Educate 50 vulnerable children in Sierra Leone

It’s been an exciting year at Maronka Primary school, and one filled with inspiring growth and new learning opportunities, thanks to your generous support. During the 2023-24 year 100 primary students attended Maronka, with the majority of these young people (75 students) calling Maronka their home. Read through some of the wonderful activities our staff and students have been up to this year:

Environmental Action

Throughout the year, working to lead up to Environment Day in June, Maronka worked on raising awareness and protecting the environment. The school banned plastic bags on site and sewing projects are now in place to repurpose old fabric and reduce plastic use. Staff and students have also planted seedlings, learnt to recycle paper and mobilised groups with the local community to pick up litter from their local environment! 

Maronka students in their agricultural classes, also learnt all about Cassava! Cassava, also known as yuca or manioc, is an important staple crop in Sierra Leone, playing a significant role in both food security and the economy and used in many traditional dishes. Despite important cultural significance, cassava leaves can be toxic when eaten raw so education on the correct methods of preparation are essential. 

Maronka students learnt hands-on about the agricultural practices needed to grow and harvest Cassava and the correct methods of preparation so as to keep themselves and others in their communities safe.

Promoting Girls Education 

Students and their families also have been working to promote girls' education. In their He4She day Maronka students invited their fathers and father figures to encourage and understand the importance of their support in a girls’ educational journey, and come into school for a special themed day. Female students explained their future dreams through drawings to their fathers and spoke about the importance of continuing their education.  Their father’s then signed a pledge promising to support girls education in Maronka.

“Witnessing the joy and acceptance in fathers that girls should be educated was truly special and memorable.” - Maronka staff

Reading, writing and more

Maronka’s students have also made great progress on improving their skills in reading, writing, and mathematics over the school year. Staff set up a video club and a weekly reading circle to help encourage extra curricular activity. Over the course of the year we also set up our first ICT lab designated for primary students at Maronka, to ensure all students have access to technology in our changing world!

Awareness on Bullying

Maronka students also held a day of action to raise awareness and work together with their teachers to create and adhere to an anti-bullying pledge.  They discussed the harmful effects of bullying and what to do if they see this arising according to EducAid’s safeguarding policies.

A new school year

As the new school year quickly approaches, we are excited to welcome our students back for more new projects and learning in 2024-25. In the next school year Maronka hopes to continue making strides in providing holistic education for all of our students, and creating new opportunities for learning. We hope to fund a designated space for outdoor learning activities within the school, and to secure funding to decorate the school library to make it more attractive for young children’s reading sessions.

Thank you for supporting Maronka  - a small primary school making a big difference.

We are now in the final term of the 2023-24 school year at EducAid Maronka Primary School! The Eagles Class are currently preparing to take their NPSEs (National Primary School Exams) this week and complete their primary school education. Please keep them in your thoughts as they go through this important step of their education journey.

This year Maronka has 100 primary school children (50 boys and 50 girls) with 76 pupils (38 boys and 30 girls) calling Maronka home. Your support for Maronka Primary School has not only benefited these individuals and the Maronka community, but also has a larger ripple effect, impacting primary school education across EducAid’s projects and partnerships.

The start of the year has been filled with excitement with Sports Day, Bicycles, Computer Labs and more!

Significant improvements have been made to the school's infrastructure. Roof repairs and solar upgrades to the girls’ house and teacher training centre have been completed. We are also renovating one of our buildings so that it can host a larger school library and our first Maronka ICT lab. A temporary ICT lab has been set up whilst this work completes! This allows for our students to make important strides in their digital literacy, ensuring everyone has access to technology.

The school is always actively engaged with the community to promote the value of education and build community support for all our activities. In February, Maronka celebrated Sports Day with the participation of parents, families and local authorities. Yellow, Pink and White Houses participated in team games and individual competitions, they received prizes and trophies, and enjoyed a day of fun together with no homework! Favourites this year were the “tug of peace”, parent walking race and long jump.

In March, Maronka also received some bicycles as part of a donation of 60 bicycles that had been generously donated to EducAid. Staff provided bicycle riding and safety lessons and students are enjoying this new way of exploring the Maronka campus.

Thank you for your support, and role in making all of this possible by supporting EducAid on GlobalGiving.

The EducAid Team

Links:

• EducAid's Website
• EducAid Maronka's Webpage
• EducAid in the News