Hi, my name is Amy. I never thought this is something i would need to be doing for some of the most beautiful people i have ever had the pleasure to meet and spend time with.

During my long trip to Sierra Leone from December 2024 to February 2025, i was introduced to some amazing bunch of people; the residents at Lewis Street, by Dundas Street, in Freetown. I was there visiting family, my younger sister & close friend turned sister and aunt, who also live in this compound.

I can say that i have never met a group of people who live in harmony, are supportive of each other & love so deeply as these, It's not common but they proved that it exists.

Yesterday, Tuesday 18th February, i received the devastating news from my little sister (a very muffled 4 seconds WhatsApp voicenote actually) that their home and all the homes in that compound were engulfed in flames. I speed-walked out of my meeting and made that dreaded phone call home to hear the harrowing cries of my little sister and those stood close by.

They lost everything! Every home i vividly recall that housed young families, single occupants, every home on that tiny plot of land including their contents, burnt to the ground! Where do they start from? Livelihoods of people who didn't have much to start with, lost. The education of young adults who only wanted to better themselves and that of the little children has been disrupted. Some people had been working tirelessly to gather the rent for the next year, college student paying her own way through was due to pay her next fee instalment, and all that cash burned in the fires. The tailor who set up shop just in front of the compound watched as his business is destroyed by the fires.

No lives were lost and we thank God! But, if you know the economic situation in Sierra Leone, you would know that there is no quick or easy solution to these types of issues.

All they escaped with was the clothes on their backs. They've been forced to find emergency temporary accommodation; this means squatting with a friend or relative near or far from the community they've been a part of.

The compound housed 12 people, including multiple children all under 12 years, in multiple structures.

The money raised will help the people of this compound to hopefully find and rent new homes for the next year or two (depending upon what the landlord is asking for). We don't yet have the exact figures of what the rent would be for a new home (for anyone who requests this support) but we are on the search right now (the housing situation is not the easiest to navigate in Sierra Leone) and i'll update you as soon as possible. We will be supporting with a lump sum of cash to those who lost their business to start again and start the long road to getting back on their feet and become self-sufficient again. We also want to support them to get food provisions, basic things like clothing, toiletries etc.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your kindness towards these beautiful people.