The Village Link began its journey more than three decades ago when RoseAnn Rotandaro, the Founder and Executive Director of The Village Link, joined Peace Corps. Assigned to Sierra Leone, she grew very fond of the country and especially, the pastoral village of Golu, tucked away near the Sewa River. In 1990, a brutal civil war erupted in Sierra Leone that lasted eleven years, killing an estimated 50,000 and leaving the country’s infrastructure in demise. Many villages in the vicinity of Golu were destroyed. Eleven years after the war ended, Ms. Rotandaro – at this time an attorney representing high-tech companies in Silicon Valley – returned to Sierra Leone with hopes that the place and people she had grown to love decades earlier had survived the atrocities committed. She harbored a particular hope that the Fillie family, who lived with her in her Peace Corps provided house, were still alive and well.

The village of Golu and the Fillie family survived. Repeated rebel invasions during the war period had forced villagers to flee their homes; Mr. Fillie lost his job as the head teacher in the village. Like many, the Fillies escaped into the bush and existed by subsistent farming methods. But the villagers resettled Golu after the war ended. The older ones remembered Ms. Rotandaro and welcomed her warmly. This profound human connection led to the idea of using computers, technology, and the Internet as development tools in places like Golu. Ms. Rotandaro returned to California, resigned from her law practice, and started The Village Link, a 501(c)3 registered nonprofit organization.

For more information on Sierra Leone and why TVL has chosen to focus on education and entrepreneurship, check out these statistics.