Salone Rising and Mama Land Girls!

In the summer of 2023, we had the opportunity to go to Kabala, Sierra Leone, West Africa. There, we joined the Harwell Family Foundation and Salone Rising to learn about and impact the micro enterprise landscape of Kabala. It was eye opening to see the grit that the citizens of Kabala possessed to work toward their goals. Though they often did not know if they would be able to feed their families in a week, they were hopeful and motivated to do whatever they could to improve their situations'. Through our knowledge of micro enterprise, gained through both our experience with Sweet Bee Sisters and learned within classroom settings, we were able to advise Salone Rising on how to direct and coach their loan recipients. It was interesting for us to learn more about the thought processes of Kabala residents. They think differently than many Americans do, in the sense that they do not plan for years in the future. Instead, they use their resources to provide for themselves now. Few of the loan recipients understand that if they spend more money now, they can reap greater profits in the future. Alternatively, most of them purchase grain and produce from merchants in Freetown, the capital, and then sell them in Kabala. Since most of the recipients do this, the level of competition is very high, making profit margins very low.

This entire trip was interesting because we did not want to come into their community with the mindset that "we know everything." Instead, we came to learn. After observing the economic climate and mindsets of the Sierra Leone people, we began to think, read, and try to find a solution that could help Salone Rising create lasting value and better equip their recipients to form profitable businesses. We want your opinions, knowledge, and advice on how to best consult Salone Rising! Tell us what you think via our email found on the "Contact Us" page!!

(These are some of the pics of our crew from Colorado and the girls that Salone Rising and The Harwell Family Foundation supports)