Who we are

The Isatou Society focuses on raising funds for community-driven projects in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and raising awareness about the issues that affect this nation.

The Isatou Society supports grassroots-level projects that have originated in the communities they seek to assist, and have been operating independent of any outside aid for at least one year. Supported groups and projects may be in any sector, may be for-profit or non-profit, and are each independently assessed and monitered by in-country staff. Because of rural dependence upon agriculture in Sierra Leone, we favour projects that integrate issues of community health with ecological health, but all projects are considered. Projects currently supported by The Isatou Society include The Sunshine Family Social Club, and The Kono Moringa Farmer's Cooperative. If you know of a group that could use our support, please write and tell us about them!

We are a Canadian non-for-profit group, staffed entirely by volunteers and funded entirely through grants, donations and the sale of fair-trade goods featured here.

Who we aren’t

The Isatou Society is not an aid organization. We do not support the fostering of a donor-recipient mentality between Africa and the West. We do not operate independent of local communities, but with and within them. We are not affiliated with any religious or political organization.

What we do

What we don’t do

1. What does 'Isatou' mean?
2. Are your store items Fair-Trade certified?
3. Why Sierra Leone? Isn't the 'blood diamonds' thing over?
4. How can you be sure you are not imposing a Western point of view and ethic on the projects you support?
5. How do I know my money is going where you say it is?
6. Aren't you supporting a donor-donee mentality by fundraising for these projects? What about microfinance?
7. I want to support a project in Sierra Leone- why should I support a project through the Isatou Society instead of through a large agency like the UN or the World Bank?

What does 'Isatou' mean? Isatou (eye-sa-TOO) is a common girls' name in West Africa. In Sierra Leone, alternative spellings include 'Isatu' and 'Isata'- the spelling and pronounciation 'Isatou' in Sierra Leone is representative of a female who has 'lifted herself up' in life. It was chosen as the Society name because it's unique, easy to remember (after a few tries), and epitomizes the focus of the Society on honouring the fact that change comes from within a country/culture/society, not from outside of it.

Are your store items Fair-Trade certified? No, and it is unlikely that we will pursue getting certification for any items we sell. Fair-trade certification is useful for ensuring ethics when large volumes are purchased and for-profit organizations are involved. For a small non-profit, a price-tag for $250 per item for fair-trade certification is prohibitively expensive. Our items are fairly traded in the best way possible- through on the ground, face to face interactions. You can usually request the name and a photo of the person from whom the item was purchased (we have reams and reams of photographs and video!), and in the future, a video detailing our purchasing methods will be made available.

Why Sierra Leone? Isn't the 'blood diamonds' thing over? Sierra Leone is currently ranked #179 out of 179 on the UN's Human Development Index. Seven years after the end of the civil war, Sierra Leone is experiencing a mass exodus of aid organizations: child soldiers have been disarmed and rehabilitated, repatriation initiatives are almost complete, and the Kimberley Process has ensured that there is more accountability for diamond buyers and sellers. However, the average Sierra Leonean still lives on approximately $1 USD per day, in a country where prices very often approach western standards. The termination of large-scale aid Sierra Leone is not indicative of everything being 'OK'- it simply means that the country is no longer considered to be in acute crisis. With this in mind: we are working in Sierra Leone because we feel it's needed and necessary. There are other areas that are equally deserving of attention and assistance, and luckily we are not even close to the only organization doing this kind of work out there! It is possible-to-likely that we will support projects in other countries in the future, but for now, we feel we are most effective operating in a single country.

How can you be sure you are not imposing a Western point of view and ethic on the projects you support? We can't be sure, but we try really hard not to. Whereas most international organizations operating in Sierra Leone are bound by their central agency's requirement that projects be initiated by the international organization, we are exactly the opposite. We only assist initiatives that are locally formed, and have been operating independently for at least one year. It is important to us that the initiatives we support have an eye on development from a Sierra Leonean perspective, not from a Western perspective. Projects are assessed for broad ethics, methodology and accountability by the Isatou Society, but beyond that, we do not give input (beyond financial) unless requested.

How do I know my money is going where you say it is? The best way to find out is to come with us on a field trip and see for yourself! If that isn't possible, we make all our financial records publically available. Because we currently operate outside of formal charitable status, we recognize that our supporters require enhanced incentive to donate, and we are happy to provide this.

Aren't you supporting a donor-donee mentality by fundraising for these projects? What about microfinance? In a sense, yes. However, we focus on one-time inputs with a view of long-term sustainability, and make this very clear to each of our partner groups. We haven't met any group to date who would rather be dependent on foreign aid than be self-sufficient, and the complicated issues that arise with outside aid are discussed frankly and at length with our local partners. Consider any scholarships, small-business grants, stimulus cheques or low-income assistance/bursaries that you or people you know have ever received- opportunities for this type of funding are not available to 99.9% of Sierra Leoneans. We like to consider ourselves a conduit for funnelling money from the well-funded West to the under-funded developing world. With regards to microfinance, it's a great thing, but it is not a panacea. Consider also that through microfinance, local brokers conduct the financing arrangements according to national standards. In Sierra Leone, this means that interest rates through private brokers can be as high as 100% per month. While there is a place for microfinance in Sierra Leonean development, it does not make sense for everybody. For groups that find the idea of loans prohibitive, we believe that there is still a place for small grants.

I want to support a project in Sierra Leone- why should I support a project through the Isatou Society instead of through a large agency like the UN or the World Bank? It is not an either/or situation. Supporting one should not exclude the possibility of also supporting the other- it's apples and oranges. Small organizations fulfill a completely different need than large organizations do. Where the UN or WB focuses on large-scale infrastructure and multi-million dollar projects, they cannot work intimately with a single group of rural youth over a period of several years. This is what the Isatou Society does- we are friends with the gorups we work with, in constant contact, and personally as well as professionally accountable for our actions in the community. Our actions are responsive and adaptive, but are necessarily small-scale. Each type of organization has it's place!