MBE for Miriam Mason-Sesay

PRESS RELEASE December 29, 2012, Freetown 

Miriam Mason-Sesay, Country Director EducAid Sierra Leone, awarded an MBE in Her Majesty’s  2013  New Year’s  Honours List for her outstanding contribution to education and charitable work in Sierra Leone 

EducAid Sierra Leone, a UK registered charity, has been providing high quality education to some of the poorest children in Sierra Leone since 1994. Miriam Mason-Sesay has lived in-country since 2000, initially visiting in 1998 to work with the Guinea-based refugees fleeing the horrific civil war. 

Originally from Banbury in Oxfordshire where her parents still live, Miriam was educated at Blessed George Napier secondary school and then attended Goldsmiths College, London to read French. Subsequently she trained as a teacher at Homerton College, Cambridge. 

Prior to moving to Sierra Leone, Miriam taught in the UK, including the Salesian college in Battersea, London and St Edmunds College, Ware, Herts – primarily focusing on modern languages. 

Since  moving  to  Sierra  Leone,  EducAid,  under  Miriam’s  close  direction,  has  established  a  network  of schools  which  are   successfully challenging the national culture of under-performance. Restricting intake to the very poorest and using a robust, success-focused curriculum, EducAid has achieved the best exam results in the country year after year. 

EducAid Chairman, Dr James Boardman, said that he was delighted for Miriam. 

“She  deserves  the  recognition  for  her  unique  and  selfless  contribution.  She  has  both  delivered EducAid’s  programme  and personally raised the bulk of the necessary funds to do so. The personal cost to Miriam has been significant: it is terrific  to  see  public  acknowledgement  of  her  work”. 

EducAid students were affected by the war in so many ways: a significant number live permanently in EducAid facilities – for want of dependable family. Many are rejected by, or have no family to look after them. EducAid provides daily food, education and medication through their academic life at a cost of approximately £180 per student per year. 

EducAid is predominantly funded from private resources in England: individual philanthropists, schools and churches provide  EducAid’s  ongoing  funding  base.    In  addition  EducAid  has,  when  requested,  provided services  through  funding   from a range of international bilateral donors – including  the  UK’s  Department for International Development. 

Further information on EducAid’s work can be found at www.educaid.org.uk or contact Dr James Boardman (james@educaid.org.uk) 

 http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/new-year-honours-2013



If you want to make a donation please go to www.educaid.org.uk and click on the mydonate button. Remember it costs £15 per month to educate and feed a child, that is a pizza and a drink in the UK. The best Christmas present you could give us is to sign up for a direct debit of £15 per month.

and If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people, please go to 

http://www.educaid.org.uk/ and http://www.educaidsierrleone.blogspot.com

You can keep up with the currrent news and activities at the EducAid Face Book website: FB page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/48572325218/

EducAid Sierra Leone is a charity helping to improve education in Sierra Leone. Registered charity no. 1048012

Happy Christmas

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a wonderful new year from everyone in Maronka xxx

 

Whatever you believe, we send our fondest wishes to you and your families and hope all your dreams come true for 2013 and beyond.

A huge thank you to each of you for supporting EducAid and our Maronka girls, whether you sent a gift from the gift list for Christmas, donated money or your unused items, it all makes a huge difference to the children.


Love Ann, Miriam and Maronka girls xxxx


 

Its time for change worldwide and small small steps make big big change........keep supporting our girls and girls worldwide.

If you want to know more about our work, get involved or you know of someone else who would like to volunteer or support our work or if you have items you would like to donate please email me on

annbeatty@educaid.org.uk

If you want to make a donation please go to www.educaid.org.uk and click on the mydonate button. Remember it costs £15 per month to educate and feed a child, that is a pizza and a drink in the UK. The best Christmas present you could give us is to sign up for a direct debit of £15 per month.

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people, please go to 

http://www.educaid.org.uk/ and http://www.educaidsierrleone.blogspot.com

You can keep up with the currrent news and activities at the EducAid Face Book website:

     FB page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/48572325218/

Christmas gifts

As many of you have been in touch to ask what gifts we would like,  I thought I would post a list so when your doing your last minute shopping you can pick up that extra gift for EducAid.

The best gift of all would be to set up a standing order to EducAid for £15 per month which is enough to feed one child for the whole month.

Clean children's clothes (age 4 to 18)  and shoes, books or toys that are no longer needed.  I am sure some of you will be doing some feng shui on your cupboards after all the presents have been opened on the 25th.

Knickers and boys pants are always needed

Memory Sticks and blank CDs

Low energy light bulbs (PHILIPS - Tornado 15w Cool Light)

Footballs

Football kits

Bras

Art materials, paints, brushes, pencils, pens, glue, tissue paper, sequins, glitter, stickers etc

If you want to make a donation please go to www.educaid.org.uk and click on the mydonate button. If you have materials, books or items of clothing or you would like to donate your time please email me at 

annbeatty@educaid.org.uk

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people, please go to 

http://www.educaid.org.uk/ and http://www.educaidsierrleone.blogspot.com

You can keep up with the currrent news and activities at the EducAid Face Book website:

     FB page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/48572325218/

Maronka Girls

With Christmas coming I am feeling a bit sad not to be spending time here with the girls this year, although I know that Marion and Isatu, who are leading the girls Safe House and the girls will miss me too, I think I will miss them so much more. 

