Alpha's award and his thanks to us.

I have just had an e-mail from Alpha in which he expresses his  hearty thanks and appreciation to PIP (People in Partnership) and our church family in respect of our supporting the teachers’ salaries
and their NASSIT.  This reduces his suffering as he is now heading the programme. The final handing over of all programmes to Alpha will be on the 28th February 2013.

NASSIT stands for The National Social Security and Insurance Trust, which is a Social insurance scheme in which members contribute periodically and receive benefits when a contingency occurs. This includes old age and it  therefore includes retirement benefits. The scheme was set up in 2001.

His suffering includes having to handle the problems caused if we are unable to send the expected amount for the teachers' salaries. This causes tension in the school which is not helpful to the pupils or staff and it tests our faith, but  God has been very gracious in supplying our needs so far and we keep looking to him to continue to do so.
Alpha then went on to tell me that he has been awarded a certificate as the best community activist by a social new (Radio Citizen 103.7)



Alpha to head New Era Evengelism and Development Programme

Samuel Kargbo has written to tell me that he has resigned as Director of the New Era Evangelism and Development Programme (NEEDEP) and will formally hand over to Alpha Kargbo on the 28th of February. The NEEDEP chairman has been duly informed together with all other members of the NEEDEP family.

Alpha (left) presenting certificate to graduating New Era School pupil.

Samuel's resignation will allow him to be more focused on the church and some personal commitments. The decision will also allow Alpha to be more committed and to move forward with the organization. Alpha was the first director of NEEDEP but the constitution only allowed him to hold office for five years. He continues as Head Teacher at the school.

Alpha told me on the phone yesterday (Sun 17th) that a local Radio Station in Freetown has just named him “Community Activist of the Year 2013”.

Help! Get me out of here!

No. It's not as bad as that, but there is always a question hanging over any development aid. What is our exit strategy? How long do we keep supporting work? Not for ever.  It must become self-sustaining. The late Rich Hubbard, when CEO of Links International, used to emphasise to me that the more money we put into a project, the more difficult it would be to get out of it. It has been my aim to allow the school to be self-supporting. The links we are forging with the E.G. West Centre http://egwestcentre.com/ at Newcastle University need to be fully explored (see last post).

However the school have come up with the idea of helping to pay the teachers out of the profits of a motorcycle taxi service. There is a real market for this because of the poor roads in the area which are easier to negotiate with a motorcyacle than with a car. The cost to start this scheme is £1500.
To get the wheels turning, a Youth Team at Community Church Derby are kick-starting the project! Every success to them. Please help if you get the chance.

Motorcycle taxi in Sierra Leone. They run to a set government tariff.



Is a new door opening? Could be exciting!

Talking with a friend, John Sisson, at Christmas, he mentioned that a fellow teacher from his days at Hebron School in India was going to visit private schools in Sierra Leone. Would I be interested in talking to him? Sure I would. So shortly before his flight, David Longfield phoned me to say that he was part of a research programme from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and was travelling with James Tooley, Professor of Education Policy, and renowned for his work on low-cost private education in developing countries. They were spending two weeks looking at some 250 schools in Sierra Leone, aided by 45 researchers from Sierra Leone. I gave him Samuel's mobile number and this week he phoned with a report of his visit to New Era School and conversation with its Head Teacher, Alpha Kargbo. Alpha has since told me "He asked a lot of questions!"

Alpha had told David that it was difficult to get government support. The government only supported three of the ten teachers at the school and were not taking new people on. Alpha believed that this was good because "if it becomes a government school, the teachers are very relaxed. If they come late and go early, they still get paid. They are not accountable to the people they are working for."   Also, it was alleged, it would need a bribe of Le500,000 (£73.50) to get a teacher on the government payroll. That is a lot of money in Sierra Leone.

David was interested that the two schools together educate more girls than boys. This goes against historical trends. There are 366 girls in the schools and only 258 boys.

Newcastle University set up in 2002 the E.G. West Centre based in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences.   Professor Tooley is the Director and following his research into low-cost private education in India, Africa and China, has dedicated himself to creating and improving working models of innovative practice that will improve educational opportunities for the poor. He is is Co-Founder and Chairman of Omega Schools and they have schools in the poor coastal fishing communities in Sierra Leone which are sustainable with families paying Le2000 per pupil a day. This is 30p and covers uniform, books, lunch and teaching. This opens up a new vista for us to explore.
I have been invited to keep in touch with David.

James Tooley discusses his book "The Beautiful Tree" on ABC News Now (2009)

Money, Money, Money - makes the world go round!

Money isn't everything, but neither is oxygen. We need both to keep moving. The teachers and children of the New Era Schools are immensely grateful to all our supporters, some of whom have been giving monthly amounts for over ten years. Many children have been given care and a purpose in life through the influence of the school. About this time last year we were running short of funds and had one or two special events to tide us over a difficult patch,

One of these was a Pampered Chef Party from which we had a commission. It was great seeing the latest kitchen and tableware, and enjoying pizza and a delicious trifle.

Happy shoppers

A member of our team to Freetown in 2010, Anne-Marie,  undertook a sponsored slim and gained pounds - for us!

Anne-Marie on her first night in Sierra Leone

In May I had an e-mail from Margaret Abbott, a medical doctor from Nottingham, who has been on our last two visits to Freetown.

                                      Margaret (right) with Sarah Frost and Andy Meek

 "Our local churches have a joint choir and they always give all the takings from the ticket sales from their concerts to a charity that local people are involved in. One of the choir's members wanted to propose to the choir committee that the next concert in June will raise money for our work in Sierra Leone through People in partnership." The committee agreed, and in due course we received a sizeable and very welcome cheque. 

Glenys Hart was the secretary of a charity set up to help Christian Schools in less developed countries. She supported us in buying the land for the school, visited to share with  teachers just before the new school opened and gave us a generous gift out of the remaining assets of the trust when it was closed down last year.

Glenys approaching the New Era School for the first time. Her trust had helped to set it up.

We are immensely grateful for the support and encouragement that all these caring people give to the needy and disadvantaged children that we seek to serve.