The State of Guernsey’s Overseas Aid and Development Commission has awarded a 1-year grant (starting September 2025) to Network for Africa to support 300 people with mental illness/epilepsy and their carers in 15 self-help groups (SHGs) in Port Loko district, Sierra Leone with training in sustainable employment skills and livelihoods to lift them out of poverty. We will work with our local partner Network for Salone who has been providing mental health services in Port Loko District since 2018. The primary purpose of the project is to reduce the poverty of 300 people with mental illness/epilepsy (PMIEs) and their carers. The participants are poor and marginalised, live in poverty-stricken, rural communities where they struggle to meet their basic needs. This grant will facilitate a sustainable improvement to their lives, by providing them with a hand-up through training in starting, managing and growing small income generating activities (IGAs). We will provide the start-up items for their income generating activities (IGAs), whilst continuing to monitor their mental health and providing support where necessary, to prevent relapse and ensure positive outcomes for their livelihoods. By providing the participants with livelihood and mental health support, their basic needs will be met and their average income will increase by a minimum of 200% after a year, breaking the cycle of mental illness and poverty. We have a model that works and a bespoke training programme developed.
This project aligns principally with SDG1 (No Poverty), SDG2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), and also with SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities).