Transforming Lives Through Education

The Empowering Children School began in the slums of Congo Town in 2009. The people who live in the slums face many difficulties, including harsh environmental conditions. Flooding occurs regularly, causing loss of lives and property. The school was becoming increasingly crowded, and then 2 years ago lost their lease. A new building in a better area was finally located. Volunteers worked to renovate the building and make a playground. Woodard Mortgage Group at CIMG Residential Mortgage funded furniture, white boards, and computers for all classrooms. The school opened for classes on schedule.

The Solution to Hunger

During the lockdown from COVID 19, SHARP Sierra Leone and Kids Can Make a Difference began a Solution to Hunger Farm. According to the World Food Program in Sierra Leone, around 5.1 million Sierra Leoneans are estimated to lack sufficient nutritious food to live a healthy life, with 789,536 of them being severely food insecure. Only one-fifth of the estimated 5.4 million hectares of arable land in Sierra Leone is used for agriculture.

Residents of the slum communities are living with hunger and poverty. The floods impact them by causing them to lose everything, and having to start over every year. With our many years of experience working with the flood affected victims, we learned that food and dry clothing were the most desperate need of the victims following each flood.

Finding a solution to the hunger problem in the slums was our project during the early waves of COVID 19. The food supply chain restrictions disrupted the market, and prices fluctuated as the demand rose and fell, causing widespread food shortages and starvation in the flood prone communities of Freetown. Board members of SHARP played a significant role in responding to these emergencies each time, with many bags of rice, vegetables, clothing, and sleeping sheets to supply to almost 100 families in this community.

SHARP and Kids Can Make a Difference, along with small holder farmers, began a farm on a 40 acres. Crops were planted, including tomatoes, corn, coconut, and peppers.

The seed loan initiative was begun for small older farmers. Many thanks to the founders of Kids Can Make a Difference. Jane and Larry Levine, and Mary Brownell have been the lead fundraisers on this farm project.

The Vehicle that Brings Students to Our New School

Two years ago Safe Haven relocated the Empowering Children School to a safer area with a more spacious building. Our beautiful, new school site is a 25 minute walk from the previous school in Congo Town, and before acquiring the bus pupils were often late for school or tired when they arrived. Many were often absent due to the distance required to walk.

Board Member, Sarika Jain Patel, did a fundraiser for a bus in honor of her daughter’s first birthday. These funds, combined with funds from Dan Woodard and Woodard Mortgage Group with CIMG Residential Mortgage enabled the purchase of a van for transporting children from the slums to the new school.

This bus has been life changing for our school, transporting over one hundred pupils to and from the school each day.

90% of pupils attending The Empowering Children School are from Congo Town and surrounding communities.