Over the past 4 years, OC Ministries together with Pastor Judith and the Baiwalla church members have been building a new Secondary School to serve 600 children. The school is completed and ready to open in September 2019.
Operation Classroom + Operation Curriculum
Background
The nearest secondary school to Baiwalla is located 2 hours away by car. It is nearly impossible for children from Baiwalla to attend secondary school unless their parents have enough money to pay for the student’s tuition and room and board with another family. Pastor Judith wanted to build a secondary school in Baiwalla to serve the Eastern region of Sierra Leone. Land was purchased from several families to build the school. In addition,25 acres of land was purchased to develop a farm that will serve as a teaching resource for the school and the sale of the products from the farm will sustain the ongoing expenses of the school.
"I can hardly wait to get the school up and running so people in this community can see what a really good school is like. People here are so excited about the hope that this school will provide their kids with a good education so that they will have a bright future" - Rev. Judith Banya
Latest Project Update
The school was completed in March 2019 and plans were made to open the school in September 2019. Pastor Judith hired a Principal, Amara Fomba, to launch the school. He began planning for the opening of the school on April 1. Can you imaging the daunting task of getting a brand new school ready to open? Mr. Fomba and Pastor Judith have been finding qualified teachers, purchasing books and curriculum materials, getting furniture built, purchasing office equipment and getting students enrolled in the school.
In Minnesota, OC Ministries partners are working to get the start-up financing needed to open the doors of the school. A team of 5 peoples including Ann Carlson, Lyndy Zabel, Jim Malcolm, Rick Ormsby and Dani Shaffer are coordinating the fundraising and soliciting in-kind support for opening the doors of the school. $50,000 is needed to open the doors of the school in September with 5 classrooms and 200 students. Approximately $30,000 have been raised so far!
Next Steps & Vision for the Future
The opening of the school will be staged over 3 years. Starting with 200 students the first year, 200 students will be added each year until the capacity of 600 students is reached. The OC Ministries Funding Team estimates that $200,000 is needed to fully fund the school to be a “model school” which means that it will have a computer lab, an experimental garden serving as the basis for the science curriculum, a “hands on” science laboratory, 12 qualified, well-paid teachers, text books for each child in each subject and 2 meals per day. So fast the team has raised a little over $30,000. In addition the Team has gotten in-kind donations of 500 pounds of beans, 2 computers, 2 printers, 2 projectors and 1 DVD player.
Call to Action
OC Ministries is looking for start-up donations and in-kind contributions to open the doors of the school. Examples of in-kind donations needed are 25 computers for setting up a computer lab, office/school supplies, commodities such as beans and rice and additional office equipment. If you want to change the lives of 600 kids by giving them a chance to get a quality secondary school education, you can make a donation on the OC Ministries website. Please select the designated category “The Baiwalla Secondary School.”