The Altus Team was presented with a unique opportunity to share its talents and time this year, working alongside The Raining Season (TRS), a non-profit organization. The Altus Team is providing planning and design services for a facility that will ultimately serve as a children’s ministry in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Why
Sierra Leone is a lush tropical country located on the west coast of Africa. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains, beaches, abundant natural resources, and rich mineral deposits (including diamonds), yet it ranks among the poorest countries in the world.
In addition to overwhelming poverty, Sierra Leone’s infrastructure was devastated by a civil war that left tens of thousands of people dead, more than one million forced from their homes and villages, and as many as 320,000 children orphaned.
Mission
The Raining Season strives to provide a hopeful future and seek justice for vulnerable children, currently housing nearly 100 children in its Freetown orphan care facility. This facility provides a haven where children are loved, protected, nurtured, and discipled while waiting to be reunified with families or find permanent placements.
The most important goal of The Raining Season is restoration for each child and building a secure hope for the future. TRS envisions new generations of Sierra Leone’s children, “healed from the inside out…each life becoming a ripple of change, bringing hope for generations to come.”
How
When a local mining operation offered to donate 100 acres of land at the lease price of $1 per year, TRS began planning for an additional facility where Sierra Leone’s children could be cared for and nurtured. This land, which now belongs to TRS, is situated near Koidu Town (or Sefadu), the capital and largest city of the diamond-rich Kono District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone.
Altus worked with teams both stateside and in West Africa to plan for this much needed facility which will include offices, an open market area (which is common to the region), a city community center, medical building, church, school, and a maintenance building. Boys’ and girls’ dormitories, kitchen and dining facilities, garden plots where food can be grown and harvested, and an outdoor play yard are also in the plan.
Altus could not be more humbled or proud to be a part of helping The Raining Season achieve this important mission. To learn more about The Raining Season, or to find ways to help them meet the needs of Sierra Leone’s most vulnerable, visit therainingseason.org