AYHO, Rotary support quality education for Sierra Leone students
Of late in postwar Sierra Leone, it is almost impossible to cite humanitarian organizations engaged in ensuring quality education is the vogue without mentioning the conspicuous role of the Africa Youth and Health Oulreach’s (AYHO) quota in that direction. In collaboration with the Rotary Clubs in District 7470 in Northern New Jersey, USA, the AYHO on Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th May 2011 respectively embarked on another exercise of donating and presenting over 1,200 student dictionaries and other important educational materials to various schools in Yengema, Kono District, east of Sierra Leone. The desire to ensure Sierra Leonean students, most especially those in the war ravaged district of Kono are not shut out in the the drive to revamp educational standards, Mr. Mohamed Sangarie, one of the Sierra Leonean co-coordinators resident in the USA and also a Rotarian in District 7470 in Pennsylvania, invited a past District Governor, Mr. Richard Wallace, to visit Sierra Leone and observe the distribution exercise herein referenced. Mr. Wallace serves on the Board of Directors of The Dictionary Project in Charleston, South Carolina. As part of his focus on beholding the recipient beneficiaries, Mr. Wallace visited four schools in Yengema and assisted in the distribution of the dictionaries and assorted materials to the delighted and grateful students. In his address to recipients of the four schools, Mr. Wallace explained the relevance of the Dictionary Project, which is a worldwide effort to work with Service Clubs and other organizations as the means to provide educational assistance to students globally. To date over 1,500,000 dictionaries have been distributed around the world, including several African countries.
Mr. Wallace revealed that it was through the request of Mr. Sangarie that Sierra Leone was added to the list of dictionaries. During the day of donation Mr. Wallace observed that the children of Yengema have the same smiles on their faces as the children in the USA when they received their dictionaries. He believes that Rotary has been his "passport to people" over many years.
Dictionary Project note:
Dick Wallace made a powerpoint presentation about this project. It is attached below in pdf and powerpoint formats. Click on one of the attachments to see the people who made this project possible and the places they visited.