Luckily, I will have happy memories of last Christmas to keep me warm in the UK this year as although I am looking forward to seeing all my family and friends, going back to the freezing cold and hustle and bustle of London is not so appealing when the sun is shining here like it is right now.

Myself and Miriam have been keeping ourselves out of trouble by sewing sleeping bags for the boys in the village to help prevent malaria and we are 40 down, so just 50 more to go for the boys and about 10 more for the girls should just about do it.

Marion Project leader with our newest girl in the village, baby Agnes, she is the cutest ; )

Isatu Project Leader I crept up on her teaching her class.

Lucinda and Miriam are growing so fast.....

Some of our Girls in class with teacher ABJ

Memanatu looking very bright and she wants to say hello Hayley, Kaylem and Sienna xxx

and not forgetting our 2 newest boys in Maronka Ali and Hakim

Thank you to everyone for all your donations, you really are making a big difference to the children's lives here. One of our latest volunteers Pat Horn made a suggestion that when everyone is doing their Christmas shopping they should buy an extra present for EducAid, I think that sounds like an excellent idea. If you want to make a donation please go to www.educaid.org.uk and click on the mydonate button. If you have materials, books or items of clothing or you would like to donate your time please email me at 

annbeatty@educaid.org.uk

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people, please go to 

http://www.educaid.org.uk/ and http://www.educaidsierrleone.blogspot.com

You can keep up with the currrent news and activities at the EducAid Face Book website:

     FB page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/48572325218/

Port Loko happenings

We had an action packed weekend in Port Loko with a Phonics workshop for the teachers in Maronka and a bicycle workshop at the Rolal teacher training centre.

Here are some of the highlights…


There was much laughter and fun alongside the learning of phonics teaching techniques, when the EducAid staff get together, I always find there is such a good feeling of friendship and support.

Cobra showing us all how its done!

Miriam caught misbehaving in class..........hands up in the naughty corner oh dear Miriam

No shouting out the answer.......hands up please

 

A model plane made by the children in Maronka, just needs the wheels now and they will be ready for take off....... 

Relaxing on Sunday afternoon

 
Thank you to everyone for all your donations, you really are making a big difference to the children's lives here.

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people, please go to 

http://www.educaid.org.uk/ and http://www.educaidsierrleone.blogspot.com

You can keep up with the currrent news and activities at the EducAid Face Book website:

     FB page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/48572325218/

It's fantastic to be back in Maronka

Just sending you all a quick update......the girls are all in fine form, we have 59 girls in the house now and it's just a teeny weeny bit of a squeeze but very cosy. Marian who has taken over from Isata is settling in well and enjoying her new role. You can just spot her in the top left-hand corner of this photo.

It was lovely catching up with everyone this weekend and hearing everyone's news. The newest girl in the village was born this Wednesday here she is with the Chief Obai.

We have been sorting out and delivering all your fantastic donations of clothes and materials and I managed a bit of downtime too spent watching the boys flying their handmade kites (made from rubbish they recycled)

Miriam and the teachers learning to play the guitar so they can teach the children. We had some musical instruments donated, guitars, recorders, tambourines so its going to be a musical time ahead for us all in Maronka.

Thank you to everyone for all your donations, you really are making a big difference to the children's lives here.

If you haven't sponsored us already, we did over 240 miles, how about that!! its not too late you can  sponsor the EducAid bike ride by clicking on this link

http://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/annbeatty1

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people, please go to 

http://www.educaid.org.uk/ and http://www.educaidsierrleone.blogspot.com

You can keep up with the currrent news and activities at the EducAid Face Book website:

     FB page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/48572325218/

International Day of the Girl 11th October 2012

Maronka girls are raising their hands in support of International Day of the Girl and the launch of the Because I am a Girl Campaign.

Globally, 1 in 3 girls are denied an education.  This is unfair & unjust. Raise your hand for girls.

Every 3 seconds, another girl is forced or coerced to marry. Raise your hand to send girls to school instead.

An extra year of secondary school increases a girl’s potential income by 15 to 25%. Raise your hand for girls.

Because I am a Girl campaign will launch today and aims to support millions of girls to get the education, skills and support they need to transform their lives and the world around them.

On this day, monuments across the world will light up in pink, including the Empire State building, the Egyptian pyramids, London Eye, Niagara Falls, Delhi’s Old Fort and The Mermaid in Denmark. This is to send a message to the world that girls with a good education can transform their lives and the lives of those around them.

