We are about to break ground on construction of the “We Yone (Our Own) Learning Centre” on a two acre site in Masiaka, Sierra Leone. Once completed, the Centre will have an enormous impact on the people of Masiaka and its surrounding community, an area of great need which is home to many amputees and war wounded, mutilated during Sierra Leone’s vicious civil war, who are now raising families under very challenging conditions. Thousands of children will come to this center to study and learn which will also support teachers and librarians from surrounding schools. Adults will be given opportunities to learn trades and create their own job opportunities.
The Centre will have three areas for teaching and learning, each with its own physical building. With solar panels and a well, the site will offer lighting at night and running water for toilets and community use.
“Libraries and Literacy Building Programs” (Building 1)
Children and adults will enjoy resources beyond a well-stocked library, which will feature titles by Sierra Leonean authors along with thousands of books donated from the United States. Building 1 will also be the nerve center for our ongoing Hands On Reading! network of twenty libraries and its planned expansion. The Centre will run workshops for area librarians to improve their reading programs and obtain more books. Teachers and librarians will be able to check out materials including class sets of books and materials.
“Educational Technology for Sierra Leone” (Building 2)
The Centre will include a digital library based on USACF’s “Bridge Pi,” a low-cost, portable, solar powered computer that creates its own wifi hotspot providing free, unlimited access to a wealth of digital resources, from early readers to Shakespeare and African literature, even where there is no internet access. Classes will be offered to teach people in the community how to assemble and program Bridge Pi’s for deployment in area homes and schools.
“Sheri’s Place”- Empowering Women With Marketable Skills (Building 3)
Sheri’s Place will offer a wide range of courses that will empower women and men to learn new skills and provide a means to earn money for their families. Skilled instructors and local mentors will teach these classes. The team will work with community leaders to assess according to the needs of the community. Possible courses include quilting, sewing, cosmetology, jewelry making, sanitary napkin production, and traditional craft making. American quilters have already agreed to visit Masiaka to run quilting and sewing 5-day workshops.
Remembering Sheri Salzburg
In February, 2021, Sheri (co-founder of USACF, wife of Mark, and so much more) passed away after a courageous 10 year battle with cancer. Mark and his family, together with other USACF supporters who have also recently lost loved ones, chose to partner with HOSL in Sierra Leone to memorialize Sheri’s spirit of caring, nurturing, and quick camaraderie by creating the We Yone Centre. Sheri was a lifelong quilter, and quilting has a special place in Sierra Leone’s post-war recovery. Sheri was an active leader in the Quilters Guild of Brooklyn. Her memory will be preserved as Guild members will help design and stock Sheri’s Place with sewing machines and fabric.
Prosthetics
USACF has not only been working with MIT’s architectural students, but its prosthetics researchers as well. The MIT prosthetics team is working to design and operate a prosthetics clinic using the latest 3-D printers. The hope is that once amputees receive prosthetics from MIT technicians, the We Yone Learning Centre will provide needed job training. We Yone can offer people, who have lost so much, real options to earning a living.
Looking ahead
The pieces are coming together. A team at MIT has provided site-specific designs. Our contractor is ready to build and says he can complete construction in four months. Our village advisors are identifying instructors to teach all the courses to be offered. Progress on the building and program is very exciting, but we need your continued support to realize the community’s full dream. USACF has commitments for 75% of the needed funds and are now seeking grants and donations to bring the Centre to fruition. We are seeking your help to raise an additional $150,000 to not only build but operate the Centre for year to come. In June, we will begin hiring staff and adding solar power. The Centre will welcome visitors by the end of 2022. Whether in person or online, we encourage you to join us to see and feel the excitement and the hope that this center is bringing to the entire Masiaka community! Please stand with us in fulfilling the promise of Sheri’s Place and the people of Masiaka by becoming a sustaining donor today. A gift of $250 a year goes very far in Sierra Leone. Thank you.
Future site of the We Yone Learning Centre