About the Nation in which I will be serving Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone History:
A Portuguese sailor, Pedro da Cintra in 1462, founded Sierra Leone and it later became a British colony until it attained self-rule in 1961. It is about 27,925 square km with 16 ethnic groups that constitute a population of about 4.5 million. The largest ethnic group is the Mende, which make up 24% of the population. Though Creole is one of the minority groups but its language, Krio, is the lingua franca and is being spoken by almost every Sierra Leonean. English is the official language.

Sierra Leone has a tropical climate with two seasons – the rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season starts in May and ends in October with July and August experiencing the heaviest rains. The dry season starts in November and ends in April.

Recently however, Sierra Leone experienced a bloody rebel war, which much devastation wrecked on the whole country. Unfortunately, children were conscripted into the fighting forces. After the war about 6,854 children were released and 6, 569 (92%) had been reunited with their families.

SIERRA LEONE Country statistics
Population: 4,971,000 (2003)
Capital City: Freetown
National Language: English
Per capita income: US$ 150/year (2003)
Life expectancy: 34 years (2003)
Access to safe water: 57% (2002)
Adequate sanitation facilities: 39% (2002)
Under 5 Mortality Rate: 284/1,000 live births (2003)