Core Values
Compassion, Collaboration, Empowerment, Integrity
We live these values by providing free life-changing surgical care with respect for human dignity. We respect our partners and volunteers. We collaborate by educating and empowering healthcare workers with evidence-based surgical and anesthesia practices that strengthen surgical capacity.
Our Distinctive Approach
Our collaborative method empowers healthcare professionals by imparting evidence-based surgical and anesthesia practices, enhancing surgical capacity. Upholding our core values, we offer transformative surgical care at no cost, all while cherishing human dignity. We profoundly value our partners and volunteers.
The cornerstone of SLI‘s unique contribution to Sierra Leone’s healthcare system is Knowledge Transfer. This is because the healthcare sector’s deficiencies in Sierra Leone cannot be remedied by intermittent surgical missions alone. Hence, SLI is actively creating and implementing training programs designed to bolster the skills of local medical professionals, achieved via both classroom and patient bedside training sessions.
Bedside training sessions are fostered through casual exchanges between volunteers and Sierra Leonean medical professionals. Formal classroom training sessions are routinely conducted based on necessity. Moreover, for each equipment and supplies donation, we ensure technical assistance accompanies it, encompassing installation, maintenance, and training of local technicians.
Our primary focus on training guarantees sustainability and a consistent, high-quality healthcare delivery system, even after our surgical missions conclude. Moreover, SLI maintains stringent financial accountability and transparency standards.
Our Motivation
Placed 177th out of 186 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index, Sierra Leone stands as one of the world’s most impoverished countries, marked by a startling average life expectancy of only 48 years. With governmental healthcare expenditure merely accounting for 3% of the annual budget, the ability to deliver comprehensive, quality healthcare services to citizens is severely hindered. The state of healthcare in Sierra Leone has been critically deficient for a substantial duration.
The scarcity of doctors relative to patients is deeply concerning; tragically, one in four children does not reach their fifth birthday, and pregnancy often poses a mortal risk. Furthermore, a shortage of adequate healthcare resources means that easily treatable diseases often result in fatalities. The healthcare personnel comprises a meager cohort of 136 doctors (or 0.2 doctors per 10,000 people for a population nearing 7 million), supplemented by 1,017 nurses and midwives and 114 pharmacists (Source: AfriDev.Info).
Six Priority Areas for Intervention
Saving Lives Initiatives has established six key areas of focus for intervention:
- Surgical and Clinical Outreach
- Family Health
- Preventive Medicine
- Medical Equipment Supply
- Safe Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash)
- Technical Training
Feel inspired to make a difference? Join our mission today and get in touch with us to learn more about how you can contribute to transforming lives and healthcare in Sierra Leone.