Greetings from Sierra Leone! It is now coming to the end of my second week at the orphanage. I have more great news, thanks be to God (ka say yata ma!).
The School (PDIA)
-The headmaster is working with the teachers to set up personal bank accounts so that, starting next month, the teachers can be paid using direct deposit. This will ensure greater transparency and accountability with every transaction.
-The teachers have prepared their first sets of tests which the students will write next week. Here primary students write exams in 6 subjects. The total score across the 6 subjects will determine whether the student can go to the next level (it must be 300+). This means that developing test-taking skills is critical to future success.
-Thanks to your donations, we were able to pay to register PDIA with a unique exam code. In previous years our students’ scores have been published under a different school making it difficult to showcase to the community how well our students are doing to attract more applicants.
-I continue to meet with the teachers every M, W and F afternoon:
-With the nursery teachers, we have been discussing ways to communicate with students to encourage them to be self-disciplined and self-motivated based on ideas from the book, “How to Talk so Kids Can Learn.” While corporal punishment is common in homes in Sierra Leone, it is not permitted at the school. We have also been enjoying reading African-based children’s books that were donated to PDIA and brainstorming how to use them to support learning. It is difficult to find books here!
-With the primary teachers, I have been using some concepts in fractions to model and practice how to promote higher level thinking skills in students. We are all really enjoying these sessions!
The Orphanage (PDC)
-Two of the girls who sat their final secondary school exams in June received the exciting news that they passed! This was happily celebrated by all the children in the home.
-The junior and senior secondary boys at the orphanage challenged the boys in the community to a friendly soccer match. After patiently waiting for a large rain storm to pass, the match drew a large, cheering crowd from the community. Although our boys lost, they maintained good character and positive spirits to the end. Next time!
-Abraham, one of the first university grads from the orphanage, invited me to his high school reunion in Koidu where he was given a “Distinguished Alumni Award”. He shared an inspiring speech to all in attendance about giving back to the community by offering to mentor current students, donating a small percentage of their income to development and joining the alumni to share their acquired expertise to guide the school forward.
The Community – Technical Vocational Training Institute
-The project that is requiring the most time and energy right now is the development of PDC’s own technical vocational training institute. Thanks to the generosity of donors, we have a budget to provide for all the necessary supplies and manpower to offer a year of training in three fields.
-Because SLAM is committed to partnering with the community in all development, we followed the cultural protocol of announcing the idea to the town chiefs who then called a community meeting. Forty community members arrived, thirty of these women. This is significant as women are frequently left out of these discussions.
-The idea was presented and then an opportunity for questions and feedback. The fields that the community was interested in were soap-making, tailoring and agriculture. With knowledge in these areas, our students and the community members will have immediately marketable skills. The women at the meeting were so excited about this, they sang this song: “you should learn a skill if you want to eat; if not you will always be begging.”
-The training will be free for PDC orphans but other members of the community will be required to pay a small registration fee. Like PDIA, this will be a way to support our orphans in a self-sustaining way. These trades will also help reduce the budget since the trained students can provide the orphanage its own soap, school uniforms and vegetables.
-We are currently meeting with experts in these fields who also have experience with training to help us develop a detailed shopping list so we’re ready to go as soon as the funds are transferred. God willing, programs will be underway before I return to Canada! I will keep you posted!
