From Darkness to Light – Learning to Read

Posted on August 9, 2025 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog, News • Tagged africa, Education, girls education, Reading, rural development, sierra leone • Leave a comment

Imagine a child entering Class 3 who can hardly read simple words. Some still struggle naming letters or numbers. This is not uncommon in Bumpeh Chiefdom and across Sierra Leone. These children risk never catching up and often drop out of school in frustration. Their lives remain forever limited without reading skills.

Our partner, the Center for Community Empowerment & Transformation (CCET-SL), fills teaching gaps with a targeted Class 3 learn-to-read program. Experienced, retired teachers work weekly with students in seven schools on their first formal reading steps, while coaching their inexperienced teachers.

CCET-SL submitted this story of a girl struggling to read and her remarkable teacher who was retired “but not yet tired” – eager to keep teaching.

Rachel’s Reading Journey

Modigay is a small village surrounded by lush green fields with a winding dirt road to Rotifunk, the chiefdom headquarters. There lived spirited class-three student Rachel Bangura. Every day, Rachel woke before dawn, her heart filled with learning dreams despite overwhelming circumstances. Her family, struggling as subsistence farmers, could barely afford life’s necessities, let alone help with homework. Rachel often joined her parents in fields after school.

Rachel loved school, but joy was overshadowed by struggles. She could hardly read, spell, or connect sounds to letters, filling her with anxiety. In her bustling Rotifunk classroom, while other children eagerly raised hands, Rachel sat quietly, hoping not to be called upon. She felt lost in a sea of words dancing beyond her reach.

A New Hope

The Center for Community Empowerment and Transformation works with schools and local council to improve education quality in Bumpeh Chiefdom. They train teachers to improve outcomes among underprivileged children. They brought in experienced retired teacher Mr. Koroma, who had a reputation for transforming struggling students’ lives. With his compassionate approach and innovative methods, Mr. Koroma was determined to help children like Rachel.

When Mr. Koroma first met Rachel, he noticed the curiosity spark in her eyes despite looming fear of failure. He took time to know Rachel, learning about her village, family, and dreams of reading stories. Rachel expressed her desire to read about faraway places and adventures. Mr. Koroma promised they would work together to make that dream reality.

Building Foundations

Mr. Koroma began with basics, focusing on phonics and letter sounds through engaging activities. He used colorful flashcards, songs, and rhymes that made learning fun. Rachel’s shy laughter echoed as Mr. Koroma encouraged students to sound letters and blend them into words.

Initially, Rachel struggled to grasp concepts, feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, but Mr. Koroma’s patience kept her motivated. “Every word you learn is a step closer to your dreams, Rachel. Let’s take it one step at a time!” he would say, and Rachel felt hope ignite within her.

Beyond the Classroom

To further support Rachel’s learning, Mr. Koroma organized weekend literacy clubs in their village where children could gather and learn together. Rachel’s parents were thrilled seeing their daughter engaging with other children in learning to read.

During club meetings, Rachel enjoyed storytelling sessions where she listened to tales from different cultures. She was captivated by stories of brave heroes and magical realms, fueling her desire to read. Mr. Koroma encouraged children to draw pictures related to stories, allowing Rachel to express creativity when words felt elusive.

Breakthrough Moments

As the school year progressed, Rachel made significant progress. One sunny afternoon, while practicing with Mr. Koroma, Rachel successfully read a simple book aloud for the first time.

“Saffie’s Mistake!” she exclaimed, her voice filled with joy. Mr. Koroma and other children clapped excitedly, and Rachel’s face lit up with a radiant smile. This moment marked a turning point; she realized she could read, that she was capable.

Buoyed by success, Rachel started writing short sentences about her life and village. She wrote about family, friends, and beautiful sunsets. Each word she penned testified to her growth and determination.

A Year of Transformation

By year’s end, Rachel had transformed remarkably. With Mr. Koroma’s guidance, she could read simple stories, write confidently, and understand word sounds. Rachel’s self-esteem blossomed, and she now participates actively in class discussions. She’s no longer the quiet girl at the back; she’s become a vibrant classroom community member.

Rachel often shared dreams with Mr. Koroma about becoming a teacher to help other children like herself. Mr. Koroma beamed with pride, knowing his influence had sparked fire within Rachel.

Learn to Read Program Impact

Rachel’s story repeats many times with Mr. Koroma and other experienced reading teachers entering classrooms weekly.

CCET-SL reading tutors break through barriers and jumpstart children’s ability and love of reading. Teachers who only graduated high school receive practical, in-classroom training building their skills and motivation to teach.

Because CCET-SL uses experienced community teachers, the cost is only $10 per student for the whole year. The cost is low, the result is priceless.

To keep kids progressing, we will expand the learn-to-read program to Class 4 with the new school year. You can give 350 Class 3 and 4 children like Rachel in seven schools the chance to unlock their potential through reading with your support: here.

You can also help send 14 early primary school teachers to get 3-year teaching certificates on scholarship. They’ll develop skills to start children on the path to mastering reading in classes 1 – 3.

These teachers have only graduated from high school with no means to pay for higher education. A scholarship for each year is only $400. Give Now

You’ll be giving Bumpeh Chiefdom children a strong education head-start, an advantage they’ll carry through life. We appreciate your support!

–Arlene Golembiewski
Executive Director

Casting Off Barriers – Investing In Young Minds

Posted on July 12, 2024 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog, News • Tagged Bumpeh Chiefdom, Education, girls education, rural development, sierra leone, west africa • Leave a comment

When I visit Bumpeh Chiefdom villages, I see the story of Mariatu Turay’s mother played out again and again. Ya Ramatu is a widow who toils away in her garden using only her own backbreaking manual labor. Foremost in her mind is educating her children. But she hardly earns enough to feed them, let alone take care of school expenses.

Ya Ramatu didn’t have the opportunity for education. Too many children still follow in her footsteps, trapped for generations in the same cycle of illiteracy and poverty.

Too many young minds have been wasted for too long. You can change that. You are changing that.

You helped Mariatu break the mold. We’re kicking off our annual Education Fundraiser so more students repeat her success story this school year. Together we can cast off education barriers and invest in developing more young minds.

Mariatu, left, just managed a feat few rural girls achieve, as a standout secondary school graduate. She was also a school prefect, selected to lead students and enforce school standards.

She now wants to go to university to study accounting. Without our help, she could have been back in her village like her mother, struggling to support two or three children.

Instead, Mariatu and other junior high students you earlier helped, are today’s high school graduates. With early success, they stayed in school, prepared to tackle senior high and now continue for advanced training.

Today, girls and boys routinely graduate from Rotifunk secondary schools, thanks to programs from our partner, the Center for Community Empowerment and Transformation (CCET-SL).

For Paramount Chief Charles Caulker, it’s a transformation. “Our schools have now returned to where they were before the war. Our children no longer have to leave Bumpeh Chiefdom to get a full education.”

Doing what works

Over 11 years, CCET-SL has greatly improved education in Rotifunk. At its core, CCET-SL’s tutorial programs give students the extra teaching support they need to advance to the next level of their education: to junior high, senior high and now higher education.

9th grade students, above, intent on passing to senior high return for another 90 minutes of CCET-SL led after-school classes. This tutorial ensures they complete the full curriculum before the national exam.

In a rural area with limited resources, you must be practical. CCET-SL organizes teachers with the best qualifications to prepare students in grades 5, 6, 9 and 12 for their national exams.

The tutorials use existing teachers and existing facilities to achieve better results. Much better.

Over 90% of students in tutorial classes now pass to junior high and senior high better prepared than ever and continue to perform at a higher level. High school graduates are among the first to qualify for college in 30 years.

Charles Caulker, left, got the highest 2023 senior high entrance exam score ever achieved at a Rotifunk school and in his district of 40 schools. He topped students in five other rural districts. A number of his fellow students were close behind. Rotifunk hospital surgical officer and CCET-SL board director, Mohamed Tommy stands proudly with him.

Today’s lowest senior high entrance exam scores were just few years ago the highest scores Rotifunk students achieved.

For Mariatu – and her mother – CCET-SL’s tutorial programs made all the difference, enabling her to graduate with good grades at no extra cost. Sierra Leone schools often charge fees for extra after-school classes to prep for exams. Or parents pay teachers to tutor their children for national exams.

With Sherbro Foundation funding, CCET-SL tutorial classes are free, giving all students equal opportunity to get a full education.

Women often care for children of other family members. Kadiatu, center above, has responsibility for seven children; three are hers, four her brother’s. The family burden to educate children is great.

