“Come come come, come to SLMB!”
This, the song the school children sang as they headed back into their classrooms after lunch was very catchy. I’ve been humming it all day. Today I was reunited with SLMB Primary and seeing the headmaster, students, teacher and Director of Schools for the district again felt incredible.However, as our SUV bounced and buckled on the rocky, dusty road to SLMB, I felt butterflies in my stomach, and wasn’t quite sure why. My Krio has been getting my by, but I can barely understand Temne, the most widely spoken tribal language in this area. Maybe I feared I wouldn’t be able to express to everyone how ecstatic I was to see them again. Maybe I feared the library would be unused or in bad shape. Villagers stared at our vehicle. My heart pounded as a we approached the school.
But the minutes after climbing out of the car and climbing across the gutter that surrounds SLMB, the headmaster and the same teachers from last year greeted me with hugs and handshakes. I timidly waved and smiled at students, who responded with eager “you’re back!’s” and “Good afternoon!s.” My worries began to ease. When we were setting up the library last year, one family with three sons who didn’t even attend the school were extremely helpful. Since, they’ve been sleeping in the library to prevent theft. I had a hard time expressing how grateful I was for their help, so when the mother started to clean the library, just took a rag and asked her to direct me. The littlest son, Sulliman, is about two. Last year I fell in love with him. I doubt he remembered me, but after a little bit, we were running and playing again.
The well that UNICEF is constructing.
The water dispenser that the Red Cross donated for hand-washing.
The some of brand new bathrooms at SLMB–Salone, where there is often no plumbing, these are the next best alternative: stalls with a deep hole in the floor.
The old “bathrooms” at SLMB.
The only thing made me happier today than seeing all the familiar faces was seeing the new “bathrooms” that the Red Cross had errected for the school and the water well UNICEF is constructing. On the way to Makeni, my dad had told me that UNICEF and a few NGOs were interested in contributing toilets and wells to school because they felt the library Project EqualAccess donated last year signified progress. The man just casually mentioned is as drove down a crowded Freetown street!
“DADDY! When did you find out?”
“Oh, a while ago, when I spoke to the headmaster,” he replied.
“DADDY! Why didn’t you tell me!?” I demanded, beaming with excitement and pride.
I had planned for the library to be the first step in a series of additions that would modernize the school, improve the quality of the education provided and attract out-of-school children. Unsuitable or non-existent bathroom facilities and no source for clean water makes for a distracting and uncomfortable learning environment, but they are all too common. Once I got to the school, I was going to ask our contractor for an estimate for bathroom and water facilities. Plus, my one of my DREAM JOBS is working with UNICEF out of the US and traveling for special projects. And now UNICEF is not only aware of my work, but has commended it! Just thinking about it has me giddy.
Tomorrow, I’ll hold a meeting with the teachers at SLMB, explaining to them that I will need to interview them for my analysis of the school. In the Director of Education’s office, he and I discussed the government’s struggle to improve education and his pessimism about Sierra Leone’s ability to meet the UN’s Millennium Goals for education by 2015, as expected. I’m ready to hear what stakeholders have to say.