Vänföreningen Portee (vfPortee) is a non-profit organization which strive to have minimal administrative costs and who pay all follow-up trips to the area with their own resources. The number of members of the organization is 350.

vfPortee, founded 2004 is based in Sweden, and work with structured development efforts in Sierra Leone since 2007. The focus for the organization is education for children and young adults and health care for children together with projects focusing on children’s rights. The organization run a pre-school and primary school in Portee, a small village very close to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. The school in Portee has 450 students, (350 in the primary level, 100 in nursery level) of which 158 are sponsor children.

Over the past few years, the availability of electricity and clean water has become a problem, not only in Portee but throughout the entire country. Foreign companies largely control the electricity and water supply. Reportedly, the country's government has not paid bills to these companies on time, which has led to periodic severe limitations in electricity and water supply. For two weeks in April, there was no electricity available at all. The installation of solar panels and the drilling of a well for the School will improve life quality for many people. 

School lunches are essential and the School feeding project must continue

For a long time, vfPortee have identified school lunches as a cornerstone of the support needed for children in Portee. Families struggle to regularly provide meals for their children at home. With an average income of 2 dollars/day, most families can only offer cooked meals at home two-three times a week. The number of malnourished children is increasing, leading to more infections and other diseases associated with malnutrition. The school lunches are served two-three times a week and can therefore be seen as lifesaving.

In 2001, the founder of the Friendship Association Portee, Lotta Elf, was in Gambia to participate in an international school project. During the trip, she came in contact with Mr. Alieu Mansaray at the school, who at that time, along with his wife and children, had fled his home country of Sierra Leone due to the ongoing civil war.  

Lotta heard about Mr. Mansaray's vision that one day be able to return to Sierra Leone and start a school in his hometown, for the most vulnerable children. Email addresses were exchanged, and Lotta wished Mr. Mansaray good luck with his vision.  

Several years later, there came a surprising announcement. Mr. Mansaray and his family had now been able to return to their homeland. A small school with eight students was now up and running in place in Portee. The vision had been fulfilled. Over the years, Mr. Mansaray and Lotta continued to keep in touch, and the number of students increased. Lotta chose to establish a Swedish organization with the purpose of supporting the school on a smaller scale.

When the school was to receive its official name, Mr. Mansaray wished the school to be named 'Lotta Elf Primary School,' which also became the name the school carries to this day. 

Together with the board of the newly formed organization back in Sweden, efforts were made to send supplies to the school in Portee, as the need for materials such as exercise books and pens could not be met in the country after the war.

It was at such an occasion, when Mr. Mansaray stands at the post office in Freetown, ready to pick up the package from Sweden, that the unlikely happens. In the queue, just behind him, stands a young medical student from Sweden who is in the country to work with Doctors Without Borders. Her name was Sofia, and when Sofia sees that Mr. Mansaray is receiving a package from Sweden, she taps on his shoulder and asks how this came about. At this time, just after the war, there was almost no contact between Sweden and Sierra Leone. 

Mr. Mansaray tells her the story and invites Sofia to come to the school. That same evening, Lotta receives a phone call. It's a young woman named Sofia telling her that she visited a school where the students wear the name Lotta Elf on their school uniforms. - "You have to come here. The children have a right to see you, and I think you need to meet them and see your own school.  

In 2007, Lotta travelled to Sierra Leone for the first time. A journey that changed lives, not only for her but for all of us who, in various ways, have had the privilege to be part of the project.

Sierra Leone, located on the west coast of Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is home to around 6.5 million people, half, of which are children. The life expectancy is approximately 50 years, the infant mortality is one of the world’s highest with over 10 % mortality among newborns. Around 75 % of the population is estimated to live in the slum. 

Between 1991–2002 a civil war raged the country which completely ravaged the entire structure of the society. During the period 2014–2016 the country was largely affected by the Ebola virus epidemic which also forced all public institutions and schools to shut down their activities. Not to mention the regular natural disasters that affects Sierra Leone.

As late as 2017 a large residential area was covered with huge masses of clay and mud after heavy rain and the general problems with erosion. UNICEF concludes in their report that catastrophes like these strongly affects mental health, not least for the children that are forced to witness these traumatic events without any possibility of help processing them.