Whether reconstructing a war-torn community, cleaning up after a natural disaster, or resettling displaces refugees; World Relief is active in creating places of refuge for the world’s poor. Since 1979, we have helped resettle over 186,000 refugees across the U.S.

Life Changing Testimonies

The war came to the village of Fandu where Thomas lives in Sierra Leone, Africa, in the middle of the night a decade ago. The rebels burned three houses belonging to his family. They walked five days to cross into Guinea and arrived at a refugee camp empty-handed. “We didn’t take anything,” recalled Thomas.

Then one year ago, the announcement came that the war was over and the Sierra Leonean refugees would be repatriated from the camp back to their home villages. After a month-long journey that included stops at one other refugee camp in Guinea and two camps in Sierra Leone, Thomas and his family finally returned to their home. Many houses were destroyed and the cocoa plantation was ruined and overgrown by the jungle. “After some time, World Relief came to our rescue,” he explained, helping the community reconstruct 86 homes. “We are all working together with them.

Each shelter beneficiary makes their own house with World Relief providing key materials for construction, like zinc sheeting for the roof. The red mud block walls of the new house Thomas and his family will live in have reached their full height, and long poles that will be used for rafters lean against nearby trees. Once the World Relief sawing team visits Fandu to make wood planks, Thomas and his children will eagerly finish the house.