Program impact

Paramount Chief Charles Caulker sees the impact of CCET-SL program as “a big leap forward.” He told me, “CCET-SL is closing the huge gap left in chiefdom schools by the [11-year] war. For years, few students passed. Now, nearly all students pass. Grades are significantly improved to the point many graduates now qualify for university or [three-year] diploma courses.”

Chief was blunt about the state of Rotifunk schools for years after the war. “Only the students seen as useless remained in our schools.” Bright students found their way out and parents made every effort to send their children to better schools in bigger towns and cities.

Paramount Chief Caulker, above center, is a strong advocate for women. He knows the greatest long-term impact he can have on his chiefdom is helping to educate their children.

Chief Caulker now sends his granddaughters to Rotifunk schools. “This shows my conviction. I wouldn’t send my own children to school here if I didn’t believe the learning process was good,” he said. “I see no difference in their learning compared to Freetown schools. Look at Naomi. Her English is good, and she does very well in math. I’m so happy.”

Rotifunk schools are not overcrowded like those in Freetown. Children get more individual attention and they do better.

Chief Caulker’s dream 11 years ago was to educate his grandchildren in their own chiefdom. Today, granddaughters, Naomi, 7th grade, above left, and Grace, 5th grade, are thriving in Rotifunk schools.

Raising the bar

CCET-SL’s collaborative approach with Rotifunk schools is helping set a higher standard of education. They review and analyze student national exam results with schools by subject and agree on improvements they can work on together. Teachers get help with teaching materials and classroom coaching on teaching methods.

“CCET-SL is creating competition among Rotifunk schools, causing them to rise to a higher level,” Chief Caulker added.

With your support, we’re in the fourth year of CCET-SL managed teacher certification scholarships. CCET-SL handpicked 19 promising primary and secondary school teachers, especially for English, math and science. Women teachers are in short supply. CCET-SL sought out local female high school graduates to develop as teachers. Teachers go to classes during school breaks and apply each term’s learnings back in their classrooms. Nine schools are improving as their teachers improve their own educations.

Young minds are no longer wasting in Rotifunk. With CCET-SL programs, more and more students are graduating high school and at younger ages.

Seventeen-year-old John Sandy, left, just sat for the national graduation exam he’s optimistic will gain him admission to university. Graduating at 20 and 22 years of age had been the norm.

Also, students often must retake the graduation exam to improve results before getting admitted to universities and technical institutes.

They’ll lose a year or two and have to raise funds to pay to repeat the exam and maybe a review class. It’s an expense many can’t afford.

The big education leap Chief Caulker credits CCET-SL with is not just academic success. It also clears a huge financial hurdle for the poorest families – avoiding lost time and substantial cost before students can gain advanced education and productive job skills.

Bumpeh Chiefdom greatly needs highly skilled trades people, not just university grads. We’re planning new scholarships for young people to pursue training in areas like construction, electrical systems, mining technology, agriculture and animal husbandry.

Chief Caulker knows opportunity will open with education. “People get enlightened with education. They’re creative. They’ll use their creativity to create their own opportunities and develop small businesses.”

Ya Ramatu’s life would have been vastly different with even basic education. Our challenge is to help the next generation of Mariatu’s and John’s get the head start they need in school for better, productive lives.

School starts in September. For only $50, you can give a 9^th or 12^th grade student ten months of instruction to ensure they’re ready to advance to the next level of their education.

A student prepared and confident of progressing to senior high or college for only $5 a month. A bargain!

“It takes a village” to educate Bumpeh Chiefdom children and we’re an essential part of it. Join our village and give a child an opportunity that changes their life.

On behalf of students and parents, thanks so much for all the support you provide!

— Arlene Golembiewski,
Executive Director

Celebrating Ten Years Working in Rural Sierra Leone

Posted on October 11, 2023 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog, News • Tagged Bumpeh Chiefdom, girls education, rural development, sierra leone, west africa • Leave a comment

2023 is Sherbro Foundation’s tenth anniversary! We have much to celebrate from a ten-year partnership with our friends in Bumpeh Chiefdom. We formed a joint vision back in 2013 with Paramount Chief Charles Caulker. We would send girls to school and start on his dream of growing fruit trees to fund future education programs. Chief founded our partner group, the Center for Community Empowerment & Transformation (CCET-SL), and I started Sherbro Foundation.

There’s been twists and turns over the ten years and adventures we couldn’t have imagined that only made our relationship stronger. We’ve passed the test of time, met our early goals and expanded beyond them.

This called for celebrating!
Chief Caulker and CCET-SL put on a weekend-long event for their program beneficiaries and 300 chiefdom people. Sherbro Foundation Board directors Steve Papelian and Cheryl Farmer, Mary Avrakotos, Ann Arbor Rotary Club and I joined government officials and other VIP’s as honored guests.

Rotifunk was abuzz with activity for an event this big. To bring people from across the chiefdom, Chief Caulker arranged boats carrying them from villages up and down the Bumpeh River.

Women set up in locations around town cooking to feed all the guests. Massive pots cooked rice and plassas for 40 or 50 people each.

Baffa shelters were built on a school sports field from bamboo cut and lashed together. Big palm branches laid on top shaded us from the hot tropical sun. Hundreds of chairs borrowed from schools were carried over to seat guests.

On the big day, the women’s society created a festive atmosphere. Their pulsating drumming and dancing with their Bundu devils, below, energized the crowd.

Reflecting on our early days
As I sat waiting for the event to start, I was thinking of our early days. CCET-SL and SFSL in 2013 would be unrecognizable today. For four years CCET-SL was a group of volunteer teachers, offering their services after school and on weekends to start new programs.

The living room of Chief Caulker’s small guest house was CCET-SL’s office. I carried the first computers over in a suitcase, and only a couple teachers knew the basics of using them. Memos were written by hand and snapped to send as a photo. Project photos often served as reports. With limited phone service and few smart phones, most business was (and still is) done by Whatsapp calls and texts.

But we got started. SFSL has always followed the principle that we support goals and objectives our partner sets for itself. I still remember Chief Caulker’s words that we will start with “small, beautiful things.” Things we can start quickly that will have an impact on improving the lives of chiefdom people within months, not years.

Chief had already waited for ten years after Sierra Leone’s war for government or NGO funding that never came. With SFSL’s help, he could take charge and act on projects he knew were greatly needed. But SFSL was new. So, we picked things that were simple to start with little funding and achievable in the short term. Concrete results from these fledgling efforts encouraged more donations.

The first two projects SFSL funded in 2013 were $20 school fee scholarships for 120 girls and $600 for a tree nursery to grow fruit tree seedlings to start the Orchards for Education program. $350 to start adult education soon followed when local illiterate women said they want to learn to read and write.

Today, there’s multiple programs and ten years of results to call out at our celebration.

CCET-SL director Rosaline Kaimbay, left, gave an impassioned review of how the organization developed over ten years.

She’s been there from the beginning and deserves the credit for creating innovative education and women’s programs and leading them to where they are today. Thank you, Rosaline!

CCET-SL program graduates who moved on to higher education filled a large part of the main seating area. Their blue T-shirts proudly declare they are CCET-SL alumni. Gathered together in one spot, below, they showed just how far CCET-SL programs have come over ten years.

Program beneficiaries illustrate results
CCET-SL wanted to showcase its results – educating and developing people. Beneficiaries of nine programs talked about the impact CCET-SL had on them and their peers.

Our first university scholarship graduate, Aminata Kamara, is an alumna of CCET-SL tutorial programs that prepared her for university. An outstanding student, she lost an opportunity to study in China. Now a B.S. degree graduate, she told young students they must seize the opportunities CCET-SL gives them from primary school to university to “learn book”.

She thanked us all for changing her life. We couldn’t be prouder of Aminata. Today, seven students follow her on their education journey with university scholarships.

Salamatu Fofanah, primary school headmistress applauded CCET-SL for coaching primary schools. This is where we build a strong education foundation, she said. Two years ago, Bumpeh Chiefdom primary schools were among the lowest scoring schools in Moyamba district. They’ve rapidly improved to be among the top schools with CCET-SL support.

Salamatu is one of 13 local teachers completing teaching certificates with CCET-SL scholarships. “We are proud and honored to say we are trained and qualified teachers!”

Anne Marie Kaimbay didn’t get the college entrance exam scores for university admission on her first try. She repeated 12th grade in CCET-SL’s WASCCE preparation class and passed the exam the second time. She’s now a 2nd year civil engineering student at the University of Sierra Leone. 50 more students are in CCET-SL’s WASSCE preparation class.

Anne Marie proudly told the crowd, “Whatever a man can do, a woman can do better.”

Teacher James Kamara’s commitment to leading the 9^th grade after-school tutorial program shows in its results.

He described the senior high entrance exam results steadily growing each year to 100% of all students passing in 2022.

