We have adopted schools in Yonibana to provide educational sponsorship to students from secondary to graduate level. We are extremely proud that, our hospital is the only one in Sierra Leone that provides free treatment to whoever walks through its doors. 85,000 patients later, we are now taking on the mammoth plan to build a sustainable hospital. We want to ensure anyone who needs treatment can come to us without having to think or worry about finances. When you are in pain, you certainly don’t need additional stresses. We simply ask for your compassion and generosity to help us make our vision of hope a reality.
We have a sponsorship scheme in place and continue to support professional development, ranging from doctors, nurses, health workers, social workers, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, accountants, teachers and agriculturalists. More than a decade after the construction of Yonibana Sai Hospital, we are now expanding the hospital to ensure it meets the growing needs of the communities that depend on it.
From the age of 10 to graduate level re currently sponsored by us including accommodation, transport and food costs. Allowing them to have a livelihood and support their future families
They return to work at Yonibana Sai Hospital
Our volunteers are truly invested in providing the best education possible, and understand the importance of mental wellbeing.
Our full sponsorship program provides students’ academic education, training as well as looking after their spiritual and emotional needs. All our students are made aware of the importance of prevention over treatment of diseases. Our continuing professional development training includes empathetic communications skills, time keeping, professionalism and hygiene.
What we are planning to build?
As the needs of the community grow, we need your support to construct a maternity, pharmacy and dental unit.
Our vision
To develop the current hospital to a model of medical excellence, be environmentally sustainable and empower locals with job opportunities by investing in skills development. As well as responding to the immediate needs of the population, we commit to train local staff, to allow them to eventually become self-sufficient. These extended buildings will be placed concentrically around the park and connected by a sheltered walkway. The layout will allow future expansion and growth as per the community needs. More than a decade after the construction of Yonibana Sai Hospital, we are now expanding the hospital to ensure it meets the growing needs of the communities that depend on it. We are extremely proud that, our hospital is the only one in Sierra Leone that provides free treatment to whoever walks through its doors. 85,000 patients later, we are now taking on the mammoth plan to build a sustainable hospital. We want to ensure anyone who needs treatment can come to us without having to think or worry about finances. When you are in pain, you certainly don’t need additional stresses. We simply ask for your compassion and generosity to help us make our vision of hope a reality.
With your support, we aim to construct new buildings specifically for each of the following specialties:
Outdoor pathways and seating areas will surround the park to build a connection with the interior and exterior. The buildings will break the distinction between the various zones, creating a unity between the park and the internal hospital environment.
On the fringes of the grounds, will be a vegetable garden together with a fruit orchard and support units that will bring education, employment and a sense of wellbeing, promoting a Better Lives Foundation for the local community.
Once complete, it will continue to provide top quality free healthcare for the people of Sierra Leone and neighbouring countries. It will become a Centre of Excellence in training:
The challenge of this expansion project is to combine the practical requirements of a surgical hospital in Africa with the desire to create a modern piece of architecture which is firmly embedded in tradition.
Sponsors or corporate donations
If you would like to sponsor a building or area, please email us at info@betterlivesfoundation.org.
We want to utilise natural resources given to us by Mother Earth; water, sun and earth itself.
The hospital will be built using the excavated land from our site to build the load-bearing walls with the “rammed earth” construction technique, using compressed raw earth mixture which will give the building sufficient thermal inertia to keep temperature and humidity constant inside. The great advantage is that the material is available locally, and there’s no need for cement or highly specialised workers. An eye on sustainability, right from the construction phase!
Born from the earth, the building will get its energy from the sun, with solar panels and wind turbines to provide all the energy the hospital needs. The system will ensure that the hospital has an autonomous electricity supply during the day. It could also be possible to connect the local nearby village of Yonibana to provide energy when consumption is low.
Underground water through existing and new bore wells will provide for the hospital’s needs, allowing it to be a self-reliant independent entity.
By improving the lumbering process, locally sourced eucalyptus trees – normally used only for roof trusses and scaffolding because it tends to shrink, twist and crack – will be turned into a sturdy enough material to be used for the main roof structures.
On our site the hospital will be surrounded by nature and trees. The greenery will be the close horizon of its residents, and the park like setting a metaphor for their healing process.
The backbone of Better Lives Foundation is based on the five human values of: Love, Truth, Peace, Right Conduct and Non-violence.
The project is a sign of the symbolic importance of this ethos, taking the five human values to generate and implement the master plan for the hospital.
At the heart of the project will lay a fountain, with a lotus flower. Connected to this will be informal parkland with five formal gardens to symbolise each human value.
Free medical treatment, excellence of care, and training local staff are the founding principles of Better Lives Foundation’s work.
Your support is vital to the success of our vision.
We need assistance with
Input your search keywords and press Enter.