Sierra Leone was hit by an Ebola outbreak last year. But while the World Health Organization has declared Sierra Leon as Ebola-free, they have still yet to recover from the effects that the health crisis brought to them. The Sensi Tech Hub launched by Morris Marah could be one answer to that.
Morris Marah worked for the Sierra Leonean High Commission in London during the height of the Ebola crisis and felt he badly needed to help his country. Marah said, "I felt, sitting in London there wasn't much I could do from that far away. I wanted desperately to come out here and see how I could be useful."
So he built a technology, an SMS-based platform that broadcasts to more than 500,000 people weekly information and advice on how to avoid contracting the disease .The SMS-based platform he made is called Sensi.
Sensi provided satisfactory results during the outbreak. And because of this he was inspired to find ways in bringing his country's tech community to rebuild their economy. Although the community is small, it is comprised of talented individuals. Marah said, "Sierra Leone is a unique country, and a very resilient one. They've been through a civil war and bounced back. They've been through an unimaginable public health crisis, and I'm sure they'll bounce back from that."
Marah launched the first technology hub in Freetown, The Sensi Tech Hub. According to CNN, the Sensi Tech Hub exists to help young businesses be visible, young programmers to create new things, and to assist young designers, inventors and entrepreneurs to get advice and to attach to mentors. Technology has affected lives in so many ways. The Sensi Hub is partly funded by the U.K.-based Indigo Foundation.
Sensi's founders hope that the small tech community could help the country's current economic crisis. Since, it played a big part in helping the country during the outbreak.