“Bravo to CCET-SL,” he declared for offering this program free of charge to students. “Special thanks to our paramount chief for helping Bumpeh Chiefdom make the mark in education.”

Isatu Bendu has a special place in my heart. I met her eight years ago in CCET-SL’s adult education program. Now a primary school teacher, she told her story of being a primary school drop-out from an illiterate farming family. With CCET-SL’s help, she passed the entrance exam for a primary school teacher training program and today teaches class one.

She proudly said she’s gone from being “nobody” to a respected member of the community – a teacher.

Our first women’s program was for Ebola relief. Farming and markets had been shut down for months, slashing incomes.

Hawanatu Sesay explained how the Women’s Vegetable Growing Project helped her and her peers. With project seed for peanuts and vegetables, they harvested within 3 or 4 months, earning cash to feed their families. The project went on to help 400 women get back on their feet over three years.

Graduates of nursing and vocational training programs and primary school students gave their stories of how CCET-SL’s education programs moved them forward.

A Paramount Chief’s vision realized
I don’t think anyone that day was more proud than Paramount Chief Caulker. He realized his dream of educating Bumpeh Chiefdom people that today continues. He beamed as each speaker recounted their personal story of life-changing education made possible by CCET-SL. With education, they’re going on to develop the chiefdom.

Chief spoke of his own goal of bringing the Orchards for Education program to maturity. The orchards will soon begin generating income to fund education programs for years to come.

The self-sufficiency vision Chief laid out ten years ago was achieved with 60 acres of fruit orchards well on their way to fruiting stage. The first lime and coconut trees planted now tower over us.

We ended the day relaxing in the orchard we planted from seedlings grown in our own nursery.

Chief Caulker poured libation, left, to thank the ancestors for looking over the success of our work and asking them to continue to guide us and grant us all long life.

Chief could now lean back now among the orchard trees with friends and relish ten years of work well done. We enjoyed palm wine freshly tapped from orchard palm trees. This is what satisfaction looks like. Mary Avrakotos, Ann Arbor Rotary Club, above left, and Steve Papelian, SFSL Board Director and former Rotifunk Peace Corps Volunteer, right, join Chief Caulker.

You, the supporters of Sherbro Foundation, were called out and thanked many times that day. You weren’t there, but you were in our minds and part of the celebration.

Please stop now to take a virtual bow that you richly deserve. So many of you have continued to support Bumpeh Chiefdom people for years.

On behalf of Chief Caulker, CCET-SL and Bumpeh Chiefdom people, we send you our deepest thanks. We’re grateful that you’ve been part of our ten-year journey. You have truly changed the lives of many people.

Thank you!

— Arlene Golembiewski

Executive Director

A Boost to the Finish Line

Posted on June 6, 2022 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #SierraLeone, girls education, Rotifunk, sierra leone, west africa • Leave a comment

“CCET-SL has rebuilt senior high education in Rotifunk,” Paramount Chief Charles Caulker commented as we wrapped up a recent meeting on our partner CCET-SL’s education programs.

I knew what he meant. When I first returned to Sierra Leone 11 years ago, there were four secondary schools in Rotifunk, most small junior highs. None had the full teaching staff to cover all subjects. Many teachers were just out of high school themselves and uncertified. None of the handful of graduating seniors met university entrance requirements.

Fast forward to today, with the month-long national senior high completion exam beginning. CCET-SL expects this year’s students to do at least as well as last year. In 2021, 64% of graduating seniors in CCET-SL’s program met the minimum requirements for university admission. Several did considerably better. Another 15% qualified for teacher training college. That’s about 80% qualifying for higher education.

What changed? Our partner CCET-SL introduced programs to systematically improve education.

Their six-year-old after-school tutorial program has prepared hundreds of junior high students for senior high. CCET-SL‘s all-day 12^th grade school just completed its third year.

Both programs are getting results – thanks to funding from your Sherbro Foundation donations. We’re reaching out now for your help to fund them for another year.

Mabinty used CCET-SL’s programs as steppingstones to her goal of working in government, even becoming a Parliamentarian. She is graduating from 12^th grade, a feat still uncommon for Bumpeh Chiefdom girls.

She told her story, not an easy one, to Mrs. Kaimbay, above. At the age of nine, her father divorced her mother for another woman. Both parents left, leaving her with her impoverished grandmother who could barely care for her. Mabinty had to repeat 8^th grade after missing a lot of school when her grandmother couldn’t pay her school fees.

Sherbro Foundation scholarships then kept her in school. Participating in CCET-SL’s 9^th grade tutorial program and the 12^th grade school, Mabinty now feels confident as she sits for the West African Secondary School Completion Exam, or WASSCE. “I’ve never failed to attend school, and was always successful in my school exams,” she said. She hopes her WASSCE results will gain her admission to the University of Sierra Leone to study political science.

To have Bumpeh Chiefdom girls and boys today speak of their education goals with such conviction and confidence is striking.

When Rosaline Kaimbay, below, took over as CCET-SL managing director in 2017, she set out to improve the quality of education in Bumpeh Chiefdom.

Rotifunk, the chiefdom’s headquarters town, was typical in seeing only about 30% of teens make it to junior high.

By the 10^th grade, half of those dropped out. The few successful students whose families could scrape together funds, transferred to senior highs in cities with qualified teachers.

By 12^th grade, remaining Rotifunk seniors dwindled to 5 – 10 per school. With these numbers, schools couldn’t get government support to hire qualified teachers.

A former results-oriented school principal, Rosaline knew there had to be a better way. She saw there were various teachers across the schools who had skills in different subjects. She convinced the school principals to pool both their 12^th grade students and their best teachers into one effective all-day school.

The 12^th grade school covers eleven subjects for both college bound and commercial students. Walter Schutz Memorial Secondary School provides classrooms, below.

WASSCE class entrance test 20211008 (2)

It’s all done only with available local teachers but organized for optimal results.

The school is run in a disciplined manner and the entire WASSCE curriculum is covered. Students do practice exams to get familiar with the exam format and questions. The concept showed immediate results in its first five-month trial. With a full 10 months in 2021, the school produced the dramatically improved results above.

Mrs. Kaimbay avoids bureaucratic approaches and maximizes benefits for students and their families. That includes admitting “repeaters” into the program. With years of inadequate teaching, many students don’t pass the WASSCE the first time, or their results are too low for their college or program of choice.

About 30% of students in the 12^th grade school have graduated but are repeating the year to sit the exam again. The program was extended to allow local graduates to repeat at no cost to try to bring up their exam results. When more graduates move on to successful jobs and careers, they, their families and the community all benefit.

Susan is a repeater intent on getting admitted to a four-year degree program in accounting at a good college. She told Mrs. Kaimbay, above, she wants to go into banking or be a private business accountant. She passed six of eight subjects on her first WASSCE exam. Five passes would get her into a college, but she didn’t pass English, required for her chosen degree program.

Completing high school was a struggle for her. Her parents are illiterate village farmers with no money for her education. A guardian in Rotifunk barely provided her basic care. She received just one school uniform to wear daily every two years.

Sherbro Foundation scholarships helped her reach senior high. Susan now wants to take the leap to college and a professional career. Our support boosted her to this point!

Mariatu’s story is much the same. A guardian helped her complete high school when her village parents could not. She repeated 12^th grade to improve her exam results so she can study law.

She’s seen older male lawyers return to Rotifunk to visit family, but never a chiefdom woman. She wants to be to first local woman to successfully become a lawyer.

Rotifunk’s young men have similar dreams – and they need the same boost.

When his father died, Kamiru, left, waited three years after graduating high school before the CCET-SL program was available to help him repeat the WASSCE exam.

He wants to become a Community Health Officer. The CHO is like a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant who run small community health clinics. They operate clinics solo, being the first line of primary care medicine for most people.

WASSCE results from last year’s 12^th grade school amazed me. But the elements for success were there: all subjects taught by capable teachers; a disciplined program ensuring the whole curriculum is covered; and students serious about their education goals. They must pass an entrance test to confirm they are at senior high proficiency before entering the program. No laggards allowed.

Chief Caulker’s statement on CCET-SL’s role in rebuilding senior high education, is an understatement. Without CCET-SL’s programs, these able young people would be languishing with no way to advance.

The cost for this 10-month program is $40 monthly stipends for the teachers. Many of them don’t get the full government teacher’s salary of $140 a month. With Sierra Leone’s run-away 21% inflation, teachers keep falling financially behind. Our modest $40 a month stipend helps keeps them afloat.

If you want your donation dollar put to good use in an efficient program with demonstrated results – sponsor a teacher for CCET-SL’s for Tutorial Program. Help us continue another year here.

