Sierra Leone (see-air-uh lee-ohn) is a small country on the west coast "hump" of Africa (see map below), latitude 7°00 and 10°00 North and longitudes 10°50 and 13°00 West. It is bounded on the North-West and North-North-East by the Republic of Guinea. This boundary was agreed with the French government in 1885. On the South-East it is bounded by Liberia and this frontier was agreed in 1882 and finally settled in 1911. The country has some 300 miles of coastline on the South-West. Sierra Leone, originally "Sierra Lyoa", means Lion Mountains.

Early Sierra Leone (SL) history is very unclear. What is known is that most of the people groups that make up SL today arrived in the country around and after 1400. Sierra Leone was first visited by Portuguese navigators in the 1400's. By the 17th century British traders became increasingly prominent in SL.

In the 1780's land was bought from local chiefs by English philanthropists who established settlements for freed slaves. The land purchased, including what is now Freetown and the entire peninsular area in the western part of the country, became a British Colony in 1808. The rest of the country became a British protectorate in 1896. The entire country was declared independent within the Commonwealth in 1961 with Sir Milton Margai as the first Prime Minister. Sierra Leone became a republic in 1971 with Siaka Stevens as the first president. The current elected president is Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. The recent coup (which overthrew the Kabbah government) has been removed from power and the Kabbah government is back in. The Sierra Leone News Page keeps a good account of the history of Sierra Leone and its present conflict.

When SOS-Kinderdorf International planned to start the construction of SOS Children's Villages in Africa as well, one of the first countries to be chosen was Sierra Leone. The Project Director visited the country in order to start the SOS Children's Village work there. After necessary negotiations, the construction of the first SOS Children's Village in Sierra Leone started in 1973. It was on the outskirts of the capital, Freetown. The project was going to comprise fifteen family houses, one Village Director's house and one community house as well as one SOS Kindergarten (with two classrooms). Today, the Village  is a home to 177 children and youths who are well catered for.

Ten years after the establishment of the first Village, plans were underway for the construction of the second SOS Children's Village in Bo situated in the South-West, about three miles from the outskirts of Bo Town, on the Bo-Tikonko Highway. In February 1983, the construction work was completed and the first children moved into this village. It had eight family houses, one clinic, one guest house, one SOS Kindergarten, one farm, one pig-breeding project and one small SOS Youth Village consisting of one house for girls (two buildings) and one house for Boys (one single building and one duplex building). The SOS Children's Village in Bo, which is located in Towama, is currently a home to 129 children and youths.