The wara wara community schools project english a

The Wara Wara Community SchoolsProject

Project to Support Primary Education in Wara Wara Bafodea, Sierra Leone

Marcos Portillo de ArmenterasLas Palmas de G.C., Spain. August 2012

The Wara Wara Community Schools Project

Community School in KamagbengbehWara Wara Bafodea, July 2012

Supporting primary "community" education in the province of Wara WaraBafodea, one of the most deprived areas of Sierra Leone, Africa.


- Because in the Human Development Index (HDI), 2011 UN ranked 180 of 187 nations.

- Because 60 of 100 adults (aged 15 +) are illiterate. In Spain 2 out of 100

- Because 1 in 5 children dies before age 5 from malnutrition and other diseases.

- Because 1 in 100 women die in childbirth. In Spain 6 in 100,000

- Because it was at war from 1991 to 2002

- Because life expectancy at birth is 47.8 years, while in Spain is 81 years.

- Because 63% of the population lives on less than $ 1.25 a day.

- Because the project developer (Marcos Portillo Armenteras) has previously developed education initiatives in the country and knows the reality very well and how to impact on it in a positive way.


Wara Wara Bafodea

- Because it is one of the country's poorest provinces. It has 30,000 inhabitants spread over some 150 villages.

- Because it is north of the country, in a mountainous area of difficult access. There are no paved roads and present steep slopes. No phones or internet coverage. There are only 2 cars in the whole province and belong to the king.

- Because the primary school enrollment rate is one of the lowest in the country and school absenteeism exceeds the national average.

- Because 16 of the 31 (52%) schools in the province have been developed by the villagers (communities) as the government fails to address the existing schooling needs.

- Because there are no hospitals. The area is served by two nurses and a paramedic.




Community School in KasentityWara Wara Bafodea, July 2012

Previous Experience in Sierra Leona

Examples of development through SOCIAL PARTICIPATION in Biriwaprovince, Sierra Leone. Year 2008 to 2009 .

Performed by promoter of this project

Escuela de Kakayoh


VILLAGERS OF KAKAYOH BUILDING THEIR OWN SCHOOL

Continuation- Schools built through social participation. Year 2008 to 2009


Antes

School in Kamakita

School in KakayohSchool in Kakayoh

Before After

Antes

School in Kamakita

Before After

ProposalTo impact on 8 of the 16 community schools * existing in the province of WaraWara Bafodea through SOCIAL MOBILIZATION and use of local resources in orderto improve their material, academic and health conditions. To provide collegetraining to 50 teachers. To increase and strengthen the presence of female teachersin the schools.


* Mean of "community“: those initiatives launched at the behest of the rural people themselves, outside the official network of state schools.


*The NGO COOPERA represents The Wara Wara Community Schools in an altruistic way, so that 100% of the money

donated will go to the project in Sierra Leona.

o Project Representative in Spain:

Coopera * (G48499602). Spanish NGO devoted to the cooperation for development and integrate by people of different political, religious and cultural believes. Commitment to education as an engine of development.

http://www.coopera.cc

o Planner/Executor: Marcos Portillo Armenteras / The Wara WaraCommunity Schools Project, based in Sierra Leone.

o Authorities in Sierra Leone :

- Counselor education Koinadugu District: Peter Bayuku Konteh.

- Counselor education Wara Wara Bafodea: Serah Kamara.

- King of Wara Wara Bafodea (Paramount Chief): Alhaji AlmamyHamidu I.

o Villages: Kamagbengbeh, Kamadaindaina, Pampakor/Turaya, Daliportor, Kassasie, Kasentity, Kadanka, Kakonso. All the villagers, men, women and children.

o 55 community teachers across the province of Wara Wara Bafodea.

http://www.coopera.cc/

He met with local leaders, visited and studied the 31 existing primary schools (16 community and 15 government), interviewed each of the teachers and administrators. With all this information gathered made a diagnosis of the reality by identifying critical needs and setting priorities for action.


This past July, Marcos Portillo, project developer moved to the province of Wara Wara Bafodea for 3 weeks to perform a thorough study on primary education.


