values, integrity, honesty and patriotism.

So far we have raised only $6,142 since we started our fundraising drive to finance this conference about three weeks ago. Therefore your pledge to donate any amount you can generously give will add up to reach our target $48,000 budget.

We know there are problems in our society which needs consistent attention. CADS wants to do more to help but the center doesn't have an "angel" -- a big foundation or government agency to support our work. What we do have, however, is a dedicated group of people - individual men and women - who understand what we do, grasp its immense importance and potential, and we want this work to go on.

I hope very much you are impressed with what we are doing in Sierra Leone. But even more, I hope you will act on that belief by making a pledge of $1000, $3000 or even $5000 in support of our First National Conference on Personal Values.

Please act now. Our work sowing personal values, integrity, honesty and patriotism as an antidote to corruption which breeds hatred has never been more important.

We - and the world's poor - has never needed you more.

You can firmly confirm your pledge by wire transferring the pledged amount into our CADS Sierra Leone account in Freetown, Sierra Leone. These are the details of the account:

In Account With: Union Trust Bank Ltd. - PMB 1237, Lightfoot Boston Street, Freetown -- Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Tel: 232 - 22 - 226954 / 222792 / 223319
Fax: 232 - 22 - 226214

Account Type: Current
Account Number: 210 - 007704 - 01

Union Trust Bank -- Sierra Leone Ltd. Corresponding Bank in the United States Details are:

Sent Code: 40-05-15N

Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp.
Limited (HSBC) -- New York, USA
140 Broadway -- B Level
NEW YORK, NY 10005 - 1180
United States of America
Tel: 1 - 212 - 525 - 5000

Please indicate beneficiary: "The First National Conference on personal Values Fund" when making the wire transfer.

Thank you.
Sincerely:

Kenday Samuel Kamara
President/Chief Development Strategist
Website: http://www.geocities.com/cadsglobalnet

Dear Lucy:

As a research and development organization, we always tend to focus attention and identify socio-economic and political issues of national importance that require urgent solution, and through dispassionate and objective analysis, try to come up with suggestions for reform in order to bring about a lasting solution to our country's problems. For too long we have evaded the real issues and problems that plague this nation, in other words we have been scratching for too long where it does not itch. Unless and until we are prepared to approach our problems with the utmost honesty, solutions to them will remain elusive. This message will therefore serve as dialogue on national issues and suggesting to government alternative ideas and affording solutions to policy makers and to all political party leaders who are at this time preparing for the upcoming presidential and general elections determined to lead the country.

We have realized that there is an apparent political apathy on the part of the majority of the people of this country. They seem to have lost faith and confidence in any political system. This journal therefore seeks to rekindle a sense of awareness and impress on all Sierra Leoneans that all is not lost and that Sierra Leone belongs to all of us and not just to a particular group, section or tribe and that we will only be able to forge ahead as a nation and uplift ourselves through our own bootstraps. That will be the only way out of our socio-political and economic malaise. No country or international organization will do that for us. Regimes will come and go, political actors will come and go, but our beloved Sierra Leone will remain forever.

We must not forget easily that the majority of the people of this country have suffered for too long. They were marginalized and compelled to live in sub-human conditions for nearly twenty-three years under the infamous APC regime - a regime that was dominated by a good number of mercenary politicians with misguided priorities and whose devout mission was to enrich themselves at the expense of the people they claimed to serve.

They taught very bad examples which have grown very firm roots that will take some amount of time to uproot, and which octopus-like embraced and polluted every facet of our national life. We are talking about a time when vice was virtue, a time of economic plundering and sabotage almost with religious fervor, a time when indiscipline was the order of the day, we meana time of political lawlessness. We believe as Sierra Leoneans, we have a positive role to play to ensure that this ugly chapter in our national history does not repeat itself.

Please send us your remarks after reading our perspective.
Please Read On!

PERSPECTIVE: Development in Sierra Leone as perceived
by the Center for Alternative Development Strategies (CADS) Sierra Leone!

