Queen's Jubilee Project

Since its inception, The Victoria League has had a history of raising funds for practical solutions.

 

In the year of the Queen's Jubilee, we are under taking a project to fund the construction of a secondary school in Sierra Leone. Over 1,300 schools in Sierra Leone were destroyed in the rebel wars.

 

We need your help.

 

Construction of a Community Secondary School in Futa Village, Pejeh Chiefdom, Pujehun District, Sierra Leone

 

Project Background:

 Futa is the central village in Pejeh Chiefdom, Pujehun District (see map below) located on a junction of main roads through the region. It is also an important local government and administration centre, being the residence of the Paramount Chief of Pejeh chiefdom. It has a population of approximately 1200, so is also one of the largest villages of the region, making it ideally suited as the location for a new secondary school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

 

 

 

  
Education:

 

Most young people in Sierra Leone, even in isolated rural village communities, have access to a very basic level of primary education, but children will often have to walk many miles to reach the nearest available school. Some schools have government, religious group or church funding, but this is very limited and buildings are usually poorly equipped and many will be in temporary structures.

 

Although education is widely recognised as being important to improve prospects for the future, a requirement that pupils need to be dressed in school uniform will often make it prohibitive for children from the poorest families to attend school, perpetuating the poverty cycle.

 

There is currently no permanent secondary school in the chiefdom, so pupils have to make an hour and a half journey each way, to attend the nearest school in the regional capital of Bo. This is completely impractical for most children on grounds of distance and cost. The construction of this school is crucial to ensure that the children of the area do not drop out of school after primary education.

 

Some classes are now being held on a part-time basis in a temporary structure in Futa village, to encourage the older children to stay in education, but this has almost no facilities, and is not weatherproof for use in the rainy season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

 

 

 

 

 Pupils in the temporary school building, Futa.

 

 

 

 

 As this is too small, pupils attend part-time on a rota

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Project:

 

To construct a permanent secondary school, similar in design to the school previously built in Gbongay village (funded by McGrath Charitable Trust) with three classrooms, but substantially larger rooms to accommodate the number of pupils that would attend the school from all the villages of the chiefdom.

 

The design also has a separate storeroom for books and equipment, a head teacher’s office and storeroom, and a kitchen to provide a midday meal for the pupils. The budget also includes a concrete apron around the outside of the building

with drainage channels, as we have found this to be necessary because of the intense rainfall the area receives.

 

 

      

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gbongay primary school, the design model for the Futa School

 

 

 

 

Hygiene:

 

Along with the construction of ecosan toilets and the provision of clean water, training will be given in the importance of sanitation and hygiene to prevent illness. Currently diarrhoea kills more children than AIDs, malaria and measles combined and 50% of all hospital beds worldwide are occupied by people with preventable intestinal illness. Without effective sanitation, clean water and good hygiene, children will be sick and unable to get a full education.

 

Water:

 

As the new school will be located on the edge of the village, a well will be needed on site to provide water for drinking and washing. This will be a drilled borehole, capped and sealed with a concrete run-off area, and fitted with a locally manufactured rope-pump.

 

 

Example of a rope pump, that will be used at Futa                               A recently constructed well, showing the run-off area

Futa children, who will benefit from the new school for their future education

 

                                                                                

 

                                                                                 

Futa Village

 

You can give by sending us a cheque, setting up a direct debit, giving by credit/debit card or why not text a fiver to VLQJ12 £5 to 70070

Online giving at justgiving.com

Don't forget to Gift Aid which gives the project additional income.

 

 

For further information, please contact The Victoria League

Doreen Henry on 020 7243 6633 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Trudi Camilleri on 020 7229 3961 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For more information on how the project is progressing and the on-going work of Wherever the Need, visit their website.