At $40 a month – or $400 for one teacher for the school year – you’ll move Rotifunk’s young people up the ladder of success and keep teachers in the classroom teaching.

We greatly appreciate your support. Thank you!

— Arlene Golembiewski,

Executive Director

How to Change a Child’s Life. For $25!

Posted on May 20, 2022 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog, News • Tagged #SierraLeone, girls education, Rotifunk, sierra leone, west africa • Leave a comment

It’s 1 pm and James Kargbo turns back from the blackboard of his fifth-grade class at Evangelical Primary School to find Mr. Barnard in the doorway of his classroom. He wasn’t expecting Mr. Barnard just then, but welcomes him into the class. Mr. Barnard is a familiar face, showing up unannounced once every one or two weeks to observe his class and coach him on his teaching.

Mr. Barnard, below, occasionally takes over the class to give a demonstration lesson on more difficult topics. You know it’s an experienced teacher when normally bored preteens sit in rapt attention on a subject like fractions.

We are kicking off our annual Education Fundraising Campaign showcasing the new primary school tutorial program our Bumpeh Chiefdom partner CCET-SL launched last September. Nearly 400 students in classes five and six in seven Rotifunk area schools and their teachers participate.

With your help, we’ve done a lot to raise the quality of education in Rotifunk schools in the last several years. We’re particularly excited now by the potential of the primary school program and the impact we can all have on children’s lives there.

It became clear, to get HERE ……………… We need to start HERE!

Operating for five years, CCET-SL’s after-school tutorial program for ninth graders now has 95% of students passing their senior high entrance exam. But passing doesn’t mean results are strong. Many are in fact rather marginal.

To set kids up for success in senior high and give them a good shot at higher education, we need to work with them at the primary school level.

Fourteen teachers and nearly 400 primary students were put in the capable hands of Oliver Barnard, a retired primary school teacher and headmaster of 30 years’ experience. At 65, this man has energy to spare. “I actually enjoy teaching,” he said. Of retirement age, but not ready for it, he lamented,” I thought I was nowhere. Now I’m back in the system.” His frown turned into a wide grin. Teaching children he says, gives meaning and purpose in his life.

And Rotifunk’s primary school teachers need him. Only 4 of the 14 teachers he works with have the basic three-year Teacher’s Certificate, qualifying them to teach primary school.

The other ten only graduated from high school and were put in front of a classroom, like Mohamed Kamara. A teacher for three years, he would like to go to college, but like most, doesn’t have the means to pay for it. Abdul Kanu, at Supreme Islamic Council School, below, is another dedicated teacher who appreciates Mr. Barnard’s guidance.

Sometimes a principal just hands new teachers a book and sends them to a class to teach. The principal often teaches full time themselves and has little time to monitor or coach a young teacher.

To make matter worse, without a teaching certificate, the government does not pay unqualified teachers. School principals scrape together donations to pay them from parents who have no money to spare. Maybe half the parents will offer something, often as little as 5000 leones – or 50 cents. From this, unqualified teachers get a token monthly payment of $15 – $25 a month.

With classrooms like James Kargbo’s at the Evangelical Primary School, below, you know schools don’t have extra money to pay teachers. Nonetheless, teachers are teaching, and kids are learning.

Village children are walking 3, 4 and even 5 miles each way to go to primary school like these in Rotifunk. Their village schools often barely function, with one or two teachers for six grades who may have only completed primary school themselves. These are among the children in greatest need of education that we can influence in a positive direction.

Most class five and six teachers in Rotifunk are young men because they have at least finished high school. It’s one of the few paid jobs in town, but the pay is hardly enough, especially with a family. Teachers like James and Mohamed leave school to go home and work in gardens growing fruit and vegetables to supplement their tiny family incomes. Their wives may be the primary breadwinners of the family as market women, selling produce in the market.

This leads to morale problems and malaise among many unqualified teachers. Without having learned teaching methodologies, they struggle. When one teacher must teach all seven subjects for one grade, they skip over the topics they’re not familiar with. Students end the school year without learning the full curriculum.

English language, written composition and math are the weakest subjects in primary school. These remain weak all the way through to the 12^th grade national graduating exam. Students never catch up.

Mr. Barnard is shaking the trees to change this. In a good way.

The teachers know he’s there to help them and look at him as the coach and mentor they never had. Week by week, after observing their class, he gives feedback on improving their teaching. He helps them prepare lesson plans on topics they are weak in. His demonstration classes give teachers confidence to cover topics they didn’t know how to teach and practical tips on handling a class.

The kids enjoy him. The class gets a shot of energy when Mr. Barnard confidently takes over a lesson. And they learn.

Sometimes Mr. Barnard puts the chalk down and just talks to the kids about the importance of education in their lives. He points out successful people they know who only got ahead because of their education.

Too often these young impressionable students see the opposite – young people who dropped out of school and with the little money they earned bought cheap cell phones and flashy clothes.

Young women tell the girls, you’re wasting your time in school; I have my own baby.

What they don’t realize is, chances are, the women will be abandoned to raise that baby themselves. Young female and male drop-out’s never get ahead and live impoverished lives. Sound familiar?

But many times, it’s a role-model teens strongly admire that sparks their imagination and starts a change in their lives. If she or he came from the same place as me and achieved what they did, so can I. Rosaline Kaimbay, CCET-SL’s locally born and college educated managing director has been a role model that sparked this change in many students.

We all recall teachers who had a big impact on our lives. Sherbro Foundation is working with CCET-SL to develop more teachers who will play that role for these kids.

Last week 200 class six students lined up to take their National Primary School Exam in Rotifunk, most from CCET-SL’s program. The exam sets the course for their education journey. Either they continue to secondary school, or faced with repeating class 6, many drop out.

With nine months preparation and practice exams, Roman Catholic primary school headmistress Salamatu Fofanah could see the difference in the students from CCET-SL’s program this year. She said, “Today our children feel relieved and happy to take the exam in a cool atmosphere. They have the confidence to take their exams with no fear. We appreciate the great support of CCET-SL and Sherbro Foundation.”

She knows James Kargbo and his fellow teachers have worked for months to prepare their students for this week with Mr. Barnard’s ever-present coaching. The results will no doubt be better than last year. The teachers are energized to keep improving and pledge to soon achieve the highest results in the district.

Sherbro Foundation is excited to kick off our annual Education Fundraising Campaign with this practical program. It’s developing teachers on-the-job, while covering the full primary school curriculum and giving students a better education. It uses existing resources to do this.

As the advertisement used to say – the cost per student for the whole school year for all of this? Only $25. Changing a child’s life? Priceless!

I can’t think of many things we can do with higher impact on the lives of more people.
When 400 young students get a strong education foundation and keep progressing in school, the impact will be felt for years to come. Whole families benefit when students turned adults keep succeeding.

You can help change a child’s life for $25. Sponsor four for $100. Or why not sponsor a whole class of 20 for $500? It’s a guaranteed feel-good investment you’ll be glad you made. Give HERE.

As always, we deeply appreciate your support. Thank you!

— Arlene Golembiewski,

Executive Director

Opportunity is Knocking – You can Answer the Door

Posted on July 19, 2021 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #SierraLeone, Bumpeh Chiefdom, girls education, sierra leone • Leave a comment

Bumpeh Chiefdom students are eager for opportunities to advance their educations. You’re the key to opening the door to secondary school and higher education – the path to building better lives.

We’re excited to now offer programs extending from primary school through university degrees!

You can support chiefdom students: Join our Annual Education Campaign HERE.

Tutorial Programs

9th and 12^th grade students get extra classes in preparation for their national exams, the gateway to senior high and higher education admission.

$60 gives a student 10 months of classes.

Learn more here.

Primary School Tutorials

Our newest offering is after-school classes for grades five and six. Kids who do well in primary school are set up for success in secondary school and beyond.

At $18 each, we’ll cover 400 students!

Learn more here.

Vocational Scholarships

Ten students are entering the second year of 2-year vocational diploma courses. They learn practical job skills: construction, electrical installation, and IT.

$450 pays tuition, practicals, travel and the certification exam fee. Learn more here.

Teacher Training Scholarships

Quality education starts with trained teachers. Six teachers are continuing the second in a 3-year Higher Teacher Certificate program. They keep teaching while attending their own classes during school holidays.

$700 covers a 1-year scholarship, including $350 tuition. Learn more here.

Nursing & University Scholarships

We’re happy to report both of these scholarship programs are funded, thanks to our earlier appeal for the Community Health Nurses and another generous donor.

We appreciate the support!

Our successful tutorial programs are entering their fifth year. Because of you, students are also continuing into higher education – “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities to achieve actual careers.

You are the key!

Please send your online gifts here. Contact Us for sending checks.

