Last week seemed to be overshadowed by the disaster in Magbeni but this week things are looking considerably more positive….. I have just got back from a trip visiting all the schools and although the roads were hard – once again we witnessed the remains of two fatal accidents – the news from all sites was good:
The Magbeni community has started pulling its communal socks up, making it possible for us to stay on and commit together to finding a way forward. Further discussions to be held in one month’s time.
The Maronka building has the beginnings of a roof and the doors and furniture are ready and waiting.
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The Rolal building is well on its way and we have started the negotiations with the Ministry of Education officials. Previously, this has always been a very frustrating business but the initial encounters with this round looks very different as we are able to deal with Port Loko based officials who are lending a hand and a word of advice as to how to go about it most efficiently.
Rolal foundations and pillars in place.
In addition, and how this escaped me to this point I really do not know, I have just discovered that, not only did we come 5th in the country in the last WASSCE [the senior secondary public exams] but also that the highest scoring student was an EducAid student. I asked him why he had not told me and he said he, himself, only discovered much later that he had been on SLBS [Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service] on television and radio. A quiet and unassuming young man with a quirky sense of humour, Malikie Barrie is highly intelligent and now serves as a junior member of staff in Rolal, teaching science. He will start on the distance teacher training programme in a couple of weeks but is also applying for a scholarship to China to join Issa Fowai for engineering studies. We wish him all good luck with this endeavour.
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Malikie Barrie, highest scoring WASSCE candidate in 2009.
If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid’s work please go to www.educaid.org.uk