ExclusiveAmputations during the civil war and polio outbreaks have left thousands of people in Sierra Leone in need of crutches.

This year, to mark International Peace Day on September 21st, an innovative project will be distributing 10,000 pairs of crutches in a single day from various locations across the West African country. The event is being called Operation Rise.

Founder Lisa Schultz, who runs an online creative community called TheWhole9.com, was so moved by photos of Sierra Leone’s amputee soccer team she founded The Peace Project, which started as an international art competition about peace. When Lisa arrived in Sierra Leone to create “The Peace Wall,” she noticed many people in need of crutches.

“I was heartbroken to see so many men, women and children that were either crawling around on the ground or almost unable to move because they didn’t have crutches or because what they were using was so makeshift or broken down,” Schultz says.

She decided that something should be done and Operation Rise was born.

“I realized the incredible energetic shift and social and psychological impact getting 10,000 people on their feet on one day would have on the morale of the country. And I knew that to engage people worldwide in caring about a problem caused by a war that ended 10 years ago, we had to do something big that would engage their imagination,” Schultz adds.

She and her team went on to raise roughly $250,000 for Operation Rise from crowd funding, fundraising events, private donors, corporate donors and family foundations.

Sierra Leone’s civil war ended a decade ago and since then the country has been fairly peaceful. It remains, however, very near the bottom of the United Nations’ human development index. Providing decent, accessible and affordable healthcare is one of many challenges for the government. Reliable statistics are difficult to come by, but there are many thousands of people in Sierra Leone crippled by either war wounds or polio.

After meeting the country’s director of UNICEF on a plane, Schultz realized she needed further help from the organization to clear crutches and other mobility aids through customs and Sierra Leone’s Community Association for Psychosocial Services, a group that works with victims of the civil war.

“I know that being able to take care of oneself and one’s family is the first step to sustainable peace and that personal mobility is the first step in that,” she says.

To ensure the project is sustainable Lisa is putting in place repair facilities throughout Sierra Leone to provide a low cost way to manufacture crutch tips prolonging the lives of the crutches and the freedom and accessibility they provide for their owners.

Images: Lisa Schultz images by Stephen D. Lawrence, amputee soccer images by Pep Bonet/NOOR

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Editor’s Note: Thanks to you, we are feeling the love. To show our gratitude, we are profiling some of our most cherished readers who often stop by to see what we have cooking on the site. Please make them feel welcome by saying hello!

Award winning photographer, filmmaker and conservationist Beverly Joubert has been working in Africa with her husband Dereck for 30 years. Together they are explorers in residence at the National Geographic Society. The Jouberts spend years at a time living in remote bush camps in Botswana tracking animals to film and photograph. Their work focuses on big cats and their goal is to inspire others to take care of the planet. In 2008 they founded The Big Cats Initiative as an effort to stop the decline of big cats in Africa. Their latest film The Last Lions premiered this year in cinemas around the US.  with all profits from the film going to conservation. Two DVDs called Living With Big Cats and Big Cat Odyssey are to be released this year. To further educate and promote their mission the Jouberts recently expanded into conservation tourism through their company Great Plains Conservation.

Name: Beverly Joubert

Website: www.wildlifeconservationfilms.com

What do you like reading about on EcoSalon?
EcoSalon is making people so much more conscious. There are so many good articles. One jumped out at me about plastics in the ocean. It is really important to bring that to the table. And also the article about young Sarah Outen rowing across the oceans – each ocean is different and she will be learning the value of each one.

Tell me a little bit about your work?
We have been working in particular areas of Africa for 30 years and we have watched the areas transform, and not for the better. The animals have been diminishing. Ninety five percent of the cats have gone over a 50 year period – about the time we have been alive. Every film or book we make acts as a platform for big cats. Our last feature film ‘The Last Lions’ we named provocatively so we could start having the conversation.

What is your environmental philosophy?
Big cats are the most sexy species. But by protecting land for lions you are protecting it for everything else too. And by protecting wilderness areas we are protecting ourselves because most of these areas are the lungs of the world.

What inspires you to keep going?
The younger generation is really enthusiastic. It seems that they don’t just think as they have been taught but they are truly innovative. As explorers we have always had to think outside the box and be innovative. We are getting letters from tiny little kids saying how much they love lions. They truly understand and have ideas of how to help.

When are you happiest?
We found a baby elephant drowning in a man made mud pool and Dereck and I worked all night to try and save the little animal. We only intervene if it (the problem) is man made. It was intensely rewarding in the end. The mother cow came running down when the baby was out and she was fondling him. She didn’t even try and charge us. That was the most rewarding and beautiful moment I have ever had.

Image: Dereck and Beverly Joubert

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Editor’s Note: Thanks to you, we are feeling the love. To show our gratitude, we are profiling some of our most cherished readers who often stop by to see what we have cooking on the site. Please make them feel welcome by saying hello!

Sarah Outen, was the youngest person and first woman to row solo across the Indian Ocean. Now, at age 26, she’s set off again on a solo adventure to do a human-powered-only loop of the globe which she calls London2London. Leaving London on April 1st, Outen has kayaked across the Channel to France and is now cycling across Europe and Asia, then will kayak to Japan and from Japan row across the Pacific. Her final leg will include a cycle across America and row across the Atlantic to finish in London two and half years after she left. She is raising money for four charities: CoppaFeel, The Jubilee Sailing Trust, MND Association and Water Aid.

Name: Sarah Outen

Website: www.sarahouten.com

What topics do you like reading about on EcoSalon?

My internet time is so limited at the moment but I love the news & culture section. I am interested in all things about the environment.

What other websites do you like visiting and what do you like reading about on the web?

I usually look at the news when I am away it is good to catch up. I also like to catch up on other adventurers. At the moment I am following my friend Roz Savage who is in the Indian Ocean (she is currently rowing solo from Australia to India). I am hoping once we get some communications problems sorted out with a satellite broadband terminal I will have more time online.

Tell us a little bit about your expedition’s website.

I have a blog archive you can go back and read so it doesn’t matter when you join the journey. There is a journey tracker to show you exactly where I have got to. I will be updating it with more photos and videos soon.

Do you consider yourself to be an eco-conscious individual?

Definitely. Traveling the way I am by bike and rowing across oceans focuses you on sustainability. You need to think of your own energy – do I have enough water and food? I am very connected with how much waste I am producing. Every night I collect my trash and then in the morning have to find a bin. Then 1km down the road you see the massive rubbish tip. In the boat you have all your trash for six months with you. I love traveling this way – you’re so close to the landscape and wildlife and feel every bit of the journey. I have a really intimate connection with everything around me. It is unique.

What inspires you to keep going when things get tough?
I use memories of people to motivate me. Mostly the solution is found by breaking the task up into tiny tiny steps and moving forward little by little. It’s just about keeping the balance stacked up with positives.

When are you happiest?

At the end of a day’s cycling I love getting the tent up, sitting back and feeling content. Although other times I am very happy buzzing along making the miles and thinking ‘I am doing this.’

Image: Vikki Rimmer

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