I am sad to write that my time in Sierra Leone has come to an end and I am bringing you this final update while en route back to Canada. There is so much exciting news to share thanks to all of your generous support!
PDIA
The students and staff are officially on Christmas break. During the final week of exams, the nursery teachers experimented with colouring and drawing with the students. Pictured below are fish that the nursery 2 students created by tracing their hands. It turned out to be a very engaging and rewarding experience for all involved!
As a farewell gift to Marty and I, the teachers collaborated in having traditional Kono outfits made for us by the tailor instructor at our tec voc training institute. Green, white and blue are the colours of Sierra Leone’s flag. Given that Marty had already returned to Canada, I had one of the men involved with our agricultural training model the outfit for a picture.
We required the assistance of many of the students at PDIA and PDC to use a small foot pump to inflate the 10,000 L biodigester to test for any leaks. Afterwards we filled and built sand bag walls on both ends of the digester and on the lower side of the trench to secure and protect the rubber container. Finally, we hired a carpenter to build a fence around the system to keep the animals out.
Before we open the pipe to begin filling and composting the sewage from the orphanage, our next steps are to set up the outflow pipes to drip the digestate into a compost pile and monitor any overflow and to connect the second inflow pipe to a tub where organic kitchen waste can also be washed into the digester.
Tec Voc Training
Soap-Making
We have twelve community members registered for the first three month term. We kicked off the training with preparing solid laundry soap. Palm oil was heated over a fire and left to cool overnight. A solution of caustic soda was mixed with the oil and stirred to create a paste. The paste was then rolled by hand into laundry soap balls. The locals will grate this soap into their wash when they’re ready to use it.
Students in the class will sample and sell the products that are made. The proceeds from the sales will be used to buy more of the consumable soap-making materials such as oil and soda. Over the course of the term, students will learn to make various types of soap. The students in the orphanage will participate in this training during their holidays, preparing soap for the orphanage’s use.
Tailoring
Seventeen people from the community are registered for our year-long tailoring course. This includes one of the graduated students at the orphanage who was unable to attend college this year. This group will be split into afternoon and evening weekday shifts.
All senior level students at the orphanage will continue their training on the weekends and over the school holidays. After a few weeks of training, some of the students are already mending their own clothing (left picture below) and producing products that could be sold in the market (centre picture below).
We found, cleaned and repaired a fourth machine that belongs to the orphanage but got damaged in the move to the village (right picture below). This machine will stay at the orphanage for the students to have access to continue to mend their own clothing and to keep practicing their tailoring skills.
Gardening
The watermelon and cucumber have sprouted in the garden and the cabbage and cassava have been planted. Once they get big enough, we will use chopped grasses to mulch the plants to reduce the temperature and retain moisture around the seedlings. The compost pit we filled with dried and fresh grasses and kitchen scraps is generating a lot of heat and will be ready to amend the soil in a couple of weeks when the pepper seedlings are ready to transplant.
More Amazing News!
We are so grateful and excited to announce that we have received special donations to tackle various challenges at the orphanage and school:
-we have received the funds needed to complete the tuition payments for the six PDC students currently in college and university! Inguoi [thank you]!
-we have received a donation to upgrade the solar system at the orphanage. This new system will provide enough energy to power a fridge and freezer, lights and fans. This will allow the cook to store food at the orphanage and not have to travel to the market every day. It will also provide better lighting for studying, the possibility to power a TV for occasional entertainment and fans for those extra hot days. Inguoi!
-we have received a donation to tile the main floor of the orphanage with durable ceramic tiles that will hold up better to the flow of 40 people coming and going on a regular basis. Inguoi!
-and finally, we have received a donation to purchase a new (used) school bus to better handle the challenging roads in transporting our secondary students to school in Koidu. It was very good timing – our current vehicle has fallen beyond repair. Inguoi!
The orphanage owns a freezer but has been unable to use it in the village without a more powerful solar system.A sample of what the tiling will look like; these were installed in the bathrooms when the orphanage was constructed.The boys were giving the school bus a push start to get it going in the morning. Even the push start is no longer working.
Mbeh aaa neh yaami!
To express their appreciation, the children at the orphanage pooled their funds to purchase fabric to have outfits made for Marty and I (here I am pictured with the tailor instructor modelling Marty’s shirt). It was such a generous gesture and meant for all of you as well. The orphanage, the school, the community and the SLAM committee – we are all so grateful for your continued support!
Bye bye for now Sierra Leone! I hope to see you soon [Mbeh aaa neh yaami]!
Greetings from Sierra Leone! I am pleased to share the following updates:
PDIA
-Today was picture day! The model of our school is to accept school fees from community members so that the children from the orphanage and other families in poverty can attend for free. Of the 120 students registered, 10 come from PDC. Since the school opened in 2021, the community is warming more and more to the value of education.
PDIA staff and studentsPDIA staff
PDC
-I was able to travel to Makeni to visit Hannah and Abigail, two students from PDC who are now in their second year of college. A part of your regular, monthly donations provides these girls and three others a small monthly stipend while they study away from the orphanage.
I found out these girls are also working hard to find ways of becoming financially independent:
-While Hannah (left) was on vacation and staying at the orphanage, she involved herself in a bread-making business to earn extra income to support the small stipend she is provided.
-Abigail (right) has befriended her neighbour in Makeni who used to be a tailor. Every afternoon and weekend that she is free, she is gaining tailoring skills to be able to start producing products she can sell in the market.
-We are still lacking $2150 USD in tuition fees for the five, PDC college students who are studying in Makeni and Freetown if you have anything extra to give!
Flexigester
-We have worked with a plumber to insert a y-connector with a valve that can divert sewage from the orphanage to the Flexigester once we’re ready to use it.
-A second pipe is in place that will be connected to a basin we will need to construct to be able to also feed the flexigester kitchen scraps.
-Our next step over the next few days is to pump it up given the small foot pump that came with the installation kit. This should be a fun exercise for the students!
Tec Voc Training
-As of today, our carpenter finished crafting all the tables, benches, chairs and stools that are required for our training classrooms.
Agriculture
-The peppers have sprouted and one section of the land has been planted with watermelon seeds. Another section of the land has been prepped for planting cucumbers. Given the mining activities in the area, the land is very sandy so we had to amend the soil with compost and manure. We are also continuing to build compost piles using the grass we cleared from the area.
pepper seeds are sproutingcompost pile in progressplanting watermelonpepper shelter
Tailoring
-we have found an enthusiastic instructor who spent all of Saturday at the school training three groups of 9 students with some basic tailoring skills. He has also been back three evenings after school hours to continue working with any of our senior and post senior secondary students who were available. We are using this as an opportunity to test out our space and supplies before extending the course to community members.
our new hand-made furnitureour instructorusing hot coal to iron a uniformsome of the boys at work
Soap-Making
-We have begun negotiations with possible instructors as we have collected nearly all the needed supplies to get our program started. We aim to do so by next week.
The Community
-We held a town meeting this evening to introduce our training program to women in the community and to begin collecting registration fees (just like PDIA, while children from the orphanage will receive training for free, we will use fees from others to help sustain the program). So far 15 people have signed up and more said they will come tomorrow with their registration fee!
This will be my last two weeks in Sierra Leone! I am so grateful to be on the ground to witness the integrity with which your donations are used to support such beautiful people and meaningful work. A lot of NGOs come and go, but the community here is impressed with the sustainability of our orphanage which is a testimony to your faithful support. Thank you!
Greetings from Maima, Sierra Leone! I am pleased to bring you the following update. Thank you for your ongoing support.
PDIA
-the school received an annual visit from a local clinic offering deworming and cervical cancer vaccinations for all staff and students at the school.
-we received a donation of base-10 blocks from a school in Winnipeg that Marty was able to transport with him when he came. I completed some training with the primary teachers for how to use them with their students.
-I supported the nursery teachers in creating a timetable in order to break the teaching day into manageable chunks for the students. They have been excited to read the books I brought to their students and to try out some new games and songs I taught them in their classes.
The new chalkboard – Sierra Leone geography lesson
PDC
-When I first arrived at the orphanage, the girls held a meeting with me to thank SLAM for its support and to present a current list of needs and wants should the funding become available. One concern was about the safety of students sleeping on the top bunks as their beds did not have any railings. Thanks to a donation, we worked with a carpenter this week to cut and install boards on all the bunk beds in the boys’ and girls’ dormitory.
-This week Edward (former PDC child who is volunteering as our agricultural expert), Mr. Fillie (the headmaster) and a plumber met with us to discuss the placement of an anaerobic digester system SLAM acquired called the Flexigester. This will help to divert and convert sewage and other organic waste from the orphanage into a biofertilizer that can be used on the school garden. The biogas that is produced from the reaction can also be collected and used as an alternative fuel source for cooking besides firewood and charcoal.
-We have dug the trench and sourced the supplies we need to begin installation next week. We have also made contact with a school in Sierra Leone that successfully installed the system ten years ago so that we can learn from their experience.
Tec Voc Training
With all the grasses cleared from the land, we started involving all the children at PDC with the next steps of our gardening project:
-collecting all the plastic waste from the garden area and sorting it out from the orphanage’s kitchen waste pile to use the remaining decomposed scraps as compost for planting our seeds.
-starting a seed nursery for plants that cannot be directly sowed in the garden (tomatoes, peppers, etc.)
-preparing the beds for planting by digging and mounding the earth into separate garden plots.
The children have been divided into five groups and each group will be responsible for the maintenance of their own section of the garden. Planting will begin next week.
Edward (a former PDC child) loaned us a machine in order to chop the grasses that were cleared from the garden. This will be added to our compost pits and used as mulch in the garden.
We’ve had to be cautious with the clearing of the land because of snakes living in the area. A viper was captured two weeks ago and this past week a python was killed. The python turned into a nice treat over rice at lunch time!
We have all the tailoring supplies and hope to start training this week. There are a couple of items that had to be ordered for soap-making but we believe they will also arrive this week. I will provide another update in a week’s time!
-The divisions have been installed in two classrooms in preparation for the tec voc training. The primary 4 classroom will now be divided between soap-making and tailoring. The primary 3 classroom will now be divided between the primary 3 and primary 4 students.
-By Tuesday the chalkboard paint will set and the primary classroom will be fully operational. Then we can relocate the tailoring supplies to the tec voc classroom. We have gathered most of the soap-making supplies in Koidu. Once everything is fully collected, we will pay once to transport it all to the school.
-We have hired a carpenter who is at work constructing the stools, benches and tables we need for the training.
Birthday and Welcome
-We received a donation of colouring books and playing cards that Marty was able to transport with him to the orphanage. We have had some fun evenings with the children making use of them!
-It was Marty’s birthday a couple of days after he arrived at the orphanage. We were surprised to hear a mini band outside of our window at 6:30 am playing the birthday song. This turned into a spontaneous dance party with the kids.
-A couple of the nursery teachers from PDIA helped me prepare goodie bags of popcorn, shrimp crackers and juice for all the children at the school to join in the celebrations.
band birthday song!playing cards togetherprimary 3 students with goodie bagscolouring togethermaking popcorn bags for studentsbagging Koolaid for the students
-In the evening, now that my husband is here, the orphanage officially welcomed us with a beautiful display of several Kono cultural songs and dances in full costume. In the end they presented us a platter of fruits and vegetables native to the local land to symbolize hospitality and gratefulness for our presence and support. This appreciation extends beyond us to all of you who have faithfully contributed to the work here. Inguoi, inguoi! (thank YOU, thank YOU!).
traditional dance in costumesa welcome platter of the harvest
We have received our first tranche of funds to begin setting up the technical vocational training program. We will be utilizing one of the school classrooms, divided in half, to provide training in soap-making and tailoring. Our first step is to get the classroom ready before we start purchasing supplies.
We also hired some young men to clear a section of swampy land on the edge of our property for vegetable gardening. An expert in the area identified this plot as the most fertile section that would require the least amount of inputs to get the gardening started. Edward, a former child from PDC who now has a degree in agriculture, will be guiding us through our next steps. Much of the land around the school is clay and covered with large boulders and sand leftover from the mining company that used to be based there.
Celebrations!
One of the primary teachers from PDIA married a woman in the village related to Finda. The traditional wedding was hosted at the orphanage and all of the students living there contributed to making the celebration a success. It was a huge event attended by most from the village as well as many of the former orphans from PDC.
Bus Troubles
For the past two weeks we have been working with various mechanics to try to get our school bus on the road after it broke down on the way to school. Unfortunately, the junior high and senior high students living at the orphanage have had to walk 1.5 hours each way to school in the meantime. The dirt road to the orphanage is badly rutted due to heavy rains and the constant flow of mining trucks.
Welcome!
My husband, Martin, has arrived from Canada and will be joining in to volunteer at the orphanage and school for the remainder of November. The kids look forward to giving him a warm welcome! The community continues to welcome me with regular gifts of fresh fruit that I get to enjoy with the children at the orphanage.
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!
community meeting at the home of the chief to discuss tec voc trainingtypical home in communitymeeting with expert soap-maker and agriculturist
Greetings from Sierra Leone, my home for the next ten weeks. There is much to be thankful for!
Left: I am pictured at the orphanage with PDIA in the background
The School (PDIA)
-the first term began in September and there are currently 120 students on the roster from nursery 1 to primary 6. They are under the care and guidance of nine local teachers and a very dedicated headmaster.
-the students arrive happy and begin with a lively assembly involving lots of song and dance before heading to their respective classrooms. On Friday, a committee of students was selected to form a journalism club to announce various news and events to the rest of the students.
-I’ve sat in on all the teachers in their classes and they are passionate about their jobs and about the students’ success. In fact, our students are achieving some of the top results in the district when they sit their mandatory primary 6 level exams at the end of the school year in June.
-As a teacher by profession in Canada, I have already held sessions with all the teachers to collaborate and share best practices that can help our students better understand the curriculum outcomes. We plan to continue to meet on a regular basis for the duration of my visit.
-Currently the children at the orphanage who are in junior and senior secondary school are bussed at 7 am every morning to schools in the nearby city Koidu; the same bus is then used to transport students and teachers from Koidu back to PDIA. The road is rough and the journey costly, but we have some exciting plans to help mitigate these costs in the future [stay tuned!].
Morning AssemblyNursery students sing along for visual learningPrimary 6 studentsBus taking PDC junior and senior students to schoolBus arriving to PDIA with teachers and students
The Orphanage (PDC)
-I am living in the orphanage alongside the children. It is a beautiful building and everyone does their part to maintain it and keep it clean.
-Every day starts as a community at 6 am with songs and prayers and ends the same way at 9 pm. A family meeting where announcements are shared and concerns addressed precedes the evening prayers.
-I have asked the children what they like about the orphanage and they’ve said it’s become their family, they can worship together, and it is mandatory for them to go to school (in a community where school has not traditionally been a priority due to mining and agricultural activities). They are also well fed with a staple of rice and greens.
-They have quiet time to study every evening from 6:30 – 8:30 pm where they follow a posted study schedule. As it gets dark at 7 pm daily, this is only possible due to the solar panels that provide the energy for the needed light.
Jason with some of the children at the orphanageThe girls’ roomThe boys’ roomStudy scheduleEvening studies
The Community
-I am humbled to be the face of all of you who have offered your time, energy and finances in support of the work of the orphanage and school. The community is grateful and expresses their appreciation.
