A door to education and equality

The Augustinian Recollect missionaries of Sierra Leone have been attending a small boarding school since 2019 that allows 12 young people without resources to receive education and develop humanly.

It has been several months since Alice Turay and Adamsay Kargbo left their homes and said goodbye to their families to face a unique opportunity. If this were not the case, they would not be able to study or have the possibility of building a dignified future. They now live in boarding school with twelve other girls like them in Kamalo, Sierra Leone, where they receive education and training. Most are in secondary school; Only some are finishing the last years of primary school.

In 2019, the Augustinian Recollect missionaries of Sierra Leone decided to dedicate a space, within the St. Paul School Campus of Kamalo, to welcome girls, coming from difficult families and without the possibility of going to school. It is St. Paul’s Boarding School, financially supported by the ARCORES International Solidarity Network and which aims to open a door to equal opportunities, in a social context that does not understand that women can have access to education. They do not only go to school: the boarding school aims at an integral development of the person, preparing them for the future.

Josephine Memunatukamara’s case is similar to that of the rest of the young people living in the boarding school. Her parents do not have the resources to pay the young woman’s tuition at school. In addition, if her family could afford her education, the trip to school would pose a huge risk for her: along the way she could be raped or kidnapped. Therefore, living in this boarding school is the safest option for girls.

Marion Saffinatu and Julliana Fatumata took the N.P.S.E. (National Primary School Examination) exam at the end of last year, with the aim of moving from primary to secondary school. They obtained the first and second best grades respectively in the category of girls of the entire St. Paul campus (55 girls). Marion was also the second best grade among the 100 boys and girls on campus who took the test. It is an example of the work paying off.

At all times, families are a fundamental part of the program. At the beginning, the parents of the candidates go to the school and know the proposal. Among the conditions of access to the program is not religion, since Sierra Leone is a Muslim-majority country. The selection criteria are the income of their families, with priority being given to orphaned girls. This is the case of Marian Dennis Kamara. Despite being a very dedicated student, she did not pass the university entrance exam. Now he is in the home of his adoptive family, preparing again to approve it with the support of the Augustinian Recollect missionaries.

“St. Paul’s Boarding School has a positive impact on the Kamolo community,” explains Fr. Jess Marco Sanchez, head of the boarding school. “We’ve seen concrete benefits for girls and their families,” she says. The objective of the Augustinian Recollects is to continue this project that allows transmitting the Augustinian Recollect charism, favoring the development of society.

Source: Una puerta a la educación y la igualdad – Agustinos Recoletos