Start and Mission
The foundation Solidarity with Sierra Leone was founded in September 2003, as an initiative of Tom Samu, together with some Dutch people. Tom was born in Sierra Leone, and lives in the Netherlands since 2000. His mission is to create a bridge between Sierra Leone and the Netherlands, to give solidarity a specific and practical form. He knows the meaning of attending school with an empty stomach. The mission of the Foundation is to support small scale projects in the areas of education, community development and health care.

The Board
Left you see the people of the present board: in front Betsy Swint (member) and Sietske Tadema (member); at the back Ko Klootwijk (treasurer), Peter van Wees (member), Francis Jackson (member) and Arjen Noom (chairman).
Tom Samu (advisor) and Janneke Nijholt (secretary) are not on this photo.

Registration and Reporting
The Foundation is registered at the chamber of commerce Noord Nederland, and is recognised by the treasury department as a foundation for the common good. For Dutch citizens, this makes some donations to the foundation tax deductible (according to Dutch taxation laws). The annual report and financial report of 2010 as well as the Policy 2011 are available at the secretary of the Foundation.

Ambassadors
Four ambassadors are active for the project in Grafton. Susanne Swint, together with Betsy Swint, has visited the school four times already. Their last trip was in January 2010. Betsy en Susanne were the driving force behind the Dutch sponsor walk which was held in combination with the 'charity walk' from London to Leeuwarden in the Netherlands by a group of English rotarians. You can see Betsy and Susanne on the photograph (on the right); this was taken at our stand on the freemarket during Queensday 2008, and it expresses that they are prepared to invest all their energy for the benefit of the children in Grafton.
In 2009 Martha Van Der Bly became ambassador and she is determined to generate publicity for the schoolfeeding project. (see www.marthavanderbly.com)