New classrooms for St Kizitos Secondary School, Panguma, Sierra Leone

In 2014 I spent 7 months in Sierra Leone undertaking field-based research for my PhD, which explored long-term continuity and change in the livelihoods of two small communities in the country's Eastern Province. Approximately one third of this time was spent living and working in Panguma, a small town of approximately 7,000 people. Since 2014, I have returned to Sierra Leone three times, most recently in January/February of this year, and on each of these visits have spent time in Panguma.

During my visit in October 2017, I found that the St Kizitos Secondary School in Panguma has a serious shortage of space, and is unable to effectively accommodate its rapidly expanding roll. I had an opportunity to go back to Panguma in January/February 2018, and spent some time with the school and local contractors, who presented a plan and budget for the building of a new two-classroom block. While I was there, I purchased a number of building materials to enable them to get started on the foundations (this was a personal donation of approximately NZ$1500, and I am in no way trying to recoup this here). They need approximately another NZ$4,800 to complete the building, and without making any promises, I told them I would see what I could raise when I got back to New Zealand.

Since I have been back in New Zealand, I have received a number of photos showing that the materials I purchased in January have been put to good use, and the foundation for the building is almost complete. The school is now preparing to begin work on the second phase of the project, which involves building the classroom walls. Phase three will involve building and fitting the roofing beams, and finally, phase four will be the completion of the roof.

In terms of logistics, any money donated will be wired directly to the school administration using Western Union. The budget for the next phase is approximately NZ$1500. If this page raises more than this, the surplus will be held in my account until I receive photographic evidence that phase 2 has been completed, and so-on and so forth. If this page raises more than is required to complete the entire project, the surplus will be put towards repairing storm-damaged roofs at two primary schools within the same chiefdom. As noted above, I have personally contributed NZ$1500 to this project already, and will contribute more as the building progresses. Any donations to supplement my contributions will be most appreciated by me, the school, and the people of Panguma. If you wish to receive updates on the progress of the building, or want any further information about the project, please email me at jerrambateman@hotmail.com, and I will keep you posted.

My motivation for helping with this project is three-fold. First, I see it as an extremely worthwhile project. When I first visited Panguma in 2014, St Kizitos School was only a primary school. In the 4 years since, the school has expanded to a fully functional nursery school, and a junior secondary school. They have a surplus of trained teachers (i.e. more teachers than classrooms), and in terms of national examinations, the students at the junior secondary school have achieved comparable results with their counterparts in larger towns and cities. This project will enable students to complete their secondary education at the school, rather than having to move to larger towns or cities to attend senior secondary school. This, in turn, could lead to improved livelihood outcomes as the majority of households are highly dependent on family labour, which is compromised when teen-aged children have to attend school elsewhere.

Second, I wanted to repay some of the kindness shown to me from the community. The people of Panguma housed me, feed me, and participated in my research in 2014, and have welcomed me back warmly on each of my subsequent visits. While I have held some workshops within the community aimed at using the results of my PhD to help the community identify long-term development solutions, these discussions have largely focused on intangible community and/or institutional change. As such, I see this project as a way I can use my contacts, knowledge and skills to contribute to tangible change in a relatively short time frame.

And third, I wanted to do something to honour the memory of my parents, both of whom were highly respected teachers in Thames, NZ. My Mum, Ali, passed away from cancer in 2006, and her death was the catalyst for me to re-engage in tertiary education as a 25 year old. While I was in Sierra Leone in January 2017, in the final stages of my PhD, my dad, Paul, passed away from complications relating to the cancer he had been fighting for the previous 3 years. They both instilled in me the importance of education, both had a passion for helping the marginalised and disengaged achieve in education, and both were engaged in broader charitable work with organisations such as Life Education Trust and Save the Children Fund. I therefore see this project as a way of continuing my parents' commitment to education and the community, and connecting it to my ongoing research in Sierra Leone.

Disclaimer: While St Kizitos School is managed by the Catholic Mission in Sierra Leone, it is open to all members of the community, and does not discriminate by religion. The school also actively encourages the education of girls, and during my last visit, there were clearly more girls than boys in attendance. The school and teachers, have Ministry of Education approval, and the current expansion is supported by both the Ministry and the local Chiefdom.