At Develop Africa, we believe that science education lays a vital foundation both in terms of the development of the student as well as their respective countries.  In Africa, the lack of science teaching materials and equipment remains a persistent problem for a vast majority of schools, severely limiting the educational experience for the students and, in turn, the long-term success of the society.  In Sierra Leone, in particular, the destructive forces of the civil war and the more recent Ebola Crisis further exacerbated the problem, with many schools having to rely on a few textbooks and lectures to teach science.

Develop Africa has been working to address this issue through the very generous support of Sharon, a key Develop Africa sponsor and retired science teacher here in the US.  Sharon arranged to collect and send us 23 large containers full of equipment, such as beakers, test tubes, microscopes, and other instruments in addition to teaching materials.  In September and October of 2019, we distributed them to four schools: The Freetown Secondary School for Girls (FSSG), Prince of Wales (POW), El-Bethel Primary and Junior Secondary School, and the Lady Patricia Kabba Junior Secondary School.  At each school, the students and staff expressed a great deal of excitement and thanks.

https://developafrica.smugmug.com/2019/Science-Equipment-Freetown-Secondary-School-For-Girls 

https://developafrica.smugmug.com/2019/Science-Equipment-Provided-to-Prince-of-Wales-School 

https://developafrica.smugmug.com/2019/EL-BETHEL-Primary-and-Secondary-School 

https://developafrica.smugmug.com/2019/Lady-Patricia-Kabba-Junior-Secondary-School 

At Develop Africa, while we believe that providing students in need with educational materials remains critically important, we also consider post-distribution assessment equally as imperative to ensure that the recipient schools have effectively utilized the donor-provided items.  To that end, in March 2020, a team from Develop Africa Sierra Leone (DASL) visited FSSG to see how the school had incorporated the donations into their curriculum.  During their visit, the science teacher, Mr. Francis Alieu, and his assistant allowed the team to observe a science class conducting experiments in the school lab with the equipment DASL provided.  The students remained engaged and attentive throughout the lesson and clearly benefited from the hands-on experience gained from using the donated items. 

After class, they told us that prior to the donation, the lack of science equipment meant that they received little or no practical lab experience.  The material DASL donated through a generous gift from Sharon has most definitely enriched the girls’ educational experiences and laid an important foundation in their development.  

Both when we distributed the material last year and during our follow-up visits, the students and staff could not have been more appreciative of the support from DASL and Sharon.  At each school, they also expressed hope that we would continue to support them with further donations.