Sierra Leone has been plagued by a bloody armed conflict, which has predominantly contributed to the disruption of social order and its economic growth. And there is the need to re-establish a firm economic and social foundation through the design and implementation of desired and realistic action-oriented development program. To urgently and systematically provide the right advocacy for the international community to be more supportive to the millions of Sierra Leoneans at risk from war, disease and hunger in Sierra Leone.

The establishment of CADS Sierra Leone is therefore a crucial strategy to contributing towards the stable and peaceful development of Sierra Leone and to lead Sierra Leoneans out of the deprivation and despair that cloud their troubled lives -- and guiding them toward brighter, dignified and happier lives.

CADS Sierra Leone is therefore a people's local action for development. CADS exists to successfully make the poor to overcome bondage, misery and suffering using practical alternative development strategies as instruments of social change. CADS helps people to organize themselves and ascertain their rights and train people to utilize development infrastructure, overcoming the impediments, and CADS seeks to make Government function where there is indifference towards suffering of the weaker sections of society.

Developing the Human Resource of Sierra Leone!

If you ask us our views with regards to development in Sierra Leone we would like to state that the established order needs to prioritize the development of our country's human resource. That should be the number one priority, to achieve the desired goal of concrete development in Sierra Leone. The resources that we have at our disposal - the diamonds, gold, rutile as well as the agricultural resources are not enough in themselves to develop a nation.

The development of the human resource should start at the lowest level, the primary school. Government should do its best to get the children out of the streets, improve health care facilities, and ensure that they are well fed. These are prerequisites for the development of the human resource of Sierra Leone. As far as we in CADS are concerned, there are a lot of deficiencies in elementary schools which need redressing. For instance you cannot expect children to do well in school when they are malnourished. With this in view, the primary level should be well equipped and the welfare of the children adequately catered for to properly groom them as successful future leaders.

We can then move to the secondary level which should similarly be well developed for the proper harnessing of the intellectualism of our teenagers.

The University of course is expected to play a dominant role in development. It is it's exclusive responsibility to develop needs of commitment.

The primary mission for the University is not to replicate the ideas of other societies but to study the problems of its own society and come up with solutions to those problems. The University should promote research on the burning issues affecting the development of Sierra Leone. The University of Colorado for instance, has as its mission to study how Colorado can be developed. The curriculum of the University reflects its priority to tie up with this mission.

We must say that we tend to study at the University of Sierra Leone too much about what has happened or is happening in other countries. We must try to make Sierra Leone a priority study. No University in the world would make the study of Sierra Leone a priority.

In fact, it is now the trend among several international organizations working in developing countries to encourage governments to develop their nationals instead of relying so much on foreign expatriates. So the University of Sierra Leone has to play a key function in such circumstances.

The Role of the Private Sector!

Talking about experiences in America, we noticed that the Private Sector in this world power is playing a key role in development. Therefore, if we may draw parallels in Sierra Leone as well, the Private Sector should play this key role. To successfully achieve this there should be a partnership between the University and the Private Sector. If the University is fully equipped to produce skilled people, the business sector will utilize their resources to increase their profit margin and facilitate development. Government should not be expected to solely concern itself with the issue of development because it will never achieve that objective alone.

The private sector can thus practice the concept of volunteerism out of patriotism to upgrade vital institutions like Schools, Colleges and the University. The Private Sector should learn to practice the idea of giving instead of expecting from government all the time.

The American people, for instance, are so patriotic that they are always willing to volunteer. We should inculcate that kind of attitude. For example people with skills and indigenous non-governmental organizations can come together and move to remote and backward parts of our country to teach basic skills such as carpentry, masonry, agricultural techniques, etc. etc. to less fortunate fellow Sierra Leoneans living in those areas.

The Concept of Integration!

It is a pity that we still do not regard ourselves as Sierra Leoneans. National integration is lacking. There are key institutions that can perform the role of national integration. Institutions like the Military, the University, Religious Groups, the Civil Service, etc.

