Although I am back in Canada, I am happy to be able to remain in close contact with the staff involved with SLAM in Sierra Leone. Here is some news they would like to share thanks to your ongoing support.
PDC
The new flooring tiles were successfully installed the first week of January. This is an amazing upgrade from the vinyl flooring that quickly disintegrated due to overuse. The solar-system was also successfully updated at the end of January providing enough energy to operate the lights, fans, a TV for special occasions and to charge devices.
Here is a video show-casing both items and the gratitude of the staff and children. š
With the old bus falling apart and irreparable, everyone was very excited when the new (used) bus arrived from Freetown at the beginning of February. The staff on the ground took their time choosing a vehicle that would be robust enough to handle the challenging roads outside of Koidu.
The video below showcases our junior and senior secondary students arriving home from school on the new bus.
One of PDC’s graduates, Musa, was matriculated at the beginning of the month as a medical student. He will be beginning his studies in the city of Makeni. Congrats Musa!
PDIA
The school held it’s annual inter house sport meet this past week. Students were divided into four coloured teams of all grade levels. They competed against each other in traditional events like relay racing and tug-of-war and some not-so-traditional events like a dance off!
Tec Voc Training
Soap-Making
While the first batch of soap produced was laundry soap balls, the second batch was laundry soap bars stamped officially with “Pearl Dudek” as a name brand. This course has been designed to last 3 months and so the first group of students will be graduating soon!
Gardening
The students at PDC were able to harvest an abundance of cucumbers to supplement their daily meals. Unfortunately, it got too hot for the watermelon and the majority of them rotted before they had enough time to fully ripen. The cabbage is still coming along!
My plan is to work with the SLAM staff on the ground in Sierra Leone to continue to bring you quarterly updates. See you in June!