Mission Statement: A Grande Design Inc. exists to empower persons on the margins of society to integrate into communities in healthy productive ways.

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We are a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization based in Lanham, Maryland USA. We were established in 2015.We partnered with a local Church and started an ESL English as a Second Language program. We taught many students of all different ethnic backgrounds. Classes were taught once a week at the Church that we facilitated. Also, we have been involved heavily with Immigration assistance for newly arrived residents in the USA. We also work with individuals and families looking to obtain Green Cards and Citizenship. We help with paperwork, consultation, and even preparing individuals for their Citizenship test. In the future we would like to have sewing classes, computer training, and resume writing workshops all towards giving people a felling of self-sufficiency.

 

Having been born and raised in Sierra Leone I have always wanted to find a way to give back to my people and my homeland. I immigrated to the United States in 1998 but have never forgotten my roots. With the help of my husband, we started A Grande Design in 2015.

 

We are now embarking on our first overseas project which is building El-Rapha medical clinic in Sierra Leone West Africa. This clinic will serve 17 landlocked villages of approximately 2000 people of the GBO Chiefdom, BO District Fagoyah Village and the neighboring chiefdoms that are closer to us than BO. The clinic will be about 3000 square feet and consist of 19 rooms including a children’s ward, male and female ward’s, labor ward, surgical theater and more. These villages are in a non-motorable area, and the sick must be carried in hammocks sometimes up to 10 miles for the nearest clinic to receive treatment. Pregnant women having to walk to hopefully make it to a clinic to give birth some don’t make it and give birth in the bush. Sierra Leone has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world whereas 70 infants’ deaths occur per 1000 live child births. The main causes of infant death are tetanus, fevers, measles, and diarrhea. On a recent trip to begin the foundation I had the unfortunate experience of seeing 3 children under the age of five pass away in a 2-month period.  Also, I witnessed two Brothers on a motorcycle transporting their deceased Brother between them to their village for his burial from the nearby clinic which was eight miles away. This clinic will focus on prenatal and post-natal care, malaria treatment, typhoid, basic wound care, eye care, training, and early prevention of some of these diseases etc.

 

The foundation for the main clinic was laid and a three-bedroom staff quarter had begun construction when Covid and the rainy season set in. Work has been put on hold but as of January 2022 work has begun again. We have decided to convert one bedroom in the staff quarter to a makeshift clinic to operate 2 or 3 days a week while we continue to raise funds for the main clinic. The people of the villages are in desperate need of medical treatment, and we have heard their cries. As of right now the staff quarter is almost 90% complete. We are seeking government assistance with staffing, medicine, and medical equipment to get it up to standard to begin operation.

 

Government is in the process of constructing a road that will lead to these villages. When the road is complete, we would like to have and ambulance on standby for an emergency’s that we can’t handle. Also, two mobile healthcare motorcycles on hand that can go deep into the villages equipped to do temporary inquires on any sickness and training how to prevent some of these illnesses.