Lion Heart Foundation

Background

Ten years ago, a passionate and driven Swiss physiotherapist, Harald Pfeiffer, made the decision to devote his life to humanitarian work in Sierra Leone after his visit to the country as a volunteer some years previously.  He and his family founded the Swiss Sierra Leone Development Foundation (SSLFD) to support his dream of constructing a much needed community hospital.  

After ten years of fundraising, obtaining permits, building and overcoming many obstacles, the Magbenteh Community Hospital in Makeni was opened at the end of January in 2006 by the President of Sierra Leone. Three Dutch doctors (two of whom were surgeons) were present at the opening of the hospital and on one hand were highly impressed by the enormous efforts of Harald Pfeiffer and the beautiful hospital building that had been constructed.  On the other hand, they were appalled by the poor living conditions and the poverty of the people living there. During their visit however, it became clear that the organization was having great difficulty in keeping the hospital operational. Not only was there a severe shortage of funds, the supply lines were very slow and extremely expensive (e.g. shipping containers), and medical staff were too few in number. At that moment only a small number of patients were receiving treatment.

Back in the Netherlands the three doctors decided to set up the Lion Heart Foundation and support the SSLDF.  The name “Lion Heart Foundation” (LHF) was chosen to underline the “leonine” courage which had prevailed during the construction of the Magbenteh hospital in one of the poorest countries in Africa, where as a sequel of the civil war, almost the complete infrastructure had been devastated. The name of the foundation also refers to the Lion Mountains range in Sierra Leone.

Objectives

The overall objectives of the Lion Heart Foundation are to permanently improve medical care and to stimulate economic activities in Sierra Leone, with the aim of achieving sustainability.

The specific objectives are as follows:

• Raise funds for the benefit of different projects and the management costs of the hospitals adopted and run by the LHF;
• Build capacity with the help of (Dutch) professionals;
• Support the medical doctors and the local medical staff by sending medical flights to the hospital on a regular basis;
• Transport materials and/or medical equipments and goods;
• Develop a sustainable financial plan by initiating economic activities - a support program for farmers, the renovation of the hydropower plant and the educational project in Yele; (see Best of Both Worlds Project)
• Advise the Swiss Sierra Leone Development Foundation.