The Day of the Girl was designated by the United Nations following an extensive campaign led by Plan and girls themselves. It’s a day to spread the word about the power of investing in girls.
Please help Plan raise 1 million hands to show the UN that the world believes educating girls should be a priority.

For all the campaign launch action, please follow Plan on twitter.com/planglobal and facebook.com/planinternational.

Small small steps make big big change........keep supporting our Maronka Girls and girls worldwide.

The blog is pink today, some people are asking why light up iconic buildings in pink as its not a very strong colour, others say yes pink is a strong colour for all girls and women, what do you think?

If you haven't sponsored us already, its not too late you can  sponsor the EducAid bike ride by clicking on this link

http://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/annbeatty1

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people, please go to 

http://www.educaid.org.uk/ and http://www.educaidsierrleone.blogspot.com

You can keep up with the currrent news and activities at the EducAid Face Book website:

     FB page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/48572325218/

Support for the Maronka Girls

Our Maronka girls are thriving and we have been looking back at where we were a year ago and how each girl has developed, the results have been very positive. There have been no surprises to me as all of the girls have shown such promise from day one and they are so eager to learn and improve their lives, they were bound to succeed, the effort is all theirs and I feel so very proud, as I know Isata and Miriam and all our other colleagues in Maronka do.

The purpose of the Girls Safe House in Maronka is to provide a home in which girls, who would otherwise be vulnerable to a wide variety of emotional, mental and physical threats, can grow up strong in spirit, mind and body so they can live their lives to the full and contribute fully to society. 

The house is a happy place that the girls enjoy being part of.  The girls are organised into small groups with the older girls acting as group leaders.  There have been norms and routines established that provides a structure for the girls’ days.  Many of them came from very chaotic lives so order is a very important aspect of their education.

The girls take part in a rota to arrange the cleaning of the house and washing of clothes and looking after the smaller girls. Although the cooking is provided communally in the village, the girls enjoy cooking at the weekend. The girls also participate fully in all of the extra-curricular activities provided by the school and in all aspects of village life.

The attendance at school has increased due to a programme of health care for the girls. When the girls’ house first opened last October there were approximately 10 cases of malaria each week and now with proper preventative measures and treatment this has reduced to 1 or 2 cases per month.

Levels of reading, writing and speaking English have improved, all of the girls are studying hard and have gone up to the next level.

Isata has been able to start talking, already, to many of the older girls about the dangers of female circumcision so they can partake in informed decisions and resist when their families try and confuse them with the promise of gifts and so on so that they will agree to the procedure.

We have weekly house meetings to discuss things that are going well and things that are not going so well. We actively encourage reconciliation and we highlight and reward positive behaviour such as kindness and friendship. 

The girls play an active role in deciding which activities they wish to have in the house and in addition to normal play for the girls such as balance ball, painting and sports they also enjoy drama and have put on several plays for the school, the village and the local secondary school. They also took part in a local drama competition where they won most of the prizes.

The girls took part in a photography project this summer and a bicycle project where they learned how to ride a bike and some simple maintenance. We encourage the girls to maintain and have an understanding of their cultural customs through the use of storytelling and dance alongside learning more about the choices that could be available to them through education.

We ran a 6 week project with 8 of the older girls, identifying their strengths and allowing them to think about what they could achieve in the future. They all played a very active part in the course and all were awarded certificates of achievement.

The girls have, for the first time in their lives, their own places to keep their property and in many cases, for the first time, some pretty, nice things to call their own and are part of a family.

Miriam has arrived in the UK to start her month of fundraising for EducAid and she attended 4 church services this weekend.

There is still much work to be done but not everyone can afford to make the regular contribution of £15 per month to educate and feed a girl but there are other ways you can support us such as;

Asking the organisations that you are in involved with or in contact with to support us and invite Miriam or myself to come and talk to them about the work we are doing such as; Schools, colleges, churches, companies, anyone you think might be interested.

Some of the support so far

A friend

invited Miriam to talk at her daughters school and that resulted in a fundraising obstacle course which raised £500 for EducAid.

persuaded her airline colleagues to fund-raise and they donated over £600

donates jewellery and craft making kits and her skills

made 50 pillow case dresses for our girls

bought an item or two from the Amazon wish list (recently updated)

donated items of clothing and  equipment

Do we have any friends out there who can support us with sponsorship, skills sharing, free printing, donations of clothes and materials, sewing materials, bicycles and parts, mobile phones, mp4 players and cameras.

Each small thing makes a big difference!! 

Its time for change worldwide and small small steps make big big change........keep supporting our girls and girls worldwide.

Thank you for your support so far

Love Ann 

If you haven't sponsored us already, its not too late you can  sponsor the EducAid bike ride by clicking on this link

http://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/annbeatty1

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people, please go to 

http://www.educaid.org.uk/ and http://www.educaidsierrleone.blogspot.com

You can keep up with the currrent news and activities at the EducAid Face Book website:

     FB page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/48572325218/