Thank you for opening the door!

Getting Sierra Leone Students Ready for What Lies Ahead

Posted on September 1, 2020 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #Girlseducation, #SierraLeone, girls education, sierra leone, west africa • 1 Comment

Sierra Leone schools finally will reopen in October after a 5-month Covid shutdown

How do you help students now at an education milestone with a looming big exam that determines their fate – or which could result in more barriers to reaching their life goals?

Sierra Leone students have already been through a lot to reach 9^th grade or 12^th grade. With previous stops and starts, senior high students are often 20 years old and more. They’ve been in schools with too few teachers qualified to teach the curriculum.

Now, they’ve a 5-month school gap to fill because of Covid.

We’re working on improving Rotifunk’s educational system with teacher training. But what happens to the kids now in school?

CCET-SL’s Tutorial Program, going into its fourth year, tackles this problem, turning it into an opportunity.

Rosaline Kaimbay saw local secondary schools don’t have enough trained and qualified teachers to cover the full curriculum, especially in math, science and English.

Her solution: offer tutorials, but not just one-on-one or for small groups. Offer after-school classes to students from three schools preparing for national exams. And make it free.With Sherbro Foundation funding, 9^th and 12^th grade students came in droves for this free extra help. CCET-SL had to limit enrollment to the capacity of the CCET-SL education center, about 75 students at a time.

The program has been a big success and continues to grow. 170 students are anticipated this year, exceeding the size of the CCET-SL center. Classes are in two shifts and overflow classes go to a nearby primary school in afternoons.

Students facing the biggest barriers to education are invited for tutoring, providing a boost for the most vulnerable: orphans, those in single-parent households, often woman-led, or away from their home village living with guardians, and the lowest income families. 80% are girls.

The Tutorial program adds quality to the education these students receive – and does it using existing resources.

The best qualified local teachers combine forces in extra classes for students from three schools.

For a modest $40 monthly stipend, these dedicated teachers come after school, week after week, for another round of teaching over the whole school year.

The result: 9^th grade tutorial students each year got higher results on average on the senior high entrance exam than peers in their home school, better on average than all chiefdom schools and than most of the district’s 40 secondary schools. They took many of the top three results in their home school.

The tutorial students, 80% girls, also became motivated to continue their education. More went on to senior high at the age when girls typically drop-out and marry. With extra support and their daughters’ success, more parents saw the value of education and kept their girls in school.

Create All-Day 12^th grade School
Rosaline has taken 12^th grade after-school tutoring to a higher level. The total number of 12^th graders in Rotifunk schools remains small. Most have dropped out by this point.

Rosaline convinced school principals it would be more effective to bring all 12^th grade students together and teach one all-day 12^th grade school with the best local teachers at the CCET-SL center.

Students get the best teaching Rotifunk has to offer. The intensive all-day school prepares them for the exam that’s the entry to all higher education and requested on job applications. All 12 senior high subjects are taught, including classes for college and commercial tracks.

School in the time of Covid
12^th grade after-school tutoring converted to the all-day school in December 2019. Covid then closed schools at the end of March 2020. Still, with six months total of focused teaching, we’re hoping this group now taking the national exam will do better than in the past.

CCET-SL will resume both the 12^th-grade school and 9^th grade after-school tutoring when Sierra Leone schools reopen in October. They observe the same procedures as all schools, including Covid safety procedures: required masks, spacing out students and frequent hand-washing. The CCET-SL Center has large windows to open on both sides creating air flow.

9^th grade tutorial classes and the 12^th grade school will be more important than ever in helping Rotifunk students catch up after missing five months of school for Covid. No Zoom in Rotifunk!

You can step in and sponsor a 9th grade or 12th grade student for 10 months of classes for only $40 for the whole year. Sponsor a student here.

Together, we can help 170 students stay on track and make big gains in their quest for a complete education. More than that. They’re preparing for the next step that lies ahead. Thank you!

— Arlene Golembiewski, Executive Director

Light Up Izzy’s Life. She’ll Bring Light to Others.

Posted on August 24, 2020 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #SierraLeone, #westafrica, Bumpeh Chiefdom, girls education, sierra leone, solar energy, vocational training • 1 Comment

Youth unemployment in Sierra Leone is staggering.

70% of those under the age of 35 are unemployed or underemployed. Erratic work in the informal economy, like market trading and day labor, is hard to even call employment. But that’s the best many can do. They have no skills.

Izzy is back in school now to avoid this fate. She’s in a vocational course teaching her electrical wiring. She chose that because it will lead to a wage-paying job with a future She’ll be poised on the leading edge of Sierra Leone’s solar revolution.

It’s back-to-school time. And time for our annual educational fundraising appeal – with another new twist this year.

Vocational training is one of four types of higher-education scholarships we’re sponsoring for chiefdom students. The successful after-school tutoring program will continue, as well.

Izzy is one of 12 Bumpeh Chiefdom students enrolled in a new vocational training program with Sherbro Foundation scholarships.

She was an 11^th grade student aimlessly drifting in a conventional school that didn’t offer much to a student like her. Izzy (short for Ismatu) lost first one parent, then the other. She lives with her grandmother, helping in her catering business, which in rural Rotifunk, is down more than up.

Izzy is a quiet girl. In a month of being around her, I never got more than a “good morning, ma.” She’s always silent, her grandmother said. Just quietly doing tasks she’s asked to do. Fetch water, wash the pots, peel potatoes, pluck feathers off a chicken. You can see she’s had a painful past. Spending her time with older women who didn’t have their own chance for education, she never formed any goals.

The Sierra Leone government recognizes young people like Izzy need new opportunities. Most will never go to college. They need to get job skills. The government decentralized its Government Technical Institute, putting satellite programs in the district capitals where it’s practical for impoverished students to study. They made it affordable, with low tuition and avoid the capital Freetown’s high cost of living.

When Izzy’s chance for a new kind of education came up, she went for it. Electrical wiring is unusual for any girl to elect, but especially in Sierra Leone.

I asked her, why choose this, and Izzy softly said, “So I can do betta.” Meaning, so I can get a job and do better than the women around me.

Now she’s learning a skill that will set her up in a trade with opportunities, as Sierra Leone’s construction industry grows and electrical power takes off.

Until now, 90% of rural Sierra Leone has been in the dark.

Izzy didn’t choose this out of the blue. Last year, she was helping her grandmother cook for a group of Germans who came to install a solar system at Rotifunk’s mission hospital. They observed women have almost no options for jobs and are always working as “beasts of burden.” They encouraged Izzy, saying she could be doing solar installations and other electrical work.

Not long ago, a group of illiterate Sierra Leone women went to India to be trained as part of a “barefoot solar” program, which successfully trains illiterate Indian women to do solar system installations. They show even uneducated women can learn what they need to know to run wiring and install solar panels. Women are disciplined and pay attention to detail.

When Izzy was selected for one of the first 12 Bumpeh Chiefdom positions at the new technical institute in the district capital Moyamba, she saw electrical wiring was a course option. She didn’t hesitate.

Four young women and eight young men were accepted for Sherbro Foundation funded scholarships. Three women elected an IT course. The men are studying building and constuction, auto mechanics and IT.

The only female in her electrical course, Izzy is getting encouragement all around, including from the guys in the class. She’ll be finishing her first year soon, leading to a one-year certificate. If she does well, she can continue into a second year and get a full diploma.

Izzy’s timing is good. Small scale solar systems are spreading across Sierra Leone.

Easy Solar is one company bringing small solar units to rural African households. It installs solar panels with as little as 25 to 50 watts capacity, enough to run a couple LED lights and charge phones, plug in a radio or another small device.

Compared to always buying expensive alkaline batteries, this kind of small solar service is affordable for many. The smallest package is $70. You can buy your set-up outright, or pay it off monthly. Later, you can add on.

The exciting news is a solar mini-grid is being installed for the town of Rotifunk. It’s a public-private venture, that will be run like a small utility company. Households who want the service will get an electrical meter installed for pay-as-you-go service. Poles are going up around Rotifunk to carry electrical wires throughout town. The rest goes in soon, when the peak of the rainy season passes.

I smiled when I heard one excited resident say, with electricity, “Rotifunk will be New York City of the south [of Sierra Leone].”

The above solar mini-grid is an example of many being installed in rural Sierra Leone.

Imagine the anticipation of having even small-scale power and lights around Rotifunk for the very first time. It will no doubt keep growing, as power expands around the country.

Izzy soon will be ready to take advantage with her new electrical skills. She can “do betta” and have a future in front of her.

When asked to sponsor vocational training scholarships, Sherbro Foundation immediately said, absolutely.