But again, if the leadership is not good, problems will always be present. There is always the tendency for the leadership to ethnicize institutions like the Military and politicizing it as well. The same thing goes for other institutions like the Police and the Civil Service expected to perform these integrative functions. But the University, however, is supposed to foster the idea of integration because no government in power can ethnicize or politicize it. So it can effectively groom Sierra Leoneans to forget about ethnic differences so that the human resources produced can consciously guard against these tendencies when they are utilized in institutions like
the Police, and the Civil Service.

Leadership!

On the issue of leadership there are two qualities we reckon a leader should have.

One is VISION: A leader should be a person with a game plan, a strategist who achieves results. The American populace will not just vote for X because he hails from a particular state. He must have a platform and must drive towards a particular goal. The leader therefore should channel the energies and abilities of his people for the overall development of the country.

But also critically essential for leadership is INTEGRITY. This addressed the moral issue of leadership. Absence of this will not create a good leader. Vision should be backed by integrity.

Symbolism!

What is our National Identity? This is lacking in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leoneans should try to develop a sober sense of identity. People die for symbols, like the American will die for the American flag notwithstanding his background.

What do we have as a nation that distinguish us from other countries? Like in Ghana, the Ghanaians have the Kente Cloth. The United Kingdom has the Monarchy.

Perhaps the only thing that we notice that integrates people in our country is soccer. But the problem is we cannot get every Sierra Leonean to identify himself with soccer as a national symbol. We need to have a national symbol that will bring people together in this country to think as Sierra Leoneans and not as Temnes, Mendes, Krios, Limbas, or Fullahs. This is one of the reasons why communism failed. We must be prepared to accommodate various national interests.

The political system therefore should be inclusive to stimulate patriotism in individuals. And politics of consultation should be effectively and fairly practiced. Democratic elections for example are part of consultation.

Westernization and Development!

People tend to confuse these two concepts and feel that they cannot be divorced. These are two different concepts. There is empirical evidence to show that a country can develop without being westernized. We can get development from the west and Africanization at the same time. For example in Japan, the Marshall Plan tried to westernize that country in the process of assisting her to develop, but Japan ended up developed without being westernized. The problem, however, with Sierra Leoneans we have noticed, they lack self confidence. We have succeeded to create sub-standards for ourselves. We look up to the white man for paradigms and as models. This should not be the case. We should copy the examples of the Nigerians who
have so much confidence in their abilities to forge ahead as a nation.

Conclusion!

So all beautifully explained and problems identified, to witness a developed Sierra Leone, Sierra Leoneans have to critically examine the recruitment of leaders who will manage state affairs. But as we highlighted before this is presently a difficult task because the human resource in this country is not developed. To address this problem and other problems mentioned above however, people in this country should learn to practice less politics and engage in more businesses at the local as well as the international level, to develop a strong economy that will allow people of independent livelihood independent of government jobs; and that ugly system of patron-clientage should be discouraged. Indigenes of Sierra Leone should be assessed and rewarded according to merit and not patron-clientage. Museveni in Uganda for instance has succeeded to some extent to encourage people to look for
alternative sources of livelihood. This will also eradicate negative traditional norms.

Another aspect of the development incentives is to practice the system of decentralization. Decision making should be decentralized. Government is taking too much of the burden of running the country. It is not everything that should emanate from State House. Let's take a look at the provinces for instance, the government is not expected to determine solely the needs of the people in the provinces. The people in those areas know their priorities more than anybody else. Like in America, the Federal Government does not determine the priorities of the various states. Government will be wasting its time if it tries to solve single handedly all the problems of the people. The people should be encouraged in decision making to make them feel that they are part of the state.

Government should also begin to think seriously to keep a small but efficient and competent Civil Service so that they can be well paid to get the best out of them. We will never get committed workers in this country if the present ridiculous salary structure remains the same.

