Sewing for Sierra Leone
It is from the generosity of so many that we are able to continue our efforts in Sierra Leone, and can deliver such needed change in a country with so little amongst its general population. EducAid is not just a network of schools that provide education, we also provide the residential and pastoral care…
Read MoreInside Ebola Junction: Dr. John Wright
Dr. John Wright is one of the first NHS volunteers who travelled to Sierra Leone to help fight Ebola. He was a part of the founding team at the Ebola Treatment Centre at Moyamba Junction. During his time in Sierra Leone, Dr. Wright recorded the events and experiences; in this article I have transcribed some…
Read MoreThe MSF Report: What Went Wrong – A Timeline
The Médecins Sans Frontières report, issued this week, gives us an insight in to the early stages of the Ebola outbreak. As the organisation that first flagged the scale of the Ebola health crisis, the MSF is in a strong position to critique the international and domestic response from the outset. The MSF acknowledges, “it…
Read MoreA Clear Picture of the Ebola Situation in Sierra Leone
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) released a report this week to coincide with the 1st anniversary of the Ebola outbreak. One year on from the first confirmed case in Guinea I wanted to give a brief update on the situation in Sierra Leone, and to outline the next steps for the quick and comprehensive eradication of…
Read MoreBusiness in the Charity Sector
As a nation the UK has traditionally been very generous when it comes to donating money to help those in need, both domestically and internationally. According to a Charities Aid Foundation report on private donations, at 0.9% GDP the UK is second in charitable giving only to the U.S.A. Combine this figure with the amount…
Read MoreAn Unbelievable Contribution – RFA Argus
Over the past few months, the crew of the RFA Argus have been supporting EducAid in a variety of ways. The ship performs several functions but it’s main role is the Primary Casualty Receiving Ship for the Royal Navy; with state of the art medical facilities it is deployed to provide medical cover for all…
Read MoreTeen Pregnancies and Sexual Violence – Unseen Consequences of Ebola (Part 2)
Yesterday’s post detailed many of the instances that women are subjected to increased risks of teenage pregnancy. Whilst the geographical isolation imposed by restricted movement contributed to an increased promiscuity in the youth, women were also subject to increased levels of rape from both within the community and their households. These factors are largely born…
Read MoreTeen Pregnancies and Sexual Violence – Unseen Consequences of Ebola (Part 1)
If you have been following the blog closely for the past few months, you will have noticed a continuing theme that runs through all of the accounts coming from Sierra Leone. Every individual that we have interviewed in our ‘Living with Ebola’ series has raised teenage pregnancy as one of the major concerns in the…
Read MoreA Look at the Report on the Management of the Ebola Fund
A deeply concerning report was published in the papers last week; it centred on the publication of an audit report of the management of Ebola funds in Sierra Leone. The Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) had published the report about the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) and National Ebola Response Centre’s (NERC) management of…
Read MoreThe Largest Donation we’ve Ever Received
Vanessa Mason has long been involved with EducAid. It was her son, Swithun Mason, and James Boardman that were struck by the plight of the Sierra Leoneans, and compelled to help by setting up what is now the charity, EducAid. Since it’s inception Vanessa has always supported the charity, and those most centrally involved. Indeed,…
Read MoreConsciousness, Self-Awareness, and Impact: The Importance of Education
At EducAid we have been devoted to improving the lives of Sierra Leoneans through the provision of top quality education for nearly two decades. We often speak of the value of education to these young people who so often don’t have access to anything, but it is a difficult thing to encapsulate in words. Those…
Read MoreCoventry City FC Spurred in to Action
Coventry City Football Club announced recently that they were commencing an exciting initiative to help orphans in Sierra Leone. Towards the end of last year Miriam visited a small village in a rural part of Sierra Leone called Kigbal. The plight of the town was covered in a video by the BBC journalist Andrew Harding,…
Read MoreWomen and their Struggle in Sierra Leone
In the first part of this post we outlined the societal rationale that posits Sierra Leonean women lower than the men. This belief is the product of a lack of access to education, for both men and women, but also of the lower expectations of women held by both sexes. While it is difficult to…
Read MoreWomen and their Struggle in Sierra Leone
Gender equality has been a central pillar of EducAid’s mission since the charity’s inception. In a country with so many social, economic, political, and infrastructural problems, the intricate challenge of confronting this delicate problem is difficult to approach. There is a social mind shift that needs to occur in Sierra Leone, but much of the…
Read MoreSurviving Ebola: Remy Watt
Suma, our site coordinator for EducAid Rogbere, met with Remy Watt. Remy is a strong woman and the eldest in the Rogbere community. This is Suma’s telling of her story: “I was living with my family in Rogbere when I first heard about EducAid. It seemed so far away at first. We seemed very isolated…
Read MoreA Lasting Impact: the Quality Enhancement Programme
Few things illustrate the impact of our school’s education greater than the existence of our Quality Enhancement Programmes, the QEP & QEPM. Sierra Leonean schools from around the country request EducAid to run these in-depth training courses. In the programme for Junior Secondary Schools (QEP), and for Primary Schools (QEPM) our team trains teachers, principles…
Read MoreThe Impact of the OICC
If you have been following the progress of the Ebola outbreak, you’ll know that all of the schools in Sierra Leone are closed. Recently, President Ernest Bai Koroma issued an instruction that no schools would be opened until the WHO declares Sierra Leone free from Ebola. Whilst you may find this a distressing announcement, we…
Read MoreRogbere: Giving Thanks
EducAid’s Rogbere School was founded in 2010 and usually educates more than 320 students. In 2013, A Call to Business built and opened a home for orphans, many of who are disabled in one way or another, next to the school. We are delighted to be providing education to some of these youngsters. Unfortunately, numbers…
Read More4Ms Fighting Ebola: Alfred J Fornah
Alfred J Fornah is a teacher at the Mafoimba School, one of our 4Ms in the Tonkolil district. Mafoimba is a product of our partnership with Make It Happen, a fruitful joint venture that has seen us open 4 schools in one of the most isolated districts in Sierra Leone. As explained in our previous…
Read MoreSurviving Ebola: Salamatu Conteh
Salamatu Conteh is a student at EducAid. Over the past few weeks I have asked all of our Site Coordinators to find people who have directly experienced the effects of Ebola, and to interview them so that we can tell their story. Brima is one of EducAid’s most senior staff in Sierra Leone, and he…
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