Did you know that in Sierra Leone, first-year college students are typically asked to pay tuition upfront for an entire semester of college?

This is required before starting college classes. These students also typically do not have access to student loans or financial aid. There are very few and limited scholarships.

Mariama, pictured above, has been accepted to the University, but she will not be able to start classes until her tuition is paid. 

"To Educate Girls is to Reduce Poverty"- Kofi Annan

Today, Oct 17th is the International Day of Eradication of Poverty and education is a proven way to alleviate poverty and bring lasting change.

Today we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl Child.

https://youtu.be/jHUo5HVQAyM

Nearly 1 in 4 girls aged 15–19 globally are not in education, employment or training, compared to 1 in 10 boys

Haja, Finda & Elizabeth talk about what they learned at a girls' mentoring session on Leadership and Smart Thinking in this video.

My name is Haja,  a beneficiary of Develop Africa. For today’s girls mentoring I learned a lot and the topic was leadership and smart thinking. These two work together because when you are a smart thinker you can be a good leader. 

In June 2022, the DASL program team facilitated a Lego project pilot; two sessions were organized (June 18^th & June 25^th) for ten young ladies using the 5 Legos Mindstorms sets purchased and shipped to Sierra Leone thanks in part to generous donors like you. 

Thanks in part to your support, another girl’s mentoring session was held at the end of May on Leadership and Smart Thinking. The goal of the mentoring session was to discuss adolescent leadership and smart thinking and to teach the girls essential problem-solving tips.  Thirty-four young ladies between the ages of 10-20 years old in Freetown attended the mentoring session. Food and transportation money was provided to all participants.  

Thanks to your ongoing support of girls' education, 100 girls at the FAWE School, an all-girl school, received notebooks to use in class.   A total of 624 notebooks were distributed to the pupils present ranging from class 1 to class 5.  

During the distribution, the girls were grateful for the notebooks they were receiving.  A senior teacher at FAWE said-

One of the ways educational support is provided to young ladies is through vocational training.  This provides crucial training in marketable skills, which are vital for poverty reduction, economic recovery, and sustainable development.  

One of the major struggles for school-going students in Sierra Leone is studying at home. Some lack literate adults to guide them in studying, and some lack the materials or the study-friendly atmosphere. Some students live in less privileged homes and communities and have no proper place to study and do their homework. Sometimes these students will sit on the floor or on rocks outside the home, but this is not an effective way to study.