This summer, The Jeneba Project
led another set of successful initiatives in Sierra Leone. The
construction of a secondary school in Sierra Leone has come to a head-start
with the purchase of one-acre of land in a town close to Lungi called Robis, in
northern Sierra Leone. After years of aiming to acquire a piece of land
to serve as a site for our future schools, we now have enough property to
consolidate most of our current activities in one area.
Purchasing a piece of property is
not easy anywhere, but the process is even more complex in Sierra Leone, where
the same piece of property may have multiple title holders with suspicious
documentation. Moreover, we were new to the process of buying land, so we
had to learn everything on the job. However, with the help of the Chiefdom, we
successfully negotiated a fair deal and obtained all documentation for the
acquisition. Thanks to our two exceptional volunteers this summer, Alicia Wells
and Alyssa Lapane, most of the land has been brushed and cleared. It was
not easy fulfilling all these transactions during the rainy season in Sierra
Leone. But, despite the rain that at times lasted for days on end, and
often compelled us to halt work, we achieved most of our objectives.
The next stage of the process is
to start work on the construction of a senior secondary school. Since it
was impossible to mold bricks during the rainy season, we postponed the process
to the end of the year when the dry season returns. Even though the dry
season comes with its own impediment of water shortage in Sierra Leone, it is a
better season to mold bricks. We intend to commence construction as soon
as the bricks are available in December.
In addition to purchasing land in
Sierra Leone, we also made The Jeneba Project an official local Nongovernmental
Organization (NGO). We had anticipated the process to be as simple as
incorporation in the State of New York, but unfortunately the process took more
time and more resources than expected. However, we are glad to report
that The Jeneba Project is now officially registered under the Ministry of
Finance, Sierra Leone. We hope that this status will remove future hurdles in
terms of hosting foreign volunteers and importing donated materials to the
country. Registration also grants The Jeneba Project tax-exempt status in
Sierra Leone.
We had preliminary informal
conversations with the Peace Corp in Sierra Leone for future
collaboration. Once The Jeneba Project has a school and housing for
volunteers, we hope the Peace Corp will be able to contribute some volunteers.
The Peace Corp provides volunteer teachers primarily in the areas of English,
Health, and General Science, which are some of the main areas in which Sierra
Leonean schools need assistance.
Alicia Wells and Alyssa Lapane,
both of whom are US school teachers and served as summer volunteers, worked
diligently to design a health/first aid curriculum for the future school. We
believe that in a country where so many continue to die from preventable
diseases, The Jeneba Project can provide the youths with instructions
