Headmaster visits St. Anne’s School in Grantham, England- November 2019
Shipping containers arrive at the warehouse- March 2020
Shipping containers arrive at the warehouse- March 2020
After a year of collecting tables, chairs and educational resources, we finally had enough items to fill a shipping container. This week, our first shipping container arrived. Unfortunately, due to the lockdown, we are unable to fill the container at present as we are isolated to our homes. However, as soon as the lockdown is lifted, we will be working to fill the container and have it sent to the two schools in Tombodu, Sierra Leone.
Headmaster visits St. Anne’s School in Grantham, England- November 2019
Mr Samuel Quee is the Headmaster of the UMC School in Tombodu. After visiting Tombodu several times, we decided that it would be beneficial for Mr Quee to attend a school in England to improve the standard of education in his school. The St. Anne’s School in Grantham kindly volunteered to have Mr Quee spend the week with them to show him modern and efficient ways of teaching children.
It was Mr Quee’s first time to leave Sierra Leone. With his small bag filled with long-sleeved shirts, Mr Quee believed that he was well-prepared for the cold British winter. Nighttime temperatures’ in Sierra Leone rarely dip below 20 degrees, and even this temperature is what Mr Quee would describe as being ‘freezing’. Nothing could prepare him for the cold air that was to hit him as he walked out of Heathrow airport. Mr Quee spent the whole journey to the hotel staring out the car window in awe of the well-lit roads, the bridges and petrol stations.
The next morning, we picked Mr Quee up from the hotel to take him to the St. Anne’s School. As he got in the car, he asked us if we were going to stop off at the river to wash before going to school. We laughed at his joke and started our journey to school. After seeing the confusion on his face, we quickly realised he wasn’t joking and took him back to the hotel to show him how the shower worked. He couldn’t believe that we had access to a constant supply of clean water.
Mr Quee spent five days at St. Anne’s Primary School in Grantham, where he gained some insightful knowledge about the UK’s education system. He described the experience as ‘unforgettable and eye-opening’. Since returning to Sierra Leone, Mr Quee has told us that he has already implemented many changes to the UMC Tombodu school.
COVID-19 in Sierra Leone- April 2020
The recent global outbreak of COVID-19 is already showing devasting impacts across the world. After the Ebola outbreak devasted the country just a few years back, Sierra Leoneans are in panic after the first case of COVID-19 has been recorded in Sierra Leone.
Sam from Sierra Leone works for The Treetop Foundation. He has given us an insight into the impacts COVID-19 is already having. ‘In a nutshell, we are advocating for wash materials and masks for the people of Tombodu. It is terrifying here as the country is going through serious financial constraints, prices of commodities are at such a high rate. I am afraid that if people here do not die of the virus, they will die of starvation. No one can afford food since the prices have gone up. I am petrified for my country’.
So far, The Treetop Foundation has provided the village with buckets and handwash. Sam and Lawrence, who work for the Treetop Foundation, have been making posters and distributing them around the town to educate locals on how to prevent the spread of the virus. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, The Treetop Foundation has also provided 5 tons of rice to feed the villagers; this is one week’s food supply for the whole village. We are urgently requesting donations to help continue to feed the villagers to prevent deaths from starvation in Tombodu.