Without some form of intervention breaking the poverty cycle, a child born in one of the poorest regions of the world is unlikely to have access to formal education, quite likely to be impoverished, and will probably not live beyond their forties.

According to the 2005 UNDP Human Development Index, Sierra Leone is rated as one of the most disadvantaged countries in the world. During the years 1991 through 2002 Sierra Leone suffered a horrific civil conflict characterized by child conscription to war, rape, and amputations, amongst other methods of torture, which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians and the displacement of more than 2 million people (over one third of the population).

CAUSE Kids is being implemented in the Koinadugu District, Sierra Leone. Koinadugu is both the largest and poorest district in Sierra Leone. People in Koinadugu have the lowest access to water, sanitation and health services. The roads that link villages together are battered and very difficult to travel. CAUSE is currently working in all 11 Chiefdoms of the district. Being the poorest district in one of the poorest countries in the world – the children in Koinadugu are truly the poorest of the poor.

The student population in this region exceeds 50,000 children and youth. Tragically, however, not all of these students are able to attend school due to extreme poverty within the family or because of their domestic / farming chores for which they are responsible. Further, many children in this region have been orphaned due to disease and war; extended family members have taken in these children to provide them with basic necessities. Education for these children can be costly, especially due to the added expense to families who have taken in orphaned relatives. Further, there are extremely high child mortality rates in the region due to lack of quality health care and nutrition.