The proposed refurbishment work at the school has been completed – we have replaced the galvanised zinc roof and all the ceilings, totally re-painted the 3-classroom building (internally and externally), fitted proper blackboards and made additional desk and bench sets so that now ALL the children have somewhere to sit and do their work. In addition, due to the great response to my fundraising appeals, we fitted a guttering system and a 1,000-litre storage tank so that they can collect rainwater from the roof for handwashing and cleaning. All the work was completed during the summer holidays so there was no disruption to teaching. We didn’t have enough time to re-screed the floors, but are planning to do this during the next school holiday to avoid any disruption to teaching – funding is still required for this.

Sponsored bike ride

On 12th September I did my planned cycle ride around Draycote Water, delayed by a month as I’d been suffering with a bad back. Thanks to HS2, due to road closures and poorly signed diversion routes, it took nearly as long to get to and from Draycote as it did to do the ride!!

So far £1,025 has been raised via Just Giving and a further £540 in “offline” donations. Thanks to all those who have already donated, your support is greatly appreciated. I am going to close the Just Giving page at the end of the month, but “it’s never too late to donate” https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/alansafrica-konoprimary – thanks for any support.

EVERY £ will “Make A Real Difference”, with any surplus going to the next project.

A letter of thanks

We are writing to you, on behalf of the Kono Town Primary school and the local community to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to you, and all your supporters, for all the help and support in the form of all the renovations you have undertaken at our school. This has made our lives more dignified and worth living. You have done a great thing within our community to take on the challenge by re-roofing, replacing the ceilings, fitting blackboards, painting, and making all the extra furniture and installing a water collection system. Thank you so much for all you have done for us and may God bless you and all your supporters.

Yours sincerely   Osman Sesay    Headteacher

What’s next

We have decided to fit a water harvesting system to the recently completed Westminster School staff hostel, a relatively small project, and I have sent adequate funds to cover the cost of this. I am hoping that this will be completed by mid-October, making life easier for the staff.

My next trip to Sierra Leone

I generally go to Freetown in November, but have decided to push this year’s proposed trip back to the New Year. This is for three reasons: 1. for the last few years going in November has meant me missing either Sue or Kate’s birthday. 2. between now and Christmas I have a really full diary with various Rotary fundraising events and 3.it will give me more time to pull together enough money to fund the trip, as costs for the trip have risen again this year.