Gratitude

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” —Robert Brault

This is a blog of gratitude. Some of you have read my recently published book and some have made direct generous donations to the charities I mention at the end of my book. I am so thankful for your support.

Today the focus is on one of those charities, the Sierra Leone Action Mission (SLAM). Cecilia and I are part of the advisory and fundraising committee for that Canadian registered charity. Our small SLAM group has a dream. With the help of many of you, that dream is coming true.

For over 13 years our committee, together with our loyal donors, has supported an orphanage in Koidu, Sierra Leone. In the past few decades, Sierra Leone has been devastated by war, Ebola, and poverty. 60% of the population lives on approximately $1.25 a day. It is estimated that the ravages of war and Ebola left approximately 16,000 children without parents.

Our orphanage supports over 40 orphans with food, shelter, clothing, and education. However, education is expensive and extremely inaccessible, with not a single functioning high school for over 500,000 inhabitants in Eastern Sierra Leone’s Koidu area. Our dream was to build a school for the orphans.

In 2017 our committee formulated a plan to build the school to be part of the orphanage. In 2018 we began our fundraising, and by mid-2019 we started construction.

By North American standards, the school will be modest. But it will be a huge boost to the orphans and the whole Koidu area. The money is being raised. The school is being built. The roof is being completed before the rainy season.

Our job is not finished. We have raised over $37,000 toward our $45,000 objective with a need for more funds to furnish and equip the school as well as hire teachers. But once that is done, our objective is to make the school self-funding by charging tuition for the students from well-to-do families while the orphans attend tuition-free.

May you be blessed for every good deed you do and for every generous donation you make to help those in need.

In Gratitude,

Gerald

Note: Sierra Leone Action Mission is a project of the Canadian registered charity Accountable Development Works (ADW). 100% of royalties from my book sales goes to SLAM and other charities.

You can learn more about SLAM and ADW at this website:

https://accountabledevelopment.org/projects/sierra-leone-action-mission/koidu-academy/

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