Five years after being made an honorary chief of a small town in Sierra Leone, Tony Binns has made good on his promise to support the remote African community.
The University of Otago geography department professor's links to the remote northwestern town of Kayima go back to 1974, when he lived there for almost a year, undertaking field research for his PhD on links between diamond mining and the farming sector.
Since then, Prof Binns has stayed in touch with the town and visited about 15 times, taking supplies for the local school and paying for the education of the nephew of a local chief from the age of 4.
For his continued service to the town, he was awarded honorary chieftainship in 2014.
His students were impressed when they heard about him being made a chief, and since then, they have helped him raise money for projects in the village.
''After I was made a chief, I decided that I should do something tangible for the community.
''With the help of many students taking my courses, friends and the New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women, we raised $13,000 to build a community nursery in Kayima for preschool children.''
Prof Binns said he visited the town in January and was pleased to officially open the facility.
''It is quite an impressive building. I was really quite uplifted when I saw it.
''Understandably, the whole community were delighted.
''It's an incredibly remote and poor community. The average farmer would not have more than $200 cash in a year.
''They grow enough food to feed their families, but in terms of cash in hand for anything ... they don't have enough left over as a community to build facilities like this.''
He said the country was so poor because it was still rebuilding after a civil war and an Ebola epidemic.
He was pleased his research had led him to connect and bond with the community.
''This is what I call action research.
''It's leading to some positive action. So much research goes out to one's peers in academic journals, but this is actually making a tangible impact on the community.''
Prof Binns said his next fundraising project was aimed at rebuilding the town's medical clinic.
''It's very, very basic, but it does serve quite a large population. I think that will be my next target.
''Ebola hit these communities because the health system was in such a terrible state.''