It takes just $325 for a total scholarship package for the year to help one vocational student get job skills! This includes tuition and practicals fee, room rental and transportation for nine months.

The institute is impressed with Bumpeh Chiefdom’s response in sending students. It’s the only chiefdom in the district to fully sponsor 12 impoverished students and give them this opportunity.

You can help Izzy and 11 others like her get real job skills. Contribute towards a $325 annual scholarship here and these young people will soon join the job market – and avoid lives of poverty.

You’ll be making a great investment that feels great, too. Thank you!

— Arlene Golembiewski, Executive Director

Our Sierra Leone partner CCET-SL has more education programs helping Bumpeh Chiefdom students move to self-reliant lives. Stay tuned to hear what’s next for the successful after-school tutoring program and two other scholarships for community health nurses and our first university student!

Putting Quality Into Sierra Leone Girls’ Education

Posted on August 15, 2020 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #SierraLeone, girls education, Rotifunk, sierra leone, teacher training, west africa • Leave a comment

We’re kicking off our annual appeal for our educational programs.

Sherbro Foundation’s core mission is education, with a focus on helping girls get an education.

We want Bumpeh Chiefdom girls – and boys – to stay in school, graduate and move on to actual careers and wage-paying jobs that make them self-supporting and part of developing their country.

Sherbro Foundation is proud to have grown to four types of scholarships serving Bumpeh Chiefdom students.

This year we’re changing our approach to our mission. No girls’ scholarships.

We’re focusing on ensuring teachers have the skills needed to help our students succeed.

“This is the right time to make a change in the scholarship program,” Bumpeh Chiefdom’s Paramount Chief Charles Caulker said. “The Sierra Leone government’s Free Quality Education program is providing more and more for students in the last two years and taking a load off families. The government made school free, paying school fees directly to schools, and giving students school supplies and textbooks for core subjects.”

$Emory WSMSS SS1 math 18 (3)$ Over six years, Sherbro Foundation sent over 800 Bumpeh Chiefdom girls to school with scholarships, most with repeat scholarships.

We got them into junior high and kept them there. We saved many from dropping out, instead continuing into senior high. They’re starting to graduate.

But graduates aren’t moving on to their dreams. Our goal of self-sufficient young women remains unmet.

Few had school completion exam results good enough to continue into higher education. This is largely the same scenario across Sierra Leone.

The problem was pretty clear. More needs to be put into the quality of education, not just the quantity.

Quality of education starts with qualified teachers.

This year we will fund scholarships for teachers in chiefdom schools to get the Higher Teaching Certificate (HTC), the basic credential to teach at the secondary school level.

“The majority of those imparting knowledge to pupils are not trained and qualified. This has created a negative impact on the performance of pupils, especially in the public exam.” Rosaline Kaimbay, managing director of our chiefdom partner CCET-SL and former high school principal.

IMG_2706 (2) If fortunate to finish high school, most graduates need to earn an income right away. They start teaching straight out of high school, sometimes as a primary school teacher.

Without an HTC or a bachelor’s degree, the government won’t pay secondary school teachers. But it’s hard for Rotifunk schools to get trained teachers to come to this rural community. They still need teachers, and scrape together a token salary, as little as $25 a month, to pay unqualified teachers.

The Sierra Leone government offers part-time courses practicing teachers can take on school holidays and some weekends to get their HTC over three years.

Many unqualifed teachers are serious and want to improve their subject knowledge and teaching skills. But paid so little, they can’t afford to pursue their HTC.

They’re stuck. But we can fix this problem.

Sherbro Foundation will fund six CCET-SL scholarships for practicing Rotifunk teachers to pursue their HTC. The cost for each is only $675 a year for tuition, fees and personal support (travel, food, internet café use, etc.)

82511258_614813622684617_5169237073403576320_n (2) Aziz is applying for one. He’s been teaching for seven years. Aziz was born in Mogbongboto, a small village deep in Bumpeh Chiefdom near where the Bumpeh River opens to the ocean. His parents were subsistence farmers, living off the land. He is one of twenty children his father gave birth to. His family can’t offer any financial help to further his education.

Aziz went to high school in Rotifunk in the period after the war when schools were being rebuilt academically as well as physically, and good instruction was limited.

When he didn’t meet university entry requirements, Aziz took the path many do. He got a basic teacher’s certificate, qualifying him to teach at primary schools. He worked his way up, from primary school to teaching business management and physical education at a Rotifunk secondary school.

87479818_654415898724389_2420527844426776576_n (1) “At first I never want to be a teacher looking at the way the profession is neglected,” Aziz commented last year. “Later on I take it as a job. And now it’s becoming my profession.”

Teachers in a rural community like Rotifunk do more than teach a class. They’re guides and catalysts, lifting students from the trap of semi-literacy and a life of poverty to the opportunity education brings.

I was impressed with the personal vision Aziz wrote on his Facebook page. “My vision: to teach, to build, to inspire. As an educator, a life coach, a life instructor, a future builder and a Role Model, I inspire young and great minds towards becoming super thinkers and great achievers.”

Aziz meets the base criteria for an HTC Scholarship. He now has six subjects passed after retaking the school completion exam vs. four required for HTC entry. He’s a chiefdom resident and currently teaching in a chiefdom school.

Aziz did well in CCET-SL’s scholarship interview, with a panel of seven interviewers, including Paramount Chief Caulker. He needs to now apply to an HTC school and bring a letter of acceptance.

20191222_131110 (2) “CCET-SL works to compliment the government’s Free Quality Education program,” Chief Caulker, left, said. “One thing the government is not able to do now is send teachers back to school to develop strong teaching skills. It’s right for CCET-SL to step in and help our own teachers. We’ve tailored teacher training scholarships for our needs and to serve as a tool for developing our chiefdom.”

After completing their HTC, teachers are required to continue teaching in a Rotifunk school at least one year for every year of scholarship support they receive.

“Our Girls Scholarship program encouraged chiefdom families to send their girls to school and let them progress into senior high,” Chief Caulker said. “They’ve come to value education more and are proud of their girls getting an education.”

“We now need to make sure girls – and all our students – get a quality education that will carry them into new lives where they prosper, and in turn, Bumpeh Chiefdom prospers.”

Sherbro Foundation is excited to take our education mission to the next level with this change. When a teacher’s skills improve, students learn more, test scores improve and they gain admission to higher education – with opportunities for a new life.

You can help develop a teacher by donating towards a $675 scholarship. Click here.

You’ll be investing in both a teacher and in the hundreds of students they teach. Thank you!

— Arlene Golembiewski, Executive Director

Watch for future newsletters about our three other scholarships and their goals: community health nursing, vocational training and supporting our first university student to complete her final year.

460 Goals Met!

Posted on October 13, 2019 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #Girlseducation, #SierraLeone, #westafrica, Bumpeh Chiefdom, girls education, sierra leone • Leave a comment

You hit the target. With your generosity, Sherbro Foundation’s 2019-20 girls’ scholarship campaign reached it’s goal.

Actually, it’s 460 individual goals that were met. You helped 460 girls achieve their personal goal of returning to school another year and advancing to the next grade.

Bravo to these girls pursuing their education. And bravo to you, the ones that made it happen!

IMG-20191009-WA0001 (2) I always anxiously await seeing what happened to individual girls I’ve gotten to know. This picture of Fatmata proudly smiling in her senior high uniform made me smile, then left me teary thinking of her story.

Fatmata, now starting 11th grade, just received her fifth SFSL scholarship. She’s thriving and moving through senior high.

We wrote about Fatmata two years ago. She lost her father to Ebola, and her pregnant mother died shortly afterward. A relative enrolled her in a Rotifunk school because she could get a scholarship. She resisted her father’s family’s efforts to move her to another town where she would not get scholarship support. She wanted to be sure to stay in school. Now, a few years later, she’s nearly finished with secondary school.

There are many more Fatmatas also getting their chance for education.

We’re thrilled to repeat last year’s highwater mark of 460 scholarships, covering four Bumpeh Chiefdom schools of all faiths. And four young women will return to another year of college with their SFSL scholarships.

With your support, more and more chiefdom girls are staying in school each year. We’re grateful to you for your generosity in backing their growing numbers year after year.

We’re told no other community in Sierra Leone receives this number of scholarships — and all for girls!

Distributing scholarships is always a joyful day. Below, Bumpeh Academy students spill out of our partner CCET-SL’s education center after receiving their scholarship package of a school uniform and school supplies. Without textbooks, it’s essential students get notebooks for recording teachers’ blackboard notes.

IMG-20191009-WA0003

IMG-20191009-WA0008 (2)

Rosaline Kaimbay, CCET-SL Managing Director and former school principal, above, encouraged students and told them of their responsibility to learn and become successful. CCET-SL’s role she tells them, “is to help transform the lives of chiefdom people. When you are successful, you will transform our community.”

