MMYDA Profile
MMYDA (pictured above) were established in 2000 whilst Sierra Leone was in the latter stages of its devastating, decade long civil war. The region in which MMYDA operate was a stronghold for the rebel militias which perpetrated untold violence and carnage upon the local population during that period. Thankfully, Sierra Leone is now at peace but the legacy of the war lives on and the population who were largely affected by the violence (then only teenagers) are now young adults and it is this population that are still clearly traumatised.
MMYDA are based in a village called Malal-Mara within a district of Sierra Leone called Tonkolili (much like a UK county or national park in size). The Tonkolili district is landlocked and makes up just below 10% of Sierra Leone’s land mass. Tonkolili has an estimated population of 370,000 people with the vast majority of these being subsidence farmers.
Programme Work
MMYDA Deliver the following:
Reflect Literacy workshops and numeracy training circles to 28 villages. 411 men and 305 women (716 individuals) are participating in this training. In terms of cost to Village Aid and our supporters these 716 people receive this training for around £1,000 per year. That’s £1.39 per person per year.
Micro credit. Village Aid has often used micro credit distribution in our programmes. Micro credit is a way of investing small amounts of money into local communities. These communities then use the money for a whole host of investment activities with the aim of growing the money and paying it back. Activities and investments include buying and farming land, rearing livestock and processing facilities for raw materials like honey.
Capacity Building. MMYDA is a small community based organisation. Their ability to deliver programmes and develop their work is reliant on their capacity to function as an organised group. Village Aid support MMYDA by providing them with motorbikes for facilitators to get around, training and skill decelopment workshops and resources including the building of a new office in Malal-Mara funded by the Touchstone, a property management company in Bath.