14 captures

04 Apr 2005 - 28 Feb 2007

Oct	DEC	Apr
	17
2004	2005	2007

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TIMESTAMPS

Donations Note Cards Project Information School-to-School Exchange

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Finished school! Click to enlarge.

In June, 2004, I had the incredible opportunity to return to Sierra Leone, West Africa, for the first time since I was a Peace Corps Volunteer there for two years in the late 1980s. Soon after my Peace Corps stint, the country fell into nearly 11 years of "civil war" that left over 50,000 people dead, tens of thousands more maimed at the hands of mostly child soldiers and countless homes, schools and villages destroyed. Peace finally arrived in 2002 and the country, already one of the very poorest in the world before the war, faces huge hurdles to rebuild and create a decent life for its people. Sierra Leone is now ranked last among 175 nations by the United Nations Development Program in its 'Human Development Index' - a statistical ranking which combines measures of life expectancy, access to schooling and average income.

Upon arriving in the country, I searched out, and was relieved to discover, that the several Sierra Leoneans I had worked most closely with were still alive. John Sesay was one of them: he was my main Sierra Leonean counterpart at the Masanga Leprosy Hospital where I worked. I spent a day with him in his village, and saw some of the projects he has been leading to help rebuild his community. He spoke passionately about wanting to help eradicate the disease of illiteracy that is so prevalent in Sierra Leone. In September 2004, John sent me a proposal to build a new primary school in his village, Maforika (located about 20 miles east of the Northern Provence Capital, Makeni). He included a budget from the school he built that was recently completed in nearby village of Mabonto (about 3-4 miles further east). The total costs for building and supplying this school (which is similar to the new one he is proposing) is $7,500. An additional $1,500 would be needed to cover the costs of employing 3 teachers for the year. John's proposal presented me with an exciting opportunity to help rebuild his village and provide assistance where it is so needed. It is a way that we as individuals can directly help a small village with virtually nothing (from our Western perspective) begin to rebuild their community and provide resources that can assist in decreasing illiteracy one child at a time. It is an opportunity for our children to learn about another culture, enriching their lives, as well as those we are wanting to help.

John Sesay and Cindy Nofziger

We decided to begin an ongoing exchange with the students in Maforika -- exchanging photos, drawings, letters and stories - and using it as an opportunity to teach children at some schools around here - starting with my son's preschool -- a little bit about Sierra Leone. (More on the school-to-school exchange aspect of the project below).

The intention has been to do much more than just "drop money" on the village. This is a collaborative effort with the community - and the village has worked hard over these past few months. They have donated and cleared the land, provided locally available materials and put in all the labor for the construction of the school thus far. And the children's drawings have helped raise over $5,000 of the ~$9,000 sent over so far (see "Notecards" below). While much has been accomplished, there are still things that need to be done - a latrine and small kitchen needs to be built, school supplies and books purchased and teacher salaries paid. I anticipate that approximately $3,000 more is needed to provide the essentials for the school and operating costs over the coming year.

Making a Donation

We've finally been able to arrange for those donations to be tax-deductible -- and we hope this can propel us to being able to raise the rest of the needed money to complete the school in Maforika and be on our way to building our next school.

War Child , a tax-exempt non-profit humanitarian agency that addresses the suffering of children affected by war and conflict, has offered to accept tax-deductible donations on behalf of "Schools for Salone" and to have our school project in Sierra Leone as one of their programs. They have offices (each independently-run) in the US, UK, Netherlands, France, Canada and Australia. Please refer to their website: http:www.warchildusa.org for much more information on the organization and all their wonderful programs.

Checks -- which should be made out to "War Child" with "Schools for Salone" on the memo line -- can be mailed either to: Schools for Salone, 4240 NE 124th St., Seattle, WA 98125 or to: War Child, PO Box 212, Peterborough, NH 03458. You can also make donations by credit card on the War Child website -- be sure to put "Donation is for Schools for Salone" in the "comments" field.

Money raised will continue to be sent to the Masanga Children's Fund in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where Joseph Lamin, Executive Director, will continue to provide in-country management of the funds and will also oversee the building project. Click link for more on MCF .