Mrs. Kaimbay reminded students of the college scholarships we have started. She told senior high students, “it’s now in your hands” to study hard and qualify for a future scholarship.

IMG-20191009-WA0009 (3)

The Ahmadiyya Islamic school, above, is the chiefdom’s smallest secondary school. But the ranks of girls in the school keep growing year by year.

IMG-20191009-WA0013

Walter Schutz Memorial Secondary School (WSMSS) is the chiefdom’s oldest school, and the one where I taught as a Peace Corps Volunteer many years ago. I remember feeling good back then to have 70 girls in all six grades of the town’s only secondary school. Today, the CCET-SL center, above, was overflowing with over 150 girls receiving scholarship packages in just one of four participating schools!

Pictures weren’t yet available for our fourth school, Ernest Bai Koroma Junior High, the newest school ten miles outside Rotifunk.

But what about the boys?
Every year when I visit Rotifunk schools and meet with student assemblies, I’m asked directly by boys, “What about us? We need help going to school, too.”

$Emory WSMSS SS2 math 3 (2)$ The fact is, they do. And with the scholarship program, the number of girls in Rotifunk secondary schools is catching up to their male peers.

As Westerners, we’ve had the notion that African families favor boys over girls for education. I’ve asked enough people in Bumpeh Chiefdom over enough years to now satisfy myself this is no longer true. Girls have caught up with boys in junior high, and now we’re helping girls do the same in senior high. It’s poverty that’s kept girls from progressing now, not favoritism, especially when village girls face the added expense of lodging in town suitable for an unaccompanied teenage girl.

The SF Board decided last year to start scholarships for boys at the modest level of 10% of the total given to girls. We paid for 46 additional scholarships for boys ourselves. This year we set the same target, and one Board member paid for all boys in full.

Mustapha Kebbie SS2 Student profiles show just how important it is to support boys as well as girls. Mustapha, left, is doing well now in 12^th grade with his second scholarship.

He lost his parents during the early days of the Ebola outbreak when they were quarantined. They may have only become infected when kept in close quarters with those who had contracted Ebola. Now living with an uncle, Mustapha wants to become a lawyer “to stop too much crime.”

Emory spelling bee team 2 Mabinty's and Sallu disabled foot (3)

There are many disadvantaged boys who need our support.

Sallu, middle left, is disabled.

His education means everything to him, as he won’t be able to earn his living with physical labor.

We’ll continue to monitor this issue year by year.

Once again, we send our deepest thanks to everyone for making this year’s scholarship campaign another successful one!

— Arlene Golembiewski

What Your Scholarship Really Buys a Sierra Leone Girl

Posted on July 17, 2019 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #girlseducation west africa, girls education, sierra leone #sierraleone #girlseducation west africa • Leave a comment

Mabinty’s math teacher says she’s quick to answer questions and tries to understand new material. Competitive, she sits in the front row of class. She loves to rub it in when she beats the top boys for the best grades in class. At fifteen, she just finished the 10th grade with her second SFSL scholarship.

Mabinty Fofanah SS1

Mabinty is one of 460 Bumpeh Chiefdom girls waiting for her chance to return to school in September. You can give her that chance with a $30 Sherbro Foundation scholarship.

Mabinty doesn’t know her father who left the family soon after she was born. Her mother remarried and her stepfather raised her with three of her siblings and two other children.

School is important to Mabinty.

“When you get an education, you become someone in society,” she says. She wants to be a lawyer.

With a $30 scholarship, you give a girl much more than a year in school. With a new-found sense of self-worth, girls set goals for themselves and work hard to prepare for wage-paying jobs and real careers. They avoid pregnancy and early marriage that would end their dreams. They’re choosing careers that contribute to society and help develop their country.

Sherbro Foundation scholarships target the vulnerable Bumpeh Chiefdom children – orphans or those with single parents and the lowest income families struggling to send children to school. We strive to improve their their odds in the lottery of life.

The self-esteem that education brings will boost girls into promising futures. That sums up why we work so hard to send Sierra Leone girls to school. Education is the foundation for self-esteem in a country where the majority of women remain uneducated and often illiterate, treated as the lowest caste in society.

Salamatu, 17, in 9th grade, comes from a distant Bumpeh Chiefdom village. Her father died during Sierra Leone’s war, and her mother died soon after of an illness.

Salamatu’s aunt has raised her and her two siblings for the past 13 years. Her hard-working aunt is a trader, reselling things she buys in villages at Rotifunk’s weekly market – peppers, palm oil and charcoal.

Salamatu Conteh BASS JSS3 Aunt orphan Siama Rd. 4 (4)

With that income, her aunt cares for 10 children, eight in secondary school. This year will be Salamatu’s third on scholarship, which her aunt says are vital to keep her in school. At 17, many girls are force to drop out and start earning a living, often as market traders like Salamatu’s aunt

Salamatu wants to become a nurse “to serve mankind and for nation building.”

She’s one of 100 9th graders now in our partner CCET-SL’s study camp preparing for their senior high entrance exam in late July. After ten months of after-school tutoring classes and now the study camp (all SFSL funded), we expect the ranks of senior girls to grow in September. That’s our goal.

With your support, we’ve grown every year. In 2018-19, 170 senior girls were awarded scholarships; 460 secondary school girls in total. You can help more girls keep on their education journey to graduation and higher education for just $30 each.

Aminata, 18, is finishing senior high with her third SFSL scholarship. Her stepmother cares for six children. Her meager earnings as a market trader helped Aminata complete school. They depended on SFSL scholarships to ease the growing cost burden on the struggling family.

Aminata went to CCET-SL’s tutoring classes for senior high students preparing for their college entrance exam. A very small group of students has made it this far.

“The tutoring classes improved my studies,” Aminata said.

“But I wish there was a science laboratory because I want to become a medical doctor.”

We always have another goal to reach for!

Your $30 scholarship provides a full package. A girl gets a new school uniform – for many the only school clothes they may have for the year. Schools have no texbooks. We provide notebooks for students to copy notes teachers write on blackboards. These things cost more than the secondary school fees the Sierra Leone government is now paying for the first time.

This year we’re adding a washable and reusable menstrual hygiene kit that gives girls the freedom to attend school every day of the month. It gives girls the confidence to fully participate in school, like writing on blackboards, standing in front of class or at lunchbreaks, and participating in sports without the shame of exposing stained clothes.

Your scholarship provides so much for a girl. That’s all it takes to relieve subsistence-level families of the major financial burden to send their girls to school – and keep them in school until graduation.

Click here and send a Bumpeh Chiefdom girl to school with a scholarship. It feels great.

Thank you!

— Arlene Golembiewski

P.S. Your gift includes another intangible treasure: building a girl’s confidence that she can excel in school and in life. That’s priceless.

P.P.S. You can help more. Pass this on to a friend.

Come celebrate our 6th anniversary

Posted on March 12, 2019 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #SierraLeone, girls education, Rotifunk, sierra leone, west africa • Leave a comment

This week is Sherbro Foundation’s sixth anniversary!

I’m just back from five weeks in Sierra Leone. One program in 2013 has grown to six today, and they’re expanding.

Join us April 4 at 7 pm in Cincinnati to hear all we’ve accomplished with our Sierra Leone partner CCET – and where we’re going next.

This isn’t a fundraiser. We just want to share all our good news with you. Pass this on and feel free to bring friends. Hope to see you there.

—– Arlene Golembiewski

Sending Children to School with Fruit

Posted on March 2, 2019 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #SierraLeone, Bumpeh Chiefdom, Fruit orchards, girls education, sierra leone, west africa • Leave a comment

So many things to show from my Sierra Leone trip last month. Where to start? Here’s where we started our Orchards for Education work with Mike’s Orchard – the first one we planted in 2016 for our dear Peace Corps friend we lost a few years ago.

Bumpeh Chiefdom Paramount Chief Caulker, above, shows one of over 1000 pineapples planted in the rains of July 2016 that are doing well and starting to sporadically fruit.

It was in 2016 we decided with our Sierra Leone partner CCET-SL to start planting fruit orchards as a means of creating sustainable income to run their education programs for Bumpeh Chiefdom. Chief Caulker doesn’t want to keep asking donors to pay for scholarships for girls to go to secondary school, and now to college. We want to keep running the new Tutoring program that prepares students for their senior high and college entrance exams without hand-out’s.

As a rural agricultural area, starting fruit orchards became our plan. It’s a long-term strategy and requires work to carve them out of wild bush and get fruit trees established. But then they reliably produce fruit and income for years to come. We’ve added short term crops to fill in between trees, like pineapple, cassava, peanuts and corn.