Pampako

Kayenda

Seredugu Turaya

KassasieKasongo

Community Schools Visited- Wara Wara Bafodea


Pampako

Kayenda

Seredugu Turaya

KassasieKasongo

KamanikaeDaliportor

Kadanka

Kakamba

Kakonso

KamadaindainaKamagbengbeh

Kasentity

Kasepena


KayendaKassasieKasongo

Some Community Teachers Interviewed- Wara Wara Bafodea


KayendaKassasie

Children in Wara Wara Bafodea


1. School Buildings

2. School Supplies

3. Teachers

4. Children


1. School Buildings

Precarious buildings with potential for collapse.

In many cases, absence of latrines with consequent unhealthiness involved.

No wells in many schools encouraging children to drink contaminated water and contract diseases.

2. School Supplies


Scarcity or absence of blackboards, benches and tables and those existing in very poor condition.

Inadequate and sometimes nonexistent books, notebooks, pencils and pens.

Lack of uniforms and in very poor condition.

3. Teachers


There are 55 community teachers.

26 teachers have not completed high school. 17 teachers have completed high school. 12 teachers have teaching diploma.

Only 5 female teachers across the province.

Average salary: 6,7 euros per month 9 months a year. 12 of them work voluntarily and receive no financial compensation for their work.


High percentage of children not enrolled in school and absenteeism.

They work from a very early age and are an important source of family labor to support housework, crops and livestock.

Many are malnourished and suffer from diseases that make it difficult for them to attend.

4. Children



1. School must be Alive: There must be a high

percentage of children attending regularly andteachers must be truly committed to the education ofstudents.

2. Isolation: We will work in schools that are in

remote locations.

3. Number of Students: We want to

impact the schools with more students.

4. Degree of community involvement: The villagers must have

demonstrated interest in working for their own existing schools.


DaliportorNumber of students: 74 studentsTeachers: 2Nearest primary school: 6 kmWell: NoLatrine: No

KamadaindainaNumber of Students: 70Teachers: 2Nearest Primary School 4.5 kmWell: Operating but not drinking waterLatrine: Operating

KamagbengbehNumber of Students: 84Teachers: 4Nearest primary school: 8 kmWell: BrokenLatrine: No

Pampakor/TurayaNumber of students: 188 Teachers: 2Nearest primary school: n / aWell: NoLatrine: No

1

2

3 4


KakonsoNumber of students: 146 studentsTeachers: 4Nearest primary school: 6 kmWell: NoLatrine: Operating

KassasieNumber of Students: 53Teachers: 1Nearest primary school: 5 kmWell: NoLatrine: No

KasentityNumber of Students: 74Teachers: 1Nearest primary school: 3 kmWell: OperatingLatrine: Operating

65

8KadankaNumber of students: 115 Teachers: 4Nearest primary school: 3 kmWell: OperatingLatrine: Operating (very poor)

7


Educational Workshopsfor the Community

NGO Coopera, Spain

The Wara WaraCommunity SchoolsProject, Sierra Leone

SELF DEVELOPMENT MEETINGS

Constitution of the Association of Community Schools of Wara Wara

Bafodea

Mo

nit

ori

ng

and

Ev

alu

atio

n

University Educationand Workshops for

Teachers

Construction and SchoolReform

Market Research and Data Analysis

1. Market Research and Data Analysis: diagnosis of reality. Made in July 2012

2. Self Development Meetings: The heart of the project.

The promoter of the project will work with the 8 chosen schools every two weeks (see diagram onthe next slide). He will meet with the entire population of the villages, the true protagonists of theproject, in the self developing encounters. With his guidance, the villagers will:

Express themselves about the status of their school, the needs, their problems.

Evaluate what local resources, free or not, are there at their disposal in order to supportthe school, for example, human resources, sand, stones and other.

Set up goals: the community agrees to undertake certain activities for their school in thenext two weeks (until the following self development meeting).

Self monitor the fulfillment of the goals in the due date.


Estimated period of project implementation: 2 years from October 2012.

WORKING METHOD


3. The population is set to work with his own hands, using local resources, to ensure the

attainment of the objectives every two weeks. Examples: repairing a wall, fell trees to build furniture, traditional construction of latrines, others.

