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.