Educational Lifeline For 100 Pregnant Girls

Dear Project supporters,

This project was launched to provide and report on remedial training to 100 girls who became pregnant during the Ebola crisis (and were temporarily out of school). Over the past 2 years, we have provided support to over one hundred young ladies that dropped out of school.

Thanks to the generous grant we received from GlobalGiving and your donations, we provided psychosocial counseling, computer training, tutorials on school curriculum, scholarships, vocational training and micro-finance funds to over 100 pregnant girls. This targeted support helped to give them a new vision and reason to dream again. Below is a summary of our what you supported and made happen.

Watch the video summary.

Psychosocial Counseling: This counseling was central to our intervention because of the background of the ladies. In this counseling, we maintained a collaborative effort between the counselor and client, with the aim of helping these ladies set out goals and identify potential solutions to their problems. As a result of this, we have seen marked positive changes in their decision making with regard to their career choices and other aspects of their lives

Computer Proficiency Training: The computer lab was launched with the aim of giving these ladies the opportunity to become computer proficient. The excitement and enthusiasm of the ladies were very high. They deeply appreciated this opportunity. They started off with the basics of computers and have covered topics like MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet access and MS Access. They attained the desired goal of computer proficiency. The lab has served its original intended purpose and is now providing training to other youths in the community.

Tutorials on School Curriculum: In order to ensure that the pregnant ladies did not regress educationally, we incorporated selected subjects from the school curriculum tutorials as part of our intervention. We covered subjects such as English language, Social Studies, Integrated Science and Mathematics for junior school students and Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Mathematics, English Language, Literature, History, and Government for senior school students. This served as a springboard for most of them to go back to the formal school system.

Microfinance Support: This was launched in order to support the ladies who had decided to start a small business - either as a means to help support them while in school or as a full-time occupation.  This support is helping them become self- reliant. So far microfinance support has been provided to seven ladies. In June, we visited each of the ladies and we are delighted to report that their businesses have grown.  They are able to take care of their babies, families, studies and themselves. 

Vocational Training Support: During our psychosocial counseling sessions with the ladies we noticed that some of these ladies did not have the desire to continue traditional, formal schooling.  So we encouraged them to learn new skills. Some of these young ladies adhered to the advice and we got them enrolled in various institutions to learn skills. Thanks to your support, five ladies are now enrolled in Cosmetology and Hair Designing, Business Studies and Human Resource Management 

Scholarships: We provided scholarship funds to nine beneficiaries. Funds were geared towards their school fee, school materials and transportation to and from school and extra classes to help them prepare for exams. 

Special Requests / Miscellaneous Support: We were also able to provide financial support to 6 ladies to help them take care of themselves and their babies.  Funds helped to cover transportation, hospital costs, rent, and food.

As you can see from the above summary, we have together enabled and touched many lives. Their lives will never be the same again because of YOUR support. Because of your support, this remedial project has been a huge success. Over 100 lives have been strengthened and impacted. We rejoice in our joint impact.

Going forward, we are continuing to provide on-going support to the ladies through scholarship assistance, microfinance support and vocational training. We are firmly committed, more than ever before, to helping the original set of 100+ plus ladies and many more pregnant ladies start over again and pursue their dreams.

These 3 areas overlap with other projects here on GlobalGiving. With this in mind, we believe it makes sense to phase out or deactivate this project. Updates on assistance that we continue to provide to these precious ladies will be made through the following linked projects. We invite you to subscribe to updates on these projects or making a donation (and you will automatically be subscribed to updates). A great time to make a donation would be Wednesday, July 12th where donations will be matched a 50%, from 9:00 am EDT, with $110,000 in matching funds available.

• Sponsor Microfinance: Empower Small Businesses
• Provide Vital Vocational Trade Skills Training
• Educate a Girl, Educate a Nation - Sierra Leone

We deeply appreciate all you have done and continue to do to make the world a better place.

With deep appreciation
The Develop Africa Team 

Links:

• How we made a difference - video summary

Dear Project Supporters,

Thanks to your support, we are continuing to make an impact on young women's lives.

Since the last report, you have helped donate $175- which has been used towards covering the costs of training - generator fuel, training materials and staff salaries.

Young moms are being equipped with computer training. We are also helping them start to businesses or become employed to support themselves and their children.

Key lessons that the ladies are learning in our computer classes include the following:

• Working with Charts
  
  
• Working with Sparklines
  
  
• Using Conditional Formatting
  
  
• Creating Pivot Tables:
  
  
• Using What-If Analysis
  
  
• Merging Copies of a Shared Workbook
  
  
• Reviewing and sharing workbooks

As you can see from the above, the ladies are working hard and learning a lot. We are excited about the foundation that we are providing for them - as we together prepare them for a great future.

Thank you again for your continued support as we to help these moms have a better future with their families!

With great appreciation,
The Develop Africa & Creating Pathways Teams

Dear project supporters,

Thanks in part to your support, the young ladies are learning new computer programs like TypingMaster and PowerPoint.  Several of the young women are unwed mothers who are trying to provide a better life for themselves and their children.

