Back to School in May

Alhaji and Umaru are brothers living in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Alhaji and Umaru’s parents were hit hard by the economical downturn caused by the Ebola outbreak. Their family come from a poor fishing community in Aberdeen, West Freetown, one of the worst areas hit by Ebola. With the Ebola outbreak debilitating the entire nation, they had little hope for a steady income.

Not only did Ebola devastate Sierra Leone’s economy, but it disrupted life as citizens knew it. Schools were shut down for nearly a year. When schools opened again in May, 2015, Alhaji and Umaru were determined to return to some sort of normalcy.

Unfortunately, their parents were not able to afford the school uniforms and supplies that are mandatory in all public Sierra Leonean schools. After some hesitation, they decided to show up anyway to the We Are the Future School on the first day, sharing one backpack for the two of them and some books.. They feared they would be turned away by the school principal, but said that there was no way they were going to stay at home. They had been waiting for this day for so long. Despite all that happened, the smiles on their faces show their determination to continue learning.

School supplies is just one of the many things some parents can no longer afford; it has gotten to a point where food is increasingly difficult to put on the table. This is why YaLa Africa has launched an online fundraising campaign to raise money to build a kitchen for the We Are the Future School. The kitchen will provide a space to cook nutritious meals for the nursery and primary school students. The fruits and vegetables will be provided by the school garden established by YaLa Africa where the students are taught how to grow fruits and vegetables as well as how to compose a balanced and nutritious diet- one of the key elements to staying healthy and building up their immune system.