And revenue collectors must be reasonably compensated to rid corruption in the process. There must be financial incentives to facilitate this most important process and it is high time Sierra Leone computerizes the entire revenue collection process in order to reduce embezzlement and ensure accountability. With a computerized system of revenue collection, the central data bank will not accommodate excuses like loss of files. Government should also try to keep proper and reliable social statistics . This is an area critical to our development. Economic planners cannot be
expected to do a good job if reliable social statistics are lacking. The government should therefore take immediate steps to resuscitate this most vital institution. Information as well for the public to be abreast with national trends is a valuable asset.

Furthermore, the promotion of principles is very important to foster development in Sierra Leone. Though however, it is commonly said that poverty leads to perversion of values, people in Sierra Leone should be fully aware that politics is not a money making affair. People in this country should now learn not to copy the examples of politicians in the APC regime who embraced and dignified corruption instead of promoting principles. If any Sierra Leonean wants to make money, he should engage
himself in legitimate business, that is the art of making money. If he wants to be a public figure with integrity, he should then pursue a political career.

Finally, notwithstanding the above recommendations, Sierra Leone will better survive if it integrates its economy with neighboring countries. Historically, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and even Liberia were one country. The Mano River Union (MRU) which was established to foster economic integration should be made more effective to facilitate the free movement of goods and people in the sub-region. Sierra Leone also needs to develop its strategies to lobby key congress men in the United States and other developed countries, and donor agencies, to get aid for its development projects. Government should always be in a position to furnish potential investors with national statistics. Sierra Leone should endeavor to get developed countries and international financial institutions to be interested in our development efforts.

Do you like what we are doing?

I hope very much you do. But even more, I hope you'll act on that belief by sending CADS a contribution of $100, $200 or even $500. We support programs like the Communal Farming Systems (CFS) Strategy in Agricultural Sector Development, CADS Micro Enterprise Administration's Trickle-Up Aid to Artisans Project, CADS Project for the Disabled, Volunteers for Humanity Project, The Sierra Leone Digest Project, CADS Women's Development Program, CADS Information Databank Project: Connecting Local NGOs Globally, CADS Global Refugees and Adoption Assistance Program, and Training in the Field of Small Business Development.

Please visit our website at: http://www.geocities.com/cadsglobalnet for further information.

Please mail any donation in MONEY ORDER payable to CADS Sierra Leone you can generously afford to:
CADS Sierra Leone
61 Sackville Street
PMB 1290
Freetown, Sierra Leone.
You can also reach us by email at CadsIntlPrograms@aol.com

We are planting the seeds of change - nurturing them with hope. Please act now. Our work sowing hope as an antidote to hatred has never been more important.

To further update on our on going programs, it pleases me to inform you that the centre is currently host to Mr. Chad Simmons, an American volunteer, from Wisconsin, USA who is visiting Sierra Leone to help CADS in its effort to facilitate national development initiatives. Mr. Simmons has proven his unflinching resolve to volunteer in Sierra Leone by arriving at Lungi airport on January 15, 2002 and is now a most honored guest of CADS. The center's national co-ordinator Mr. Brima Kamara and its Agricultural and Projects Co-ordinator, Mr. Ingham B. Carew safely received Mr. Simmons from Lungi.

And the Center believes working with Mr. Simmons and other volunteers from the developed world is simply the thing to do if NGOs in developing countries like CADS are to succeed in pursuing their development objectives. He is a cherished volunteer from the United States who will share with us his knowledge and expertise about community development and to build a supportive relationship as there is always strength in working together as a team, and together we are not going to fail at all in pursuing our program objectives. If you would like to talk to Mr. Simmons to appreciate his sacrifice to be in Sierra Leone to help us in this diffiocult time of our nation's history, please call our CADS headquarter at (232 22) 224839.

Thank you.
For the Development of Sierra Leone!
Kenday S. Kamara
President and Chief Development Strategist
CADS Sierra Leone / Global Network
Website: <http://www.geocities.com/cadsglobalnet>

"Learning how to create financial independence for oneself, whether it be a
US citizen or a citizen of Sierra Leone, I think is both essential as well
as a blessing to any society of people; a position in which I myself
endeavor to create ..." - Kyrna Ball, Arizona, USA

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