Going to secondary school should be about more than reading and writing. It should be a place where Sierra Leone girls learn what’s possible in life. They should learn to dream big at this early age.

Form 5 (11th grade) student Adama Sankoh at Bumpeh Academy has a big dream. When asked what she wants to do after finishing school, Adama said,

“I want to become a president.”

She’s clear on where to start. “Education is the only way I could change the social and economic status of my family. School prepares my mind to be useful and influential in my community and country as a whole.”

Bumpeh Academy Principal David Rashid Conteh, Arlene, BA scholarship students, CCET Executive Director, Rosaline Kaimbay. Adama is front row, 3rd student from right.  Signs read: Sherbro Foundation, You are welcome. Please help our school.

In school, Sierra Leone girls like Adama are being exposed to the opportunities open to them beyond the small rural communities they come from. Even becoming president. They’re learning the first practical step to achieving those dreams is completing their education.

Sherbro Foundation’s girls scholarship program helped 150 Bumpeh Chiefdom girls continue their education for the school year starting August 2015.

My motivation for starting the girls scholarship program in Bumpeh Chiefdom was simple.  I wanted girls to learn to dream big and start on the path to reaching their full potential with education.  I’ve met more high potential Bumpeh Chiefdom girls like Adama who want to become doctors, nurses, lawyers, journalists, teachers, accountants. Their first step – completing secondary school – is still a hurdle and huge accomplishment for most girls in Sierra Leone.

Sherbro Foundation helps eliminate financial barriers to girls attending secondary school. This year we provided school uniforms for girls in five Bumpeh Chiefdom schools.

The Sierra Leone government paid school fees this year with post-Ebola funding. But uniforms cost as much as school fees, and present a big burden for parents still recovering the past year’s Ebola crisis.

Sherbro Foundation’s 2015 scholarship program helped remove that barrier for 150 of the chiefdom’s most vulnerable girl students. The program is administered by our local partner, the Center for Community Empowerment & Transformation (CCET). Here’s more of this year’s scholarship students.

—– Arlene Golembiewski, Executive Director

Walter Schutz Memorial Secondary School students

Scholarship awardees from three schools flanked by CCET Executive Director, Mrs. Rosaline Kaimbay (left) and CCET Child Welfare program director, Abdul Foday (lower right).  Schools left to right: Walter Schutz SS, Ahmadiyya SS, Bumpeh Academy SS

Ahmadiyya Islamic Secondary School students

Earnest Bai Koroma Junior Secondary School in Mosimbara village, Bumpeh Chiefdom’s newest secondary school. Children from small villages can start secondary school here close to home, and later transfer to Rotifunk for senior high.

Vain Memorial Primary School, serving six villages in Bellentine Section.  Primary school students got 2 uniforms each. Mothers of many children in this school are in our Women’s Vegetable Growing project.