Sierra Leone, a country on the southwest coast of West Africa, has ranked as one of the worst in the world for maternal mortality rates for many years.
Due to the aftermath of an 11-year civil war and ongoing health injustice, Sierra Leone’s maternal mortality rate in 2020 was 1 in 52 women dying in pregnancy or childbirth. At the same time, the United States had a maternal mortality rate of 1 in 3,800, and the United Kingdom had a rate of 1 in 5,200, according to Partners in Health Sierra Leone.
Significant improvements have been made in recent years, but a groundbreaking milestone is sure to expand maternal and infant care drastically in the region: The grand opening of the Paul E. Farmer Maternal Center of Excellence.
Since 2014, global health nonprofit Partners in Health has been working with local health officials to improve maternal health care in the area, including adding a blood bank and pharmacy next to an existing maternal ward, training nursing and midwifery staff, and improving access to family planning.
But the demand required a more audacious plan: Opening a maternal health hospital specifically designed to provide the critical care at-risk mothers and their newborns need.
The MCOE just opened its doors on Saturday, February 14, 2026 — Valentine’s Day — with 166 beds and high-quality care for women and children.
This is a massive expansion of the area’s existing 48-bed maternal ward. And it’s the first time the country of Sierra Leone has had its own neonatal intensive care unit.
Much of the nearly decade-long effort to build the MCOE was the work of Partners in Health and local ministries of health. But two funding partners were key to bringing this hospital to life: Hank and John Green.
Best-selling authors, internet personalities, educators, and entrepreneurs, the Green brothers first set out to raise millions to fund the MCOE in 2019 by starting Awesome Socks Club, a sock-selling platform that donates all of its profits to Partners in Health.
This platform has since evolved into Good Store, a larger online shop that sells everyday products like coffee, tea, soap, sustainable home-cleaning products, in addition to those fun socks. All profits are donated to charity, with over $12 million given so far.
The Greens have also given generously out of their own pockets and have raised millions through their annual Project For Awesome charity livestream.
All in all, they have contributed $50 million to build the MCOE in Sierra Leone.
And this weekend, during their 2026 Project For Awesome, the maternal center opened its doors — and began treating its first patients.
“We just delivered the first baby of the Maternal Center of Excellence,” Vicky Reed, PIH Sierra Leone’s executive director, said in a video. “A baby girl!”
The MCOE broke ground in 2021, and now, it is achieving what it set out to do.
“This has been a six-year journey for our community, raising $50 million, working with the Sierra Leonean government and Partners in Health Sierra Leone to build the staff, stuff, space, and systems necessary to provide good, dignified care,” John Green said in an announcement video mid-Project For Awesome.
During the construction of the facility, Partners in Health also hired a majority-women crew to build the hospital. They also trained approximately 200 clinical staff, including 51 midwives, to staff the MCOE, in partnership with the country’s Ministry of Health.
“I’d love to present us as the heroes of this story, but the truth is, the folks in Sierra Leone who actually built the hospital, who actually provide the care, who do the training for the nurses and midwives and traditional birth attendants, those are the people who really made this possible,” John said.
Still, Nerdfighteria — John and Hank’s dedicated online community — played a major role in this milestone.
One such Nerdfighter, Gab Rima, has been a follower since 2009, when they were just 11 years old.
“As I got older, I read all of John’s books in middle and high school, and I always watched the Project For Awesome livestream every year,” Rima told Good Good Good. “When I got my first job when I was 16, I was really excited to be able to finally contribute. I think the first year I only gave $5, but I was happy to be able to do that.”
Now age 27, Rima has been along every step of the way, as the Green brothers’ reach — and the efforts of Partners in Health — have grown.
“I’ve been so impressed with the work this community has done to support the MCOE so far,” Rima said. “I’m so proud that the people I decided to be a fan of at 11 years old continue to prove themselves to be kind and worthy of their audience.”
That pride has been echoed back to Nerdfighters, too.
“I am so, so grateful to everyone who participated in this project. If you are a member of the Awesome Socks Club or you contribute directly to Partners in Health … you are also part of this story,” John Green said over the weekend.
“And it’s a really good news story,” he continued. “I mean, there’s never been a NICU in the country of Sierra Leone, and now, as of today, there is one.”
For Rima — and countless other Nerdfighters who have contributed to bringing this milestone to life — it’s a story of what is possible when people work together.
“There’s so much bad news in the world these days, and as much as I try to take action, it often feels like nothing I do matters,” Rima said. “So this news was such a bright spot for me and made me feel like some of the small actions I’ve taken over the years — like buying soap and coffee from the Good Store — have amounted to something that is making a difference in people’s lives.”
And not only does the existence of this hospital make a difference in people’s lives — it makes their lives possible.
That first baby delivered at the MCOE — a baby girl who arrived on Valentine’s Day at 2:13 p.m., weighing just 1.72 kilograms (or 3.79 pounds) — will get the specialized care she needs.
“This moment marks a profound transition from years of planning, collaboration, and construction to the active delivery of lifesaving care for women and newborns in Kono District and beyond,” a statement from the Directorate of Hospital and Ambulance Services of Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health shared.
“The Ministry of Health and Partners In Health proudly celebrate this remarkable milestone and look forward to many more successes as we continue strengthening healthcare delivery across Sierra Leone. Together, we are advancing safer motherhood and giving every newborn a stronger start to life.”
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Header images courtesy of Good Store and Partners in Health Sierra Leone
