Sierra Leone

1. Education is appalling here. I personally think that sometimes the teachers don’t know what they are teaching. We have enrolled our youths in a school run by a British woman. The school is designed to help kids from low income family. They want to prevent kids from ending up on the street. The teaching method is unorthodox when compared to the Sierra Leone method. They have exams every 2 weeks to assess whether the kids are learning the lesson. When they pass, they are promoted to the next level. From my brief encounter with the teachers, it seems like they really want to teach and available to tutor them after class (for free!!) Educaide really like what we do, so even though our kids don’t pass, they are willing to work with them. They know that we work with “at risk” youths. So please pray for our kids, it has been really hard for them to understand and learn the different subjects. I think that challenge is due to a few reasons:

1. learning disability
2. part lack of family support
3. no quiet place to study or hard to study by candle light
4. don’t understand when the subject is presented in English and they are use to speaking Krio.

2. Pray for our community as it goes through many transitions. In March, Faye will conclude her service with WMF. George recently married a woman who lives in the U.K. and he plans to move there as soon as he gets his visa. Cami is planning to take a nine month sabbatical in April. We have a new staff Dan, joining us in February. So there are lots of comings and goings. Please pray that all these transitions will not be disruptive to the youth and kids that we work with, and please pray for the WMF community as it loses Faye who has been here for almost 5 years.

3. The last few months Karolina and Florence have been visiting some of the girls that live in Kroo Bay. We would like to offer more support to them and their families so that they will be able to make better choices than what they see around them. There is a lack of hope in Kroo Bay and many of the girls walk around with low self esteem believing that the only way to get out of poverty is to find a rich guy who will provide for them and their family. Most are not able to find rich guys, so they settle for guys that can give them a little pocket money (a dollar here or there). We would like to help them see that they were meant for so much more. They are God’s beloved daughters and with good education they can help themselves and their family rise out of poverty. In the new year, Florence and Karolina would like to meet with the girls more regularly in small groups.

4. Jan has been visiting Kroo Bay weekly to pray for the families there and to see what he can do to help. Jan and Noah would like to work more closely together to see how they can pray and support the families in Kroo Bay. Please pray that God will direct them and give them wisdom in how to love and support the community. There is so much need and different “asks”. Pray that Noah and Jan will know how to respond to the plethora of needs they see around them.