about us 

From colonial occupation to independence… From authoritarian rule to democracy… From civil war to nascent peace… The story of life in Sierra Leone has been one of tragedy and starting anew. 

This West African country, home to seven million people, is one of the poorest in the world. Basic essentials such as electricity, clean water, and education are unavailable to much of the population. Many people still carry deep-seated trauma borne from the brutal civil conflict, the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and ongoing gender violence.

Beate Ebert, a licensed clinical psychologist from Germany, learned the gravity of the situation in Sierra Leone at a conference in [2010]. There, during a presentation by author Sarah Culberson, Beate became inspired to visit Sierra Leone herself. The country lacked mental health infrastructure, and Beate knew she had something to offer. 

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During her first trip to Sierra Leone, Beate met Father Peter Konteh, the leader of the Caritas foundation in Freetown. Father Peter recognized the need for psychological support within his community and was eager to collaborate with Beate. In the first workshop arranged by Father Peter, Beate trained participants in a method of therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is an empirically supported psychotherapy for patients suffering from a wide range of mental and physical conditions, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

 

Out of the 30 workshop participants from NGOs around Sierra Leone, a young social worker stood out. Hannah Bockarie, herself a survivor of trauma from the civil war, was eager to apply and share ACT within her community. From then on, Hannah was a transformative member of Commit and Act. She started working as a volunteer. In 2014, Hannah registered the Commit and Act Foundation Sierra Leone as an independent local NGO. Although she was the only staff member back then, as of 2021, Hannah is now Country Director and supervises over 55 employees.

 

Ever since meeting one another, Hannah and Beate have been visionary partners. They empower each other in a very unique way and have empower other volunteers to do the same which led to a new chapter starting in Colombia in 2024 after Carolina Gaviria met with Andrea Villarreal to talk about her work with domestic violence victims in Colombia and Carolina shared the work CAA has dome over the past decade in Sierra Leone.

 

Carolina and Andrea both graduated as psychologists and have worked in different fields of psychology since 2000. Carolina was interested in learning more about her work with victims of domestic violence for over 20 years and the workbook she wrote and serves as aid for a community of over 350 women in the city of Chia, Cundinamarca near Bogota, Colombia. After sharing with her the work that we have supported Hannah do in Sierra Leone, she showed interest in learning more about prosocial and we discussed the possibility of providing services there based on CAA’s mission and vision.

 

Also, through some work-related meetings Carolina met Juan Estrada, PhD and a recent graduate from Utah University whose family is originally from Colombia and wanted to give back to his country. He also shared about his interest in providing Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) trainings and webinars to some of the women in Colombia and professionals interested in ACT donating the profits towards the Colombia chapter. He has experience as a teacher and was an active participant at the ACT clinic in his university in Utah. Both of their personal and professional experiences were key to the start-up of our new chapter!

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