Kelly’s Vocational and Agricultural Secondary School Why we need help and the learning problems we are currently facing A presentation by Millicent Sawyerr

Civil war of 1992 During the civil war of 1992 in Sierra Leone, West Africa the rebels burned down a couple of our classrooms. This created several problems.

Civil war of 1992 – problems created After the war the schools had difficulty accommodating the students in one shift, from 7am until 2pm due to the lack of space from the burnt down buildings. This caused the creation of two shifts. Some of the students came from 7am-12, while the others came from 1pm until 4 or 5pm.

problems created WITH THE TWO SHIFTS MULTIPLE CHALLENGERS AROSE, CHALLENGES SUCH AS… -Decrease in learning time -Instead of one long shift, it was cut into two shorter shifts so the kids had less time in the day to learn to make way for the next shift coming in. -Excessive Heat - The students in the second shift would experience excessive heat due to being in class during the hottest part of the day. - This made the learning conditions unbearable due to no air conditioning and the heat caused an extreme lack of focus.

New government The new Government came in this year and addressed the terrible learning conditions of the students by wanting the schools to go back to the one shift schedule from 7am until 2 or 3pm. This increases the amount of time the students can use to learn each day as well as makes the conditions extremely better by avoiding the excessive heat as much as possible. We are very happy and blessed that these problems are being addressed however this created new ones for us that we desperately need your help with. Problems such as…

New problems Due to the burnt down buildings from the civil war we cannot accommodate every student in the one shift schedule due to the severe lack of buildings necessary. We are lucky enough that the new government is giving us a year to prepare for the shift change and God willing acquire the actual foundation to be able to each every student who needs it. Unfortunately it is not only the shift change affecting out lack of space. There is another huge problem increasing the amount of students in Freetown and Hastings which increases the need for more buildings.

New problems continued : ebola crisis Not too long ago the ebola crisis hit Sierra Leone. This caused many of the children in the provinces to be left without schools. Which led to a wave of young students coming down from the provinces to Freetown and Hastings and now schools like ours need to accommodate them and make sure they do not lose the education they deserve.

How you can help To Recap: With the burnt down buildings from the civil war reducing space, combined with having to teach all the students in one shift and the increase in students coming away from the ebola crisis in the provinces we are in dire need of more buildings. With your help we can build the necessary space to give these young children the space in which to learn that they so desperately need. Education is so important to improve the community and the homes they come from, no child should be deprived of the ability to learn.

Thank you and god bless