Teacher to Teacher...Saturday continued...

  We visited Manonkoh Primary School and also the clinic in that village.  John, the head teacher from Manonkoh was helping to facilitate our workshop at Makeni.  A couple of his teachers were also workshop participants.  John was a participant in our first workshop at the Urban Center in Kissy in 2011 when he was a teacher at Calaba Town.  The dictionary he received at that workshop was on his desk in his office. He had also the beginnings of a library in the storage room behind his office.  His school has received lots of support from Africa Uplifted, a group from Minnesota.  The classrooms had some built in shelving, good chalkboards extending along a full wall, and hooks for the children's school bags.  Also, there were covered water containers and cups so the children could have water during the day. Several of the classrooms had teaching posters, mostly handmade attached to the walls.  All these things are very rare in primary schools in Sierra Leone. John stressed that he tries to limit class sizes so that classrooms are not so crowded.  No more than two students to a bench. I don't know if by limiting class sizes, some children are turned away, but smaller classes are definitely an advantage for the students who are there. Also, there was some landscaping, making the space around the buildings more pleasant than most.  I have never seen an actual playground or any playground equipment at any of the schools here.  Manonkoh is the exception, not the rule, but is an example of what can be done to change things.   from Pat Macdonald

What an  incredible team we have!  This group of 8 have revealed and used a vast array of  skills and experiences with the 20 Sierra Leonean teachers.  The results were evident asp the teachers shared the things they learned and plan to use during the final closing and celebration.  They sang, rejoiced, and cheered as they received certificates and bags of supplies and books to carry back to their schools.  The Head Teacher at Makeni UMC Primary School who now is responsible for the coordination of the library, generously shared from the shelves to allow each school to use those exciting books. Hallelujah, we're off! Kenema, here we come!   from Amy Zent