The Sherbro Foundation Board stepped in to start the Mike Orchard ourselves, in recognition of our Peace Corps friend Mike and all he did for Sierra Leone over 35 years during and after he left the Peace Corps. You must clear land and plant in Sierra Leone in synch with the rainy season. Or wait another year. So we decided in short order in 2016 to just get started with eleven acres Chief provided near his family farm.

Since then, Orchards for Education is blossoming into another 45 acres, all planted for children’s education in Bumpeh Chiefdom. More on that later.

For now, our first effort is bearing fruit. Literally. Not enough to earn real income this year, but we’re on our way. Watch over us, Mike. The next year should be a good year.

Eat. Pray. Learn.

Posted on December 9, 2018 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #SierraLeone, Bumpeh Chiefdom, girls education, sierra leone, west africa • Leave a comment

Come January, 63 girls will be starting on a path few Bumpeh Chiefdom girls ever reach. They’ll eagerly begin senior high school.

Girls in CCET’s tutoring program waiting to start their senior-high entrance exam.

Last January, our partner CCET started their first after-school tutoring program for 9th grade girls. Extra classes fill learning gaps schools can’t provide and help girls successfully pass their senior-high entrance exams — and be well prepared for senior-high learning.

Eighty-one girls from four local schools started the program, coming to 4 pm classes three days a week, including their first computer training. Seventy-five continued for 7 months, finishing in July just before the national exam.

Why the title Eat. Pray. Learn?

Tutoring ended with a 3-week study “camp”, where girls lived 24/7 at CCET’s education center. They had intensive review, drilling on practice test questions, study time and generally got pumped up to take the exam together. Students, left, in study camp evening classes.

Thanks to funding from the Beaman Family Fund, we were able to feed these young scholars three meals a day during the camp. Below, students take a lunch break outside.

And prayer in all faiths, left, is part of the camp day. At day’s end, tables were pushed to the side and girls spread out on the floor to sleep dormitory style.

The experience of living and studying together in a focused environment with the support of their teachers and peers – and good nourishment — helped push girls over the finish line for the exam.

We weren’t sure what to expect from the new Sierra Leone government on this year’s exam. The nature of the questions didn’t change, but they applied more rigorous exam monitoring and scoring. They are emphasizing improving education and eliminating corruption at all levels, including on national school exams. Exam results were reported in November.

Sixty-three passes among girls completing the tutoring program is very good. For perspective, only 120 girls in total were enrolled in all grades of senior high last year. So, these 63 girls will be a strong group of new 10^th graders, prepared to thrive in senior high.

On average, the girls in the tutoring program outperformed local schools as whole.

They also did better on average in math and science scores, areas targeted in tutoring classes, left.

We especially want to congratulate Bumpeh Academy who had the highest exam results (all students, boys and girls) among schools in 3 adjoining chiefdoms.

Some of their classrooms lack four walls, yet they deliver good results.

Girls from the tutoring program, left, made up about half the school’s students taking the exam.

Girls from the tutoring program were also among the top positions for all local 9^th graders taking the exam — both boys and girls. Congratulations to Hellen Bangura for coming in first of any Bumpeh Chiefdom student. Adama Mansaray of Walter Schutz Memorial Secondary School and Isatu Conteh of Bumpeh Academy were among those in second and third positions. You make us proud.

The tutoring program is one example of the education programs our partner CCET provides for the benefit of the whole community. Led by a former school principal and staffed with teachers, they do a great job of identifying needs and designing practical, low-cost solutions that maximize use of limited resources for students in all local schools.

Sherbro Foundation is helping CCET create a sustainable solution to keeping the girls scholarship and tutoring programs funded and improving into the future. Orchards for Education plants fruit trees, long-term income from fruit sales for CCET’s education programs.

Please consider an end-of-the-year gift and see it grow by 50%, matched through a Rotary Club grant! Help plant fruit trees and you’ll keep sending girls to school for years to come. Gifting by December 25 will help us meet Rotary’s deadline for the grant request.

Many thanks to all of you for supporting Bumpeh Chiefdom programs and making 2018 a blessed year. We’re grateful for your generosity and outpouring of support!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season,

— Arlene Golembiewski and the Sherbro Foundation Board of Directors: Chris Golembiewski, Cheryl Farmer and Steve Papelian

#GivingTuesday: Plant a Tree That Will Educate Sierra Leone Girls. Make it a gift.

Posted on November 19, 2018 by sherbro foundation • Posted in Blog • Tagged #Girlseducation, #GivingTuesday, #SierraLeone, girls education, Plant trees, sierra leone • 2 Comments

On Giving Tuesday when you plant a tree, you’ll educate Sierra Leone girls. You’ll protect the planet, too.

Where else will $35 do as much on #GivingTuesday2018?

You can make your holiday gifts more memorable this year. Give a living tree, an investment in Bumpeh Chiefdom and its girls.

Skip the mall and online sweater orders. Give someone the gift of a tree in their name. You’ll be giving them the experience of changing another person’s life. The tree’s fruit income will fund girls education for many years to come.

It will provide scholarships for girls to go to secondary school. It will fund important extra programs not found in rural schools, like computer training. And special after-school classes helping girls prepare for the senior high entrance exam.

It will pay for some the chiefdom’s very first female high school graduates to continue on to college!

A tree will fund classes for young women dropouts to catch up and return to school, or move on to vocational training. Other women learn to read and write for the first time.

Choose how your gift will change someone’s life: Gift Suggestions

Added bonus: trees help combat climate change. Tropical trees mature quickly absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. They prevent erosion and protect drinking water sources, too.

Now that a holiday gift that’s meaningful and memorable.

Yet another bonus: a Rotary Club grant will match your gift by 50%. $35 becomes $52.50! $50 becomes $75. $100 becomes $150.

On Giving Tuesday, give a tree and send Sierra Leone girls and young women to school and to brighter futures. Donate and give gifts here.

Read more about the Rotary Club partnership to plant new fruit tree orchards for education and everything your gift will do.

Make this Giving Tuesday special – give a tree that will keep on giving.

Thank you!

P. S. One more way you can help. Pass this on to a friend.

Sherbro Foundation

Empowering rural Sierra Leone through education & agriculture development

Tag Archives: girls education

From Darkness to Light – Learning to Read

Casting Off Barriers – Investing In Young Minds

Celebrating Ten Years Working in Rural Sierra Leone

A Boost to the Finish Line

How to Change a Child’s Life. For $25!

Opportunity is Knocking – You can Answer the Door

Tutorial Programs

Primary School Tutorials

Vocational Scholarships

Teacher Training Scholarships

Nursing & University Scholarships

Our successful tutorial programs are entering their fifth year. Because of you, students are also continuing into higher education – “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities to achieve actual careers.

You are the key!

Please send your online gifts here. Contact Us for sending checks.

Thank you for opening the door!

Getting Sierra Leone Students Ready for What Lies Ahead

Light Up Izzy’s Life. She’ll Bring Light to Others.

Putting Quality Into Sierra Leone Girls’ Education

460 Goals Met!

What Your Scholarship Really Buys a Sierra Leone Girl

“When you get an education, you become someone in society,” she says. She wants to be a lawyer.

Come celebrate our 6th anniversary

Sending Children to School with Fruit

Eat. Pray. Learn.

#GivingTuesday: Plant a Tree That Will Educate Sierra Leone Girls. Make it a gift.

On Giving Tuesday when you plant a tree, you’ll educate Sierra Leone girls. You’ll protect the planet, too.

Where else will $35 do as much on #GivingTuesday2018?

Now that a holiday gift that’s meaningful and memorable.

On Giving Tuesday, give a tree and send Sierra Leone girls and young women to school and to brighter futures. Donate and give gifts here.

Make this Giving Tuesday special – give a tree that will keep on giving.

Share this:

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Tutorial Programs

Primary School Tutorials

Vocational Scholarships

Teacher Training Scholarships

Nursing & University Scholarships

Our successful tutorial programs are entering their fifth year. Because of you, students are also continuing into higher education – “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities to achieve actual careers.

You are the key!

Please send your online gifts here. Contact Us for sending checks.

Thank you for opening the door!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

“When you get an education, you become someone in society,” she says. She wants to be a lawyer.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

On Giving Tuesday when you plant a tree, you’ll educate Sierra Leone girls. You’ll protect the planet, too.

Where else will $35 do as much on #GivingTuesday2018?

Now that a holiday gift that’s meaningful and memorable.

On Giving Tuesday, give a tree and send Sierra Leone girls and young women to school and to brighter futures. Donate and give gifts here.

Make this Giving Tuesday special – give a tree that will keep on giving.

Share this: