Issa – in China – working hard and having a fair amount of fun at the same time, by the looks of things…… Issa is now in his second year of engineering proper – all his studies are now in Chinese!!!! Keep it up, Issa.  We miss you but we are very proud of your…

…….give them the pleasure of making a difference to someone in need? When a friend of yours has a birthday or anniversary and you are searching to give them something that they might want when they have any number of nicknacks already, why don’t you give a gift off the EducAid Wish List in their…

Rupert and his daughter Georgie talk with the scientists in Rolal I have had the privilege of visiting Port Loko 5 times over the past 4 years, and have always left wanting to go back and spend more time there.  The last visit  in April was the longest and the most enjoyable – my son…

Sponsored Bicycle Ride from Hoek van Holland to Brussels via Amsterdam outskirts 8th to 11th September 2011 Proceeds to benefit Educaid, Sierra Leone The trip will start with all cyclists catching the 18.20 train from London, Liverpool Street station to Harwich on Thursday 8 September and boarding the overnight ferry which departs at 23.15. The…

Although I have been coming backwards and forwards, for a week or so at a time, all year, it feels like a great relief to be back without the DRC project in the back of my mind. Without going into too much detail, my year in the Congo has reconfirmed my confidence that EducAid does…

Excited team work – going through the online applications for UK visas A few months ago, the Steve Sinnott Foundation, [set up by Steve Sinnott’s widow in order to continue his work in development education] found EducAid online and became interested. After a couple of meetings, SSF have worked with a funding agency to propose…

Great Excitement as the lads wish Balla safe journey.  Balla on his way to the airport….. Goodbyes at Lungi airport. A life changing journey…… [hopefully the breakdown on the way to the ferry will be the last of the hiccups he has to face!] Balla Turay, was awarded a grant to go and study ICT…

But….staff and students are joining in with great enthusiasm. They have taken over the library. Aruna Bangura of the leadership team underwent training and is now delivering  sessions on key thinking skills for debating. Bhumi Purohit, of SLEEP an American based organisation which has been working in partnership with EducAid for some time, is over…

The roof is going on to the Rolal Teacher Training Centre and, wow, what a difference it makes! It is now easy to imagine it in action.  This is going to be a fantastic space where we can bring teachers from other schools in the Port Loko District and thus help raise the quality of…

Girls’ Safe House in Maronka – under construction. To chronicle the ups and downs of all the preparations and day to day functioning of the Girls’ Safe House in Maronka, we have set up a new blog: www.sierraleonegirls.blogspot.com Have a look and see what you think. This new project responds to many of the challenges…

Imagine a world where every girl had at least one dress! Wow – what beautiful pillow cases! This is how their website opens. www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com is an organisation with a non denominational Christian foundation with the aim of giving a little bit of value and feeling special and pretty to as many little girls around the…

Thinking it through! Bhumi of SLEEP, an organisation based in the United States of America has been battling away at a bid for funding to introduce a debate training programme. Staff and students will be selected for training in research, analysis, argument construction and presentation following a programme of debate training which has seen significant…

Lots to do! This morning I received an exciting email….. funding for a new project! What? A teacher development facility providing short capacity building courses for teachers without qualifications or whose skill base needs reinforcement. 40% of Sierra Leonean teachers are trained and qualified.  There is a new distance course providing the possibility of training…

Alice, head girl, has moved in. A couple of months ago, I gave the go ahead to AA’s building project for a new girls and female staff quarters as they were overflowing out of the women’s project classroom where they had all been sleeping. Now, it is already in use by the girls and there…

The context Sierra Leone ranks 100 out 102 on the Social Institutions Gender Index [SIGI] because of statistics like: ·        47 per cent of girls between 15 and 19 years of age are married, divorced or widowed. ·        Between 80 and 90 per cent of women are circumcised. ·        77 per cent of Sierra Leonean…