Over the past couple of months the Creating Pathways Centre has been reviewing what the students have been learning. For the TypingMaster program, where they learned how to type, the focus was on the speed and accuracy of students -  how fast and accurately they were able to type within a limited time.  The students received training on PowerPoint including the following: formatting slides, adding animations of slides, applying background to slides and slide transitions.  They also learned how to create professional-looking documents such as certificates, greeting cards, souvenir cards, invitation cards and organization cards.

The students were divided into groups and they created PowerPoint presentations for the class.  One of the PowerPoint presentations is linked in this report.

Thank you again for your support that is helping these young ladies prepare for a better and greater future. 

With great appreciation,
The Develop Africa Team

• PowerPoint Presentation on Tea (PPT)

Dear Project Supporters,

It's been more than a full year since we launched the Creating Pathways Centre, back in May 2015.  

Over the past year we have offered a range of courses including Psycho-Social Counseling, Christian Counseling, English Language, Literature, Government, History, Computer Studies, Mathematics, Financial Accounting, Cost Accounting, Career Talk, Integrated Science, Social Studies and Economics. These courses were focused on providing remedial education and strengthening their education foundation, while they were out of school.

We have been able to accomplish the following:

• Psycho-social and Christian counseling: we have been able to have an intimate chat with the ladies where they expressed their fears, treat and challenges. This provided us with a perspective on the emotional problems that hey have been struggling with.  At the end of each session, we have advised on solutions and we obtained feedback from them.
  
  
• We provided solar radios to the ladies to listen to school lessons / teachings - in partnership with Lifeline Energy. 
  
  
• We provided an initial supply of stationery to the ladies.
  
  
• We have assisted several ladies with school fees and school supplies.
  
  
• For over a year, we provided a transportation allowance, ensuring that the ladies could come to the CPS, unhindered by finances. 
  
  
• We’ve created a forum where we talked with the friends that impregnated the ladies and also some of the family members.  We encouraged them to give the ladies the support needed to make the best out of their lives. 
  
  
• The lives of the young ladies have been transformed through the encouraging sessions from the teachers and multiple visitors.  
  
  
• We can happily say that all of our ladies are now computer literate.  Most of them now know how to create flyers, souvenirs, birthday cards, do calculations and much more on the computer.

We would not have been able to accomplish all this without your generosity and support.  We cannot thank you enough for helping us make the first year a success.  

At the end of July, Sylvester made a 2 week project visit to the Centre and met with the ladies. They asked him to convey their deep appreciation and gratitude to YOU for the remedial training and support.

During an open group meeting with Sylvester, the ladies expressed their current need - for either scholarships to return to school or microfinance funds to start a business. 

Effective August, we have phased out the general classes and are continuing computer classes. Currently they are learning to improve their typing speed.  As of Mid-September, a smaller group is continuing to coming to classes regularly.

Looking Ahead:  As requested by the ladies and based on our needs assessment, our future efforts will be focused on following 3 areas.

1.  On-going computer training for those that are interested in continuing and also for new students.  We have determined that there is an on-going need for this in Sierra Leone. We plan to pursue new partnerships with schools and groups.

2.  Helping them restart their schooling / start vocational training.  We have been able to help 5 ladies restart schooling.  

3.  Helping them secure microfinance funding. We plan to help launch businesses for those who are not interested in continuing their schooling.

We are very grateful for what we have been able to achieve so far and are super-excited about the on-going opportunity to help them pursue and develop in their future careers.  We welcome your support as we continue to provide an educational lifeline for ladies in Sierra Leone.

With great appreciation,

Sylvester and the Develop Africa Team

Dear Project Partners,

The yearly lease for the premises where the Creating Pathways Centre is located came up for renewal in May.  In April we moved into new office space - at a lower annual cost and with a larger room for the computer training. An additional 6 ladies (new total of 22) can now benefit from computer training in the same room.  

The overall goal of the Centre is to provide opportunities for children, youths and adults that will result in them discovering new pathways that lead to success and fulfillment. Your support is making this possible. These young moms would otherwise be destined to a life of poverty not only for themselves but their children also. Your support is giving them a better chance for them and their children.

Consistent access to computer technology, training and computers is the game changer that will help them leap frog to the future.  Thanks to your support, the ladies are progressing steadily and learning more and more each week. Together we have made possible - what is not available in the school system. We have together provided computer training for over 6 months.  

We can boast that all of our ladies are now computer literate.  Most of them know how to make flyers, souvenirs, birthday cards etc.  They are conversant with spreadsheets and can calculations and much more.  They also take periodic assessments / tests to ensure that they are absorbing what they are being taught.

We are overjoyed with what we have accomplished so far and look forward to doing much more with your on-going support

Love photos?  You can see a large number of photos of the ladies here.

Thank you again for your support!  Together we are changing lives, nations and destinies!

With great appreciation
The Develop Africa Team

Links:

• Ladies receiving training at CPC