At the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North Lunch Meeting on November 12, 2020, Arlene Golembiewski, talked about Bumpeh Chiefdom, in Sierra Leone. Arlene Golembiewski, is founder of Sherbro Foundation Sierra Leone (SFSL), and a former Peace Corps science teacher in Rotifunk, Bumpeh Chiefdom, Sierra Leone.
Arlene talked about the programs they are doing in the Bumpeh Chiefdom
- Education:
- Girls Scholarships:
- Girls go to secondary school on scholarship for a full year for $20.
- Over 600 girls have received 1250 school fee scholarships, some for two and three years.
- The most vulnerable girls are selected – orphans or with single parents and those who must leave their small village homes to pursue secondary school education in a larger town.
- Girls are graduating and we’ve started adding college scholarships, too.
- Adult Literacy:
- From learning ABC’s to GED style study, classes teach reading, writing and small business skills to market women and farmers.
- More advanced students prepare to move on to further vocational training, like primary school teacher and nursing aide training.
- Tutoring for National Exams:
- 9th and 12th grad students receive evening tutoring to prepare for national junior high and senior high completion exams.
- These are the gateway exams for entering senior high and college or vocational schools. Local qualified teachers are used to fill in curriculum gaps schools can’t cover and provide systemic review before exams.
- The program will reduce the high rate of senior high drop-out’s, especially among girls.
- Computer Training & Printing Service:
- Tutoring program students and adults receive computer training where they learn the basics of Windows, Word for Windows and Excel.
- Computer training provides wage-paying job skills, prepares students for college classes and give adults tools to better manage their work.
- CCET-SL introduced the first IT technology in the chiefdom. Any student can return to CCET-SL’s Center to use computers for their own applications. CCET-SL offers the only publicly available printing service in a district of 300,000 people. Customers avoid a costly, usually overnight trip to the capital for printing, and get cheaper, fast service. CCET-SL earns income for day-to-day operations. A win-win for all.
- Girls Scholarships:
- Economic Empowerment:
- Vegetable Growing:
- Started as a post-Ebola relief effort, this program helps women farmers grow peanuts and vegetables as cash crops that double their incomes vs. traditional rice farming.
- Women receive peanut seed, a drying tarpaulin to improve their yields and 100 lb. of rice to feed their families before their harvest. With added income, they avoid taking out high interest loans to pay their children’s school fees. They donate seed back to help start the next group of women.
- Baby Orchards:
- Orchards are planted with fruit trees grown from seed of local fruit. In 4 -5 years, orchards will produce ten of thousands of dollars for children’s education.
- The goal is to fund education savings accounts opened for newborns, which parents can continue grow with their own savings. By the age of twelve, a child will have money for their secondary school education.
- While fruit trees mature, orchards are inter-planted with annuals crops of rice, couscous, corn and vegetables for short term operating income.
- The project’s tree nursery raises 20,000 fruit tree seedlings annually, started from seed collected from locally purchased fruit. One or two year old seedling are planted in the orchards. Some are given to parents of newborns to grow. Sale of other seedlings to private farmers helps fund nursery operations.
- Newborn Program:
- The chiefdom records births of newborns and prepares affidavits to exchange for government birth certificates. Government birth registration doesn’t reach this inaccessible rural area. CCET-SL facilitates securing legal birth certificates for these babies.
- Newborn parents receive three fruit trees to grow for income for their child’s welfare and education. They’re encouraged to save money in CCET-SL coordinated education savings accounts.
- Vegetable Growing:
Arlene, thanked Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North and all of the supporters of Bumpeh Chiefdom, she was happy to be able to talk to the club.
