Improving children’s lives
Providing vocational training facilities
Alongside academic studies, vocational training plays an important part of the education of the hearing impaired students at St Joseph’s School. These subjects ensure that students leave the school with a range of livelihoods available to them.
The Friends have funded a number of vocational education projects. We funded a two year home economics vocational course to give pupils the chance to learn catering and hospitality skills. Pupils took part in work experience at the schools guesthouse and a local restaurant, and set up a kiosk at the school to sell snacks and food to school pupils.
To support older students to transition into life after graduation, we funded the creation of facilities that allowed older students to gain hands-on experience in providing catering and tailoring services to the general public. Here we worked with St Anselms College in Birkenhead and with Irish Aid to send two shipping containers to Sierra Leone which were, converted into a canteen and a tailoring centre at the front of the school. This gave the students valuable work experience in a safe setting.
The school farm
We have for many years also supported the school farm. This is not far from the school, and has been expanded over the years with our support. The school wanted to develop a separate farm because many of their students come from rural communities, and so developing these vocational skills will be helpful in enabling them to find work when they leave school. The farm also provides food and income for the school, moving it a little bit closer towards self-sufficiency.
An example of this is the building of a large chicken coop, which we funded and then stocked with chickens, to allow the school to not only teach animal husbandry, but also to sell eggs. The staff also grow rice in the farm, which supplements the rice they need for the school canteen.
There when it matters most
One of the biggest benefits of being a small charity, is that we can provide urgent funds, at speed, when others would require a lengthy process. This has allowed us to help the school to be humane in moments of crisis.
In the last few years, the school has had to deal with two major health emergencies. In 2015 the Ebola epidemic gripped West Africa, and saw whole communities in Makeni shut down in enforced quarantine. We worked with St Anselms College in Birkenhead, to ship vital medical supplies to the school. Then in 2019/2020, during the Coronovirus pandemic, we provided financial support to the school to help feed the children and their families.
We have also helped individual students and members of staff when the school needs urgent support for them. When one of the teachers died, leaving behind a family and a half-finished house, we funded the school to immediately provide food for the family, (two of whom were students at the school), and bought building materials to allow the half-finished family home to be completed. On another occasion, a student was severely injured in an accident, and spent several months in hospital. Here, we helped to cover some of their medical costs, which would have crippled their family.
Refurbishing additional student facilities
One of the major challenges the school faces is the deterioration of its buildings. The Sierra Leonean climate - both very hot in summer and very wet in winter - causes erosion at a rapid rate and it can be difficult to get good quality supplies to make long-term repairs. The first priority for the school leadership team is the day to day running of the school, and it is often difficult for them to secure funds for the upkeep of and improvement to the buildings. That’s where the Friends of St Joseph’s step in. We have funded a number of projects both large and small including the refurbishment and running costs for one year for an out of hours resource centre and library for the students, and the refurbishment and running costs for one year of the medical room. We also funded a new sanitation block, providing showers, laundry spaces, toilets, and locker rooms for the entire school.
Helping families get their children to school
St Joseph’s School is one of only two schools providing education for hearing impaired children in Sierra Leone, and is the only one that provides boarding facilities. The students often have to travel long distances and the school has learned that for some families, the cost of transport after the holidays becomes a reason for children not to return for the new term. Good, reliable transport is also important to facilitate students vocational work either at the farm or in Makeni. The condition of the roads in Sierra Leone and the harsh climate means that vehicles have to be robust. In 2021 we worked with MIVA, an Austrian NGO and co-funded the purchase and delivery of a new school vehicle.