(Kailahun, Sierra Leone) – February, 2008 – Access Point Africa is pleased to inform the general public that Internet access is now available to the Kailahun Community thanks to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the American People.

Kailahun District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone is over 200 miles from Freetown and borders Kono, Kenema and Liberia. It has an estimated population of 87,000. At the onset and during the rebel war Kailahun was home to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), and the town and its people experienced the depth and breadth of RUF brutality.

In an effort to assist in post war reconstruction and the peace process USAID will open the first internet café in the region. This technology will connect a sometimes forgotten district to the rest of the country. USAID and local implementing partner Mano River Women’s Peace Network (MARWOPNET) using technology from AccessPoint Africa have brought the internet to one of the most underdeveloped parts of Sierra Leone.

A group of 20 local women from Kailahun will be trained by MARWOPNET to manage the internet café as well as use it to generate income for themselves and their community.

Computer Frontiers, Inc. a contractor for USAID, under the Mano River Union Connecting Civil Society Organizations, selected the bid by AccessPoint Africa to establish Internet Access in Kailahun. AccessPoint Africa was the first to bring public internet access to Bo District and now APA is first in Kailahun. AccessPoint Africa is “Connecting the Continent”.
 

Press Contact:
Vickie Remoe-Doherty
AccessPoint Africa Inc.
+232 33 306111
Vickie@apafrica.com