Our most ambitious project to date, the We Yone (“Our Own”) Learning Centre” has opened its doors and is thriving!
Located in Masiaka, Sierra Leone, about 1.5 hours drive east from the capital Freetown, it features two libraries, a training center for tailoring and crafts, and an educational technology center, with room to expand.
WYLC is already having an enormous impact on the people of Masiaka and its surrounding communities, an area of great need. Children and educators are coming to We Yone to study, learn, and explore. We are supporting and training teachers and librarians from surrounding schools and from across the country. Skills programs for adults provide opportunities to learn trades and are already creating job opportunities.
Remembering Sheri Saltzberg
Sheri, one of USACF co-founders passed away in 2021 and her family and other USACF supporters are memorializing Sheri’s spirit of caring, nurturing, and quick camaraderie by supporting “Sheri’s Place” at We Yone. The center features 28 manual sewing machines and 3 larger, commercial (electric) machines.
Our Tailoring Training program launched in April, 2024 and the cohort is making excellent progress. We have already completed our first work order – sewing uniforms for 50 young students at one of our partner schools.
Additionally, we are preparing to offer short courses in areas such as batiking, gara tie dye, and quilting. Other programs will include special days where students from surrounding schools come to have trainees mend clothes and uniforms.
WYLC features two libraries
At We Yone, children and adults enjoy resources beyond a well-stocked library, with titles by Sierra Leonean authors along with thousands of books donated from the United States.
The Mrs. Aminata B Kanu Room welcomes our youngest guests and newer readers. The Paramount Chief Bai Kompa Bomboli II Room includes a range of non-fiction, novels, reference books, fiction, and more.
We Yone’s library program is the headquarters for our remarkably successful book distribution programs. Already over 50,000 books have been distributed to 33 schools across Sierra Leone and another 45,000 books have gone to our partner schools in an ongoing collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
Access to Educational Technology
Hundreds of people from surrounding schools are already using We Yone’s remarkable digital library, based on USACF’s “Bridge Pi,” our low-cost, portable, device that provides free, unlimited access to a wealth of digital resources (click here to learn more about our Bridge Project).
The digital library is dedicated to the memory and spirt of Fiona Heckscher, who helped and inspired many, including through her work on HIV/AIDS education in townships in Africa. Fiona passed away in a climbing accident in 2020. USACF and her family, fiancé, and friends hope that her passion and work on education and democracy will inspire all who use the digital library and learn new ICT skills to promote education and democracy themselves.