From Ruin to Rich Education

Maboama Lutheran Primary School in the Sandor, Kono District

In rural Sierra Leone, the civil war that ended in 2002 was still having a massive effect on many communities. Villages are still recuperating from the physical and mental damage.

Before Chaloner Children’s Charity (Canada)’s involvement, the Maboama Lutheran Primary School was in ruins. The school was founded in 1972 by a team of Lutheran missionaries, but the original building was destroyed during the war. However, the children still needed to learn. Classes, from 1-6, resumed within a partially broken, old mud structure with an almost collapsed thatch roof. There were only five teachers, four of which were training to obtain their teaching certificate.

During our involvement, the community came together to help construct a 3-classroom structure for the school. The locals provided trees and boards, assembled sand from the riverside to be moved to the site, and made mud blocks. The structure now has plastered walls, paved floors, new window balusters and doors, a zinc roof with wooden beams, and a newly erected veranda with an exterior corridor.

When CCCC came to visit to see the school’s completion, the community gathered around to celebrate. They sang, danced and cheered. Where once stood a ruined building, victim to war, stands a functioning and safe school, equipped with an office, furniture and brightly painted walls. Parents rejoiced, as now their children could gain a basic education in a safe location.

The Maboama Lutheran Primary School is no longer just a school to this village, but a beacon of hope for a better future to come.