I was born in the beautiful city of Monrovia, Liberia. In my earliest memories as a child, the city was very peaceful. But then war broke out, and we eventually lost everything we had: peace, happiness, family members, communication, and our home.

Last year, I went to Sierra Leone on a trip with the State Department and stumbled into a problem that eats away at all the happiness of the last few weeks. I learned that in Sierra Leone, one in eight women die in childbirth.

Today, 30 adults sit in row after row of benches, some bending forward with heads propped on elbows as if they have been waiting a long time. And they have. These are community health volunteers, and they are heroes in my eyes.

Resources, leadership and long-term commitments are necessary to close persistent gender gaps and improve the rights and well-being of millions of girls around the world.

Ending the conflict minerals trade in eastern Congo and replacing it with a legitimate mining sector is an achievable goal. But it can't be accomplished by local communities, governments and advocacy groups alone.

A new threat has emerged that risks destroying Sierra Leone's untapped opportunities for sustainable development: Sand Mining.

My Africa is is a collaborative effort to follow and share the stories of change-makers in 13 cities across sub-Saharan Africa.

If anyone had ever told me just six years ago that paradise was awaiting me in the West African country of Sierra Leone, I would have never believed them.

I've learned that in order to appreciate all that this country and its people have to offer, you have to learn how not to see things here through Western eyes.

On Friday night, I land in Sierra Leone and the first important thing I do will be to gather my son Tejan in my arms and hope that this is last time he will be greeting me, instead of accompanying me, to Africa.

This Mother's Day, we are offering cards on our site to fund surgeries for women in need. In honor of mothers all over the world who work hard to take care of their families each day, Samahope enables anyone to give the gift of saving a woman's life.

The Peace Project is not just a social movement currently doing work in Sierra Leone, Africa -- it's a very personal project and I've seen (and experienced) in the most tangible and fantastic ways the power it has to transform lives, starting with my own.

Human-rights activist John Caulker was convinced that within the broken traditions of his native country -- the culture of vital connection, of truth-telling and forgiveness -- lay the seeds of reconciliation. He knew that virtually everyone in Sierra Leone longed for reconciliation.

We have big plans for Tribewanted in 2012, a new location and the launch of a new platform and membership structure, which calls me back to Europe.