9 Lidyard Rd
London N19 5NR
UK
EducAid
Sierra Leone
The Trust has seen its school grow and develop over
the past few months. In Sierra Leone,
there is no State provided free schooling.
Access to school is difficult for young people, many of whom have lost one or both parents
and whose family has no income. Our
school is unique in offering formal education for free.
SCHOOL UPDATE
Since October 2000, school numbers have increased
from 33 to 50 students. Our 50 students range from 13 to 23 years. But age is
no barrier to learning - our only entry requirement is that the students have
passed the exit exam for primary education.
All students are working towards the “BECE”
exam. BECE is the equivalent to Key
Stage 3 (end of 3rd year for those of us who remember the old
system). Once BECE is achieved,
students spend 3 years working towards the newly created West African O-Level
equivalent.
10 of our pupils will sit the BECE exam this year
and although it has been a challenge to get them to the required standard in
all 8 subjects in such a short period of time, we are confident they will do us
and themselves proud.
School timetable….. School day runs from 8.30am
to 3pm with a lunch break when students take it in turns to prepare lunch in
big pots in the outside kitchen. The
school has 3 separate teaching areas, a library and a computer room.
Activities….. We recently undertook a field trip on board
the British ship anchored at Freetown (as part of the military engagement
here). The children were shown round the field hospital and were excited to
test out some of the equipment (the ultrasound machine was particularly popular
for viewing the children’s kidneys).
There are now promises of a football match against the ship personnel!
School Inspection…..We are greatly encouraged by
a recent inspection by the Ministry of Education, which commended our teaching
methods and recommended our school for recognition as an exam centre.
Teaching Staff…Our team of staff now
consists of:
|
Miriam Mason - a qualified secondary
school teacher (specialising in RE, French and Social Studies) |
Joseph
Kurabu -
a qualified English and Social Studies teacher (volunteer). James Kelly - our computer expert who
also |
|
Joshua
Mansaray
- who teaches RE and basic literacy and numeracy. |
runs the sponsorship programme. |
|
|
Thomas
Lengor -
a qualified Maths and Science teacher. |
Miriam
would like to say a Big Thank You to all for the support and generosity she
received on her recent visit to England.
The donations/covenants given during her trip will make a real
difference to the work of the school as we approach a new academic year.
Miriam’s Trials and Tribulations of running the
school…One
of our difficulties has been gaining access to sufficient textbooks. Our approach has been to photocopy one
textbook and laminate each page separately. That way, Abdullai can work on page
5, while Adama works on page 16 and they swap when they have completed their
work. As well as resolving our book
shortage, this approach has encouraged the students to take responsibility for
their own progress and organise their studies more effectively.
We continually receive requests from children
wishing to become new students. They
have every good reason why we should accept them but we have to say “No”. We simply have no more chairs and
tables/space to accommodate them.
To look at the smiling faces of the students we work
with, you would believe that they do not have a care in the world. But the reality is rather different….the
reason Foray Daboh could not come to school on Monday is not because he is not
serious about his education, but because the night before there was a shooting
in his neighbourhood. Every time he
hears shooting he remembers all the members of his family who were shot and he
is scared to go out. The scars on his
knees where the rebels started to hack off his leg before they got distracted,
tell of the other disturbing memories he must have.
The reason Ezekiel Nonie wears 2 sets of clothes all
the time is because he is always ready in case rebels attack. This time they won’t leave him with only one
set of clothes like before when he was living in the bush for months. Education has been found to be one the most
important ways a society can start to bring a peaceful, non-violent and hopeful
normality to its children.
If you would
like to support our work by making a donation or as a covenant donor (which
enables us to plan effectively) then please contact us in writing or by email:
jboardman72@hotmail.com. Alternatively,
we will be sending supplies to Sierra Leone (via container) in the next few
months and any materials (books, stationery, art/music materials,
computers(486+) and shoes) would be very welcome.
PRAYER CORNER
·
Thanks
for our new school and God’s provision of new teachers
·
Pray
for Miriam in her leadership of the school
·
Pray
for additional funding to continue and increase the work of the school
·
8
of our staff were baptised on Christmas Eve.
Please pray for them