Projects
Completed Projects
- Completion of the boundary wall
- Initially the priority was to refurbish the existing, burned out classrooms and supply desks, chairs and text books for all the children.
- Extensive building works followed -
- A two storey building for science, home economics and computer studies was built and equipped. There was no mains electricity available so the charity provided a generator and maintains it, although diesel is very expensive.
- Building of Primary School Block and Nursery School Block
- Funding of some "community teachers" and assistants
- Funding for teachers’ professional development
- Supply of IT equipment and educational software
- Toilets were installed and clean water provided to all three schools.
- A primary school uniform fund helped needy families. The children wear uniform because when at home they have no clothes or shoes.
- Refurbishment and painting of school buildings and classrooms
- Installation of security bars at the Nursery School to stop villagers taking a short cut!
- Replacement of solar equipment for power to the Computer Block
- Construction and supply of desks and benches to Primary School
- Emergency assistance to the school community during the Ebola Crisis i.e. supplementing food shortages and subsidising increased food costs
- Donations to teachers and families affected by the Ebola Crisis including donations to families looking after Ebola orphans
We continue to need funding to support the schools. At Waterloo Schools Charity we strongly believe education is the key for a better and brighter future for the children of Sierra Leone.
On-going Projects
- In the secondary school 6 year scholarships of £30 per annum are awarded to promising girls and boys, as at present only 23% of children go on to secondary level education due to lack of means
- Dr. Laurie Read university bursaries - we are helping three young men and three young women fulfil their potential at universities and colleges in Sierra Leone
- Supplying school teaching/ learning materials and equipment to the Primary and Secondary Schools
- New toys and learning materials for the Nursery School
- Supply of additional desks and benches to the Primary School
- New nursery tables and chairs
- Roof repair and painting of Primary and Secondary school classrooms
- Lunch subsidy for nursery school children
- Staff salaries – teachers/security guards/librarian
The Nursery School
At the request of the village elders and the ministry of education and thanks to the Zoe Carss Educational Trust, we have built a new nursery school. This was designed with two classrooms and a barrie (verandah) at each end so that the little ones can be outside in all weathers.
Without nursery education the children have no English, the official language, when they enter primary school.
The Primary School
There are 1018 pupils in primary education but classes are very crowded and there is constant pressure to accept more children as, at present, only 60% go to school. In 2006 a new primary classroom building with a teacher's office replaced a tarpaulin structure which had been in use since the war.
The Peninsula Secondary School
Generous donations from British & Foreign School Society, Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission together with fund raising events in Worcestershire have allowed us to build and equip large science, computer and home economics laboratories which are now in full use. This is Phase 1 of a long term renovation and development of the secondary school.