4. Identification of leaders and villages devoted to the construction of theirschool. The project sponsor throughout the weeks of work is identifying the “villages devoted in

developing their own school" and provides "external support", which is embodied in different formsdepending on the needs of the school, for example : cement bags, hire a chainsaw to build furniture,

Example of Weekly Work Plan (Self-Development)

WORK METHOD- Continuation

As seen in the table, in every village will hold a self development meeting every two weeks.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Week 1 1 Kamagbengbeh 2 Kamadaindaina 3 Pampakor Turaya 4 Daliportor logistics/administration llogistics/administration

Week 2 5 Kassasie 6 Kasentity 7 Kadanka 8 Kakonso logistics/administration logistics/administration

Week 3 1 Kamagbengbeh 2 Kamadaindaina 3 Pampakor Turaya 4 Daliportor logistics/administration logistics/administration


Week 5 1 Kamagbengbeh 2 Kamadaindaina 3 Pampakor Turaya 4 Daliportor logistics/administration logistics/administration



Parallel to the self development meetings, the following initiatives will be undertaken:

• Community Teachers College Education:In the College of Teachers in Kabala: the project intends to facilitate the training of all community teachers in the province of Wara Wara Bafodea (total of 50), as well as new teachers who will come to strengthen the network of schools in the province.

• Training Workshops for the Community: health, education awareness, school maintenance, teachers support, others.

iron for school structure. The result of that identification, the project developer decidewhat two schools from 8 in which you are working, will be offered to build two new schools.

The purpose of this working method is that the villagers are the protagonists of the project; that they feel the school as theirs; that their

development is the result of their hard work.

WORK METHOD- Continuation


Paralelamente a los encuentros de desarrollo se trabajará en:

1. Formación de maestros comunitarios:

• Académica en escuela de maestros: se pretende facilitar la formación de todos losmaestros comunitarios tanto de escuelas comunitarias, como de escuelas del gobierno nocualificados (un total de 50) y formación de nuevas profesoras que vendrían a reforzar la red deescuelas de la provincia. Existe en Sierra Leona, y en la ciudad de Kabala (a 33 kms de Wara WaraBafodea), formación universitaria a distancia para maestros.

• Talleres de formación continua.

2. Talleres de Formación para la comunidad: salubridad, concienciación sobre la educación,mantenimiento de las escuelas, apoyo a los maestros, otros.

sierra mecánica para construir muebles, hierro para la estructura de la escuela. Fruto de esta mismaidentificación, el promotor del proyecto decidirá en qué dos aldeas, de las 8 en las que se está trabajando,se ofrecerá la construcción de una nueva escuela en sustitución de la existente. Para estas dos nuevasescuelas el proyecto aportará cemento, hierro, zinc otros.

Lo que se pretende con este método de trabajo es que los aldeanos sean los protagonistas delproyecto, que sientan la escuela como suya, que el desarrollo de las mismas sea fruto de su esfuerzo ytrabajo.

METODO DE TRABAJO- Continuación


Any financial contribution, big or small, once or every month, is really appreciated.... We want to build a solid and sustainable project and therefore long term commitment would help us enormously.

To give you an idea:

• With 10 euros a month, you will help with a bag of cement each month.

• With 20 euros a month, you will help to pay for 1 teachers education (and transport) for a year at the School of Teachers in Kabala.

• With 80 euros a month, you will help to reform a school in 2 years.

• With 800 euros a month, together with a group of friends, family, fellow worker, school classmates, you will help us to build a school in two years .

• Are you a teacher? Sponsor a group of teachers.Help with the amount you can, monthly or single payment: As you decide.

HELP US TO HELP THEM!Trainning of a teacher costs 240 euros a year, and lasts three years.To Build a school costs about 20,000 euros.


Make your donations through the following account of the NGOCOOPERA, which is available exclusively to this project: The WaraWara Community Schools Project, Sierra Leone.

Transfer from outside Spain:

ES78 2054 0350 1791 6203 0131

Transfer from within Spain:

2054/0350/17/9162030131 (Caja de Navarra)

Subject: The Wara Wara Community Schools Project


o Please forward this Power Point: Spend some time to see whowould be interested and who can support.

o To those willing to help, please, organize a party, a charitylunch, a paddle tournament…. Any possible thing to raise moneyto support the project.

o If you have any questions related to the project please, contact, Marcos Portillo.

+34609688562 (until mid October)…

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]
