Sierra Leone

In SIERRA LEONE Batonga is:

building a school: a new secondary school for girls has been built in the capital of Freetown and it will be run as a government school. While there is a shortage of secondary schools throughout the country, the lack of opportunities for girls to attend secondary school is acute.

In-country NGO partner: Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE Sierra Leone Chapter).

granting scholarships: 50 girls have been awarded secondary school scholarships to attend the new school above, which opened in September 2007. They enrolled in various grades, and the same Batonga scholarship will be paid annually until each girl graduates from grade 12. The scholarship includes tuition, uniforms, school supplies, mentoring and community awareness programs.

The photo above includes some of the 50 girls who will be receiving Batonga scholarships in September.

In-country NGO partner: Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE Sierra Leone Chapter).

supporting a vocational school: funds are being provided for a Vocational Training School in Freetown that currently has 48 girls enrolled, all of whom were rescued from brothels. These girls were forced into the sex trade by crushing poverty and a lack of opportunities for women. All under 20 years of age, each of the girls is close to completing a two-year vocational training program in one of four professions: tie dying, tailoring, soap making and photography.

In-country NGO partner: Children Associated With the War (CAW).

improving school water and sanitation: a well, septic tanks, and girls’ toilets are being constructed at Sierra Leone Waterloo School. Clean water and accessible, separate bathroom facilities are crucial to maintaining and increasing enrollment rates for girls.

In-country NGO partner: Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE Sierra Leone Chapter).

Background

For many years the West African country of Sierra Leone has been near the bottom of the annual UN Human Development Report that ranks nations by quality of life. It is currently second to last among the 177 countries surveyed (surpassing only Niger).

It was already amongst the world’s poorest countries when it was hit by a ten year civil war that was ended with the help of a large UN peacekeeping mission in early 2002. This conflict was one of the most brutal ever fought. Some 50,000 people were killed and tens of thousands of limbs cut off. Thousands of vulnerable children were manipulated or forced into fighting. At one point it is estimated that close to one third of the entire population were either internally displaced or refugees in neighboring countries. Women in particular suffered from atrocities including systematic rape and abduction.

Investment in education is seen as key to the continuing efforts to rebuild the country, reduce poverty and build the foundations for long term peace and development in Sierra Leone.

The government has restored many schools, an estimated 70 percent of which were destroyed or occupied by rebel forces during the war. In recent years school fees have been removed in all government-owned and assisted primary schools and attendance has tripled. However that still represents only 41 per cent of this age group, and conditions in most schools are very grim. Pupils often have to sit on the floor because there is no furniture. More than 40 percent of all teachers have no qualifications or formal training, and they often have a second job just to survive. Textbooks are scarce, and few families can afford to buy notebooks for their children.

UNICEF estimates that 300,000 children of primary school age in Sierra Leone are still out of school, and 60 percent of these are girls. The gender gap widens considerably for secondary schools, which for the most part are still fee-based.

With or without an education, young women face tremendous challenges when trying to find a job—particularly in light of the 70,000 mostly male former combatants who were disarmed and rehabilitated after the war and who have swollen the ranks of young people seeking employment.