-I have also been honoured to meet the community members who have made everything possible on the ground – from the house mom, Finda, who continues to find orphans in need to bring into the family, to the chairperson who is a spokesman between the school and the community, to the assistant chief who helped connect the school to the community well to the chief who supported the use of the land. The saying is true, “it takes a village to raise a child.”
-when I say Sierra Leone has become my home, I mean it in the deepest sense. I feel so welcomed here and already mourn the day I will say good-bye.
I am excited to be a part of this project and to witness on the ground all the good things that are happening. I look forward to sending you more updates in the weeks ahead!
The orphanage dormitory has been built, the children were moved in September and are doing well. But our job is not finished. We need funds to upgrade solar panels to accommodate a refrigerator and to tile the floors.
In the photo you will notice that some of the children are getting older. To give them an opportunity to be self-sufficient, we are currently supporting six children with university classes. We also have seven children waiting to enter vocational training. But we do not currently have enough money to support their aspirations. If you are receiving an income tax refund or you have other funds to spare, perhaps you can help in some way. Thank you for your continued support for the poor.
The children depend on us. God Bless You for all the good you do.
The last twelve months have been rewarding as well as challenging. Rapid inflation and terrible exchange rates have created difficulties in managing our tight budget.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the dormitory construction which started in early 2024 has been mostly completed. The children were moved in September and are doing well. Solar panels have been installed, and exterior painting is completed. The tiling of the floors will be done when funds are available.
The orphanage continues to encourage academic excellence to enable our children to support themselves and to be leaders in their country. Two former children from the Pearl Dudek Centre are now successfully enrolled in the University of Makeni to further their studies. The newest university entrants shown below are Hannah M. Farma is pursuing Public Health, Isata Abigail Bangura is pursuing Procurement Logistics and Supply chain Management, and David Umaro Pessima, pursuing a BSc. in Mass Communication. In total, six students are currently attending university.
On another positive note, three students (Ismaheal, Mariama, and Abdul) have just completed their university studies and are preparing to enter the workforce. We congratulate them and wish them every success in their chosen fields.
CHALLENGES:
Inflation is high and our operational costs keep rising. Our relocation of the dormitory onto the school property has provided us with new issues and opportunities. Several school children from the community who do not have enough to eat come to the dormitory for food. We welcome them. This results in increased costs.
Although the children and staff have been relocated to the newly built dormitory, we have a few tasks to complete there when we have sufficient funds.
The solar panel electrical system is not powerful enough for their needs. We will upgrade that when possible.
The interior is still in need of floor tiling which will occur when funds become available.
APPRECIATION:
Many thanks to all the generous donors who support the orphanage and school through monthly donations and with one-time donations for special projects. You are making a real difference in the lives of many children. You are appreciated!
Building the dormitory was a huge undertaking which would not have been accomplished without your generous support. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Many thanks to the several donors who commit to providing monthly support for our operating costs which continue to rise. If you are not currently a monthly donor, we invite you to consider being one.
We are committed to using your dollars wisely. Approximately 95% of all donations received go directly to operating the orphanage and school. Every committee member in Canada is a volunteer.
A reminder that income tax receipts for the 2024 calendar year are being sent out now and are from Accountable Development Works. If your donation was made by credit card through our website via “Canada Helps”, you will have received an immediate receipt.
Thank you. The orphanage dormitory has been built, the children were moved in September and are doing well. But our job is not finished. We have the funds to install solar panels for electricity and to do the painting. The tiling of the floors will be completed when funds are available.
Inflation is high and our operational costs keep rising. Our relocation onto the school property has provided us with new issues and opportunities. Several school children from the community who do not have enough to eat come to the dormitory for food. We welcome them. This results in increased costs. Thank you for your continued support for the poor.
The children depend on us. God Bless You for all the good you do.
