Hope - Sierra Leone, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) was founded in Denmark
by Sierra Leonean-born John Bangura whose vision of hope for a war weary and traumatised
nation was realised after attending two conferences held in Switzerland in 1998 and
in Tanzania.
Working in concert with Danish philanthropists, he saw the need for a moral and spiritual
rebirth of our nation; the need for unity in action and the essence of building bridges
of forgiveness, honesty, and love in our quest for reconciliation.
Thus, Hope - Sierra Leone was founded with the aim of calling upon Sierra Leoneans
of all faiths to rebuild their lives morally and spiritually, and to work together
towards building a "hate-free, fear-free and greed-free" nation.
In June 2000, four delegates from Sierra Leone joined their Danish counterparts in
Uganda to attend the MRA All-African Conference on the theme "Transforming Africa
from a Bleeding to a Renewed Continent". Here, Sierra Leone became the focus of attention
after our contribution with delegates from 15 countries all over the world willing
to help and participate in the search for peace in our country.
Aims and Objectives
- Through a fundamental change in people's motives and attitudes, HSL seeks to encourage
every Sierra Leonean to find his/her unique contribution to the transformation needed
in this country;
- seeks to encourage Sierra Leoneans through a genuine process of reconciliation to
choose dialogue and denounce war in resolving conflicts to attain sustainable economic,
social and political progress;
- seeks to create an environment wherein Sierra Leoneans can find liberation from hatred,
greed and indifference;
- seeks to heal the wounds of History by breaking cycles of violence and by setting
in motion a wave of wider change and working together across differences of tribe,
class or religion to create a community with a common purpose;
- seeks to provide training of qualified men and women with the co-operation of Agenda
for Reconciliation, International Secretariat in the task of carrying on the intentions
of the Organisation;
Above all, it seeks to provide the avenue whereby the four absolute standards of
absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness, and absolute love could
be part of daily life in the Sierra Leonean Society.
Mobilisation
- Shall mobilise and create avenues through which the civil society, youth groups,
students, war-affected victims etc. actively participate in the search for a lasting
solution to the crisis in Sierra Leone.
- Shall establish and develop appropriate channels to facilitate close co-ordination
between the aggressors and the aggrieved and other stakeholders to work more closely
in implementing our agenda for reconciliation.
- Shall build coalitions with civil society and other affiliate bodies as partners
with the state in fighting corruption.
- Shall mobilise to develop national values and ethical standards for public and private
conduct.