August 2026 Newsletter

Service and Compassion in Action

In This Month's Issue:

Epilepsy Refresher Training for CHWs: HIRF recently completed epilepsy refresher training for Community Health Workers. Hear directly from CHWs about how the training is increasing awareness and helping improve epilepsy care in their communities.
New Blog Series Announced: Our new blog series highlights the health facilities where HIRF works and the dedicated healthcare workers providing vital services.
Digital Training Tool: HIRF is expanding its epilepsy work with the new HIRF Epilepsy Learning and Resource Center, an online platform designed to strengthen and expand training for Community Health Workers.

You can learn more about our organization by visiting our website hirf.net.

Community Health Workers Turn Epilepsy Training Into Action

Across Sierra Leone, Community Health Workers (CHW) are helping turn epilepsy training into action. Following intensive training in Bombali, Bo and Pujehun districts, CHWs are now identifying people with possible epilepsy, making referrals, supporting medication adherence and helping families better understand that epilepsy is a medical condition that can be treated and managed.

The project, funded by the Rotary Foundation and implemented by Healey International Relief Foundation (HIRF), the ROW Foundation and the Epilepsy Association of Sierra Leone (EASL), has trained 31 CHWs across the three districts. Knowledge scores increased from an average of 73.2 percent before training to 91.9 percent afterward, and all participating CHWs reported feeling confident providing seizure first aid.

The effort is also reaching young people. Sixty teachers have been trained, epilepsy awareness activities have taken place in 32 schools, and more than 18,600 pupils, teachers, administrators, parents and community members have received information about epilepsy. These activities are helping challenge longstanding misconceptions and reduce the stigma that can prevent people from seeking care.

Refresher trainings held in August are helping CHWs build on what they have learned and share the challenges and successes they are experiencing in their communities.

Read the full story to learn how training, community outreach, and continued support are helping strengthen epilepsy care in Sierra Leone

👉Click here to read our most recent blog on this project.

New Blog Series to Highlight Impact of HIRF Work in Strengthening Health Care in Sierra Leone

HIRF is launching a new blog series, Strengthening Care: Stories from Sierra Leone’s Health Facilities, highlighting the impact of our work to strengthen health care across the country. Each story will focus on one facility, the healthcare workers who keep it running, the communities it serves, and the ways HIRF’s support is helping address both immediate needs and longer-term challenges.

We kick off the series at Monsignor Daniel Sullivan Clinic in Newton, a facility HIRF built in 2015 that now serves approximately 25 surrounding communities. HIRF’s support has continued to evolve over the years, from helping establish the clinic to strengthening access to medicines, supplies and other resources needed to deliver quality care.

During a recent visit with our partner IHP, we spoke with Mariama, the Community Health Officer in charge, about the realities of providing care in a busy rural clinic and the difference reliable access to essential medicines can make. “Before, patients would come and we would have to send them away to look for medicines,” she explained. “We now have the medicines in the facility.”

Read the first story in the series to learn more about Sullivan Clinic, the progress being made, and the challenges that remain.

Click to Read The First Story In Our New Blog Series

Coming Soon - HIRF Develops Digital Epilepsy Training Tool

With funding from Helping Children Worldwide and developed in partnership with Lectiuro, an organization specializing in digital training, HIRF will soon launch the HIRF Epilepsy Learning and Resource Center. This online platform will provide continued learning and resources for Community Health Workers (CHWs) who have participated in HIRF’s epilepsy training, while also helping expand training to CHWs in additional districts. The platform includes a series of training modules and knowledge assessments, creating a flexible way to strengthen skills, train more CHWs, and ultimately reach more communities with accurate information and support for people living with epilepsy.

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