As part of its corporate social responsibility, Orange mobile telecommunications company is investing a whooping Le5.2 billion in various health and education projects it said aim to complement the government’s efforts in providing free quality education and improving health service delivery.
Through its Orange Foundation, the company is constructing early childhood development (ECD) schools in Kambia, Moyamba and Pujehun districts, with two of those schools already completed and handed over to the government through the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education. This ECD project is costed Le1.6 billion.
In the area of health, the company is accelerating efforts aimed at reducing maternal mortality from higher levels to lower levels. In partnership with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and other partners, Orange is erecting mobile clinics manned by professionals who provide prenatal care and services in communities most vulnerable to maternal deaths. The pilot phase of this project has already begun at the Kroo Bay community and will soon be rolled out to other communities with a high incidence of maternal and child deaths. The entire project portfolio is costed at Le3.6 billion.
Besides these projects, the company is continuing its support to 50 Ebola orphans/survivors who were adopted in 2015. The support to these survivors costs the company Le235 million annually. The company is also engaged in many more social programmes which would benefit the hapless in Sierra Leone.