1. Traveling to Sierra Leone with OneVillage Partners

www.OneVillagePartners.org 

For more detail about the OneVillage Partners trips and a brief history of them, see "2. More Detail about Traveling."

 OneVillage Partners (formerly called "SLPP" or "Sierra Leone-Plymouth Partnership") is the group often mentioned in this web site and especially in these travel journals   This group sponsored a trip every late May/early June to the three villages Foindu, Jokibu, and Pujehun in the eastern region of Sierra Leone. 
          

Anyone in good health over 14 is welcome to go.  (You do not have to be a member of Plymouth Church.)  Our travelers have included high school students with two of their teachers, senior citizens, and many others of all ages.  Men and women are equally welcome, and both can be assured of safety throughout the trip.  Medical conditions that normally can be taken care of by daily medication also present little or no problem, and included in travelers' insurance for a low fee are emergency air evacuation options. 

The only physical requirement is that you be able to handle 90-95 degree, high-humidity heat for the week the group is in the villages.  Safe food, water, and bathing are constantly available, as are small battery-operated fans.  If you are able to camp for a week in a (non-air conditioned) tent or trailer, you should be able to handle the physical requirements of the trip comfortably.

Travelers follow the approximate "Tentative Schedule" shown below.  In the villages, travelers usually are broken into pairs that stay in volunteer host

families' homes.  Some 30-40% of villagers speak some English, and everyone is provided with an interpreter as needed.  

The trip costs about $3500 per person for 14-18 days, all of which is tax deductible as a service trip, and involves the first and last few days in a first-class hotel with

cool private rooms, a large swimming pool, and outdoor and indoor bars and dining in Freetown, the capital; and then 7-8 days in the middle of the trip in the villages. 
    

On each day, you will meet with the entire group at least once a day for meals and planning, and in the villages you will be paired with someone else to stay in a villager's home--in your own bedroom or with your spouse.  There will be others from the group staying with you in your village. 

These are work trips: while there is very little if any physical labor, everyone is placed on a committee to help in the villages according to your interests and abilities: e.g., education, water, and food committees, etc.  There is also time for viewing and learning about a number of places, activities, and people, both in the villages and in the capital, Freetown.

For more information, please see the OneVillage Partners website at www.OneVillagePartners.org.