With Love, OneVillage Partners
Love has definitely been in the air this February. Our #WhatDoesLoveMeanToYou social media campaign brought our staff and community couples together to reminisce about their history, where they are today and what love means to them.
In Sierra Leone, like many other countries, love is a word used for many things. We love our football (or soccer) games, we love our culture, our traditional cuisine and of course our families. Sierra Leoneans however have a unique way of showing affection, something that may not always resonate with countries in the West. Men are taught to be providers, to work hard for their families, pay for school fees and take care of their wife, children, siblings, parents, uncles and nephews. Love is expressed by coming home in the evening and watching football at home rather than going to the local viewing center with his buddies. The western concept of romance – buying flowers, chocolates and public displays of affection is a notion many of our community partners are not used to.
Women are taught to show love by being the homemakers. Cooking, cleaning, watching the children, serving external family when needed. Although some may find it antiquated, this is what keeps a lot of marriages alive in our partner communities.
With that, it was so beautiful to see our community partners jump at the opportunity to join our social media love campaign. This February, we asked some of our staff and community members to send a picture with a person they love and a caption of ‘what love means to you.’ The responses were beautiful.
Mustapha and his wife Mamie (pictured below) gave us the most beautiful response to our #WhatDoesLoveMeanToYou campaign. Mustapha stated, “I met my wife over 18 years ago, and I have always [tried] to be available and comfortable in my family home especially on special occasions. I make sure we eat together and spend time together.”
As effortless as that sounds, Mustapha shows us that love in the simplest form is beautiful, authentic and long lasting. A love that isn’t just about shouting from the rooftops, but rather the mundane, private and special moments shared between you and your loved ones.
But love isn’t just meant to be romantic. Love comes in all shapes and forms. For us at OneVillage Partners we witness if firsthand. The love between brothers. The deep friendship between coworkers. The selfless love between our donors and our partner communities.
Some of our favorite love stories are from our field officers and community partners. It is that selfless love that pushes our field officers to be relentless in reaching the most impacted and hard-to-access communities. Love is what motivates them to find creative ways to bring water sources in Kambama, or be dedicated to completing the Junior Secondary School in Lalehun.
We make it our duty to love and be partners in every community we go. As we continue this journey, we see how this love and commitment is reciprocated by our community partners.
We thank you for showing love to OneVillage Partners and our community members. We are deeply grateful for your partnership on this journey to reduce multi-dimensional poverty across Sierra Leone.
You can show love to our partner communities by giving to our love campaign here.