Solidarity Forever

Thanks to the Sierra Leone Teachers Union, Canadian Teachers Federation and the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario for making Project Overseas happen! Thanks to all of you who sponsored our fund to send Francis, Rosemarie and Isata to school! Check out Francis with the yellow suit in the front row. He is so happy; this was minutes after he arrived in Freetown. I was up at the front for my speech duties! We couldn't wait to catch up.

This song was sang at the opening and closing ceremonies and sometimes in between! Anyone who has been in Africa on Project Overseas will be able to relate to this one!

Morning Prayers

I wish now that I had recorded more of the morning prayer sessions. This video brings back such fond memories. Each day, the participants met to pray, both the Christian and Muslim prayers. It was interesting to see that most participants were comfortable and participated in both sets of prayers.

Sierra Leone Night

The teachers hosted a Sierra Leone night for us where they danced, sang and performed some interesting plays. The photos do not capture the experience...the video clips get a little closer.

This is Rosmarie!

Unfortunately, Rosemarie and I were unable to connect this past summer which was such a disappointment. She is full of personality and always has a huge smile on her face. I was able to speak with one of her professors though who said she was doing very well. This is the paragraph she wrote about herself.

I am Mende by tribe and I am a Sierra Leonean. I am 26 years old and have no children. I live in Makeni, Northern Province.

Introducing Francis

This is another one of our sponsored teacher candidates - Francis. I had the chance to visit with both him and Isata this summer. It was certainly a highlight of my time in Sierra Leone. They were both so excited to see me and had lots to tell me about their teacher training. Francis had the chance to record his thank you message before Isata arrived. It is much longer than Isata's because my memory card had lots of space on it at that point. They both had so much to say. I know that you will see what warm and genuine people they are even from the short clips I have on here.

Francis also wrote a small paragraph to introduce himself.

I am Mende by tribe. I was born in the Southern part of Sierra Leone. I am married to a Limba woman and have five children. I attended Saint Michael School in Moyamba. My first son is now in form four and my daughter has just been promoted to class six. I am a teacher and a farmer.

This is Isata!

Isata called on Monday morning...what a great thing to wake up to in my sleepy state. Unfortunately, the call was full of ehcoes and her telephone card ran out quite quickly. It was great to hear her voice though and I am glad that she is doing well. I finally figured out how to upload videos to this website so that you could meet Isata too. She recorded this thank you in the summer with an understanding that my memory card was very limited. She had much more to say but I told her that it had to be short! I promised her that I would tell my friends and families that I made her keep it short as she did not in any way want to be considered ungrateful.

Isata also wrote a paragraph to introduce herself to you:

I was born in a village called Maiyepai-Ma, Kpaka Chiefdom in Peljeluin District, in the southern region of Sierra Leone. I have three children and have been trained in a course by the Sierra Leone Teachers' Union and the Canadian Teachers' Federation.