Notecards to Help Build A School

We turned 12 of those drawings into an initial set of notecards that we have been selling to raise money to springboard the project. All proceeds from those sales (after paying for paper, envelopes and ink) are being sent over to Sierra Leone. Response to the cards has been great -- more than 450 sets of cards have been sold - and nearly $6,000 raised to send over to Sierra Leone. I've returned from my trip with a pile of wonderful drawings -- which we've just turned into two new sets of notecards.

Click here , or on the image at left, for full details about buying note cards. The cards are beautiful and help spread awareness about Sierra Leone (via text on the back of each card) as well as about the project. We'd love to have you make both a donation and buy some cards to send out. If you do make both a donation and purchase cards, send the checks to the "School for Salone" Seattle address -- to expedite our sending the cards to you.

Sister Schools/School-to-School Exchanges

We see the exchange as an integral part of the effort. It's important that our children learn that they're part of a bigger whole -- locally, nationally and worldwide. Most schools do this to some extent -- this is a more real, personal and hands-on way for them to learn about and identify with children, living so differently than they do, in some far-away part of the world. The act of giving in such a personal way, with such visible, tangible results, will hopefully teach our children (and their families) important lessons (and the drawings, photos and stories that are exchanged can make teaching modules come alive). The supplies and support we provide, along with the work our children share, can profoundly touch and impact Sierra Leonean children's lives. It can also make a positive connection for them with the United States - something often in sadly short supply in parts of our world today.

P.S.: Send your comments, suggestions or questions to schoolsforsalone@raincity.com.

The long, community school bafa (grass house) in Maforika, which fell down several years ago and was replaced by the small hut at right.	Teacher and children in Maforika's small, replacement, school building - using their legs as tables and bamboo canes as benches.
Teacher and children in front of their old, bamboo, palm-frond thatched, school building - now replaced by the brand-new building.	School children from Maforika and teachers in front of the newly finished, cement-block, zinc-pan roofed, school building.

Project Updates

Several sets of cards have been sent to the village so the children - and the rest of the village - can see how their own efforts are making a difference - it is their drawings that have raised over half the money sent so far.

2/5/05 update : Nails and roofing pan were delivered to the village. Teachers received additional payments. The students whose drawings were used to make the note cards have been sent "exercise" books (school notebooks).

4/11/05 update : 85 bags of cement were purchased and delivered to village along with other necessary equipment and supplies. Teachers received their salary payments. The foundation of the school has been poured and cement blocks are being made to build the walls. Over $3,500 has been raised from note cards sales and sent to the village. Continuing the exchange process, letters of greeting, written by school children from Alki Elementary School in Seattle and Boulder Community School of Integrated Studies in Boulder, Colorado were delivered at the end of March to the school in Maforika.

5/15/05 update : The walls of the school building are up and the zinc pan roof in on. Over $5,500 has been raised and sent to the village. Letters from the Maforika school children (and photos of construction) are waiting in Freetown to be brought to the U.S. in early June. I am thrilled that my friend Charlotte Beall came to my son's preschool on Monday, May 16, and Thursday, May 19 to entertain and teach the children about West African culture. Charlotte was a Peace Corps Volunteer with me in Sierra Leone. Since that time, she worked as the Director of Exhibits and Education for the Seattle Children's Museum for 17 years. She currently has her own business in exhibit development and design, and is helping expand the Tacoma Children's Museum and curating art exhibitions.

6/15/05 update : The basic structure of the building (walls and roof) is finished! We have just received photos of the work being done and the building going up. John was able to get materials and work advanced -- with payment still due - so that needed work could be done before the rains come. Plastering and other finish work still needs to be done and the separate latrine and kitchen built. Click here , or on the image at left, to see the pictures of all the stages of construction.

9/15/05 update The building is done! Floors, walls, roof, separate kitchen (latrine still to be built) are all up and just about ready to use. Nearly $10,000 has been raised and sent over. The village is very proud and excited. And they've invited me to come over to help them celebrate. I'll be traveling to Sierra Leone on November 2 to attend the Opening Ceremony of the school!

Acknowledgments