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5 years have gone by quickly at TMCR!
It is hard to believe that 5 years had gone by since we first started working with the remote Thuan Mathinki Community in the Bombali District of Northern Sierra Leone. This 5 year project started in 2002 and focused on education, agriculture, health and psychosocial activities. It has been a challenging but very productive time in which SLWT has worked with the community to:
- build and staff a primary school
-fund teachers' training course in exchange for a 3 year commitment to the school
-build and staff a health clinic where no previous medical facilities existed
-revitatlise and improve farming activities that had been destroyed by the war, through a seed and tool loan scheme and technical training
- dig water wells to provide clean drinking water
- facilitate the delivery of health training include HIV awareness training
-facilitate trauma therapy through organised sporting and cultural events in the years immediately after the war
Recent highlights
Project Management - with the assistance of CCF (our partner organisation) the day-to-day management of the facilities provided by the project were handed over to a community-based federation in December 2007. In accordance with our 5 year plan, SLWT will no longer employ a Project Co-ordinator at TMCR although we remain committed to supporting the community. We are thrilled that the sustainability of the project is being established through direct community ownership.
| Simeon Sesay Health Clinic ? has been built and is staffed by a newly qualified nurse. We are supporting the nurse as she trains community based health facilitators, volunteers and mothers. SLWT also continues to provide the health clinic with essential drugs and equipment. |
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Water wells - Having already dug 7 wells within the community, SLWT is in the process of digging a further 5 wells with funding received from the Fuserna Foundation. The wells are scheduled to be completed by the end of May 2008. Essential repair works are being done to the existing wells at the same time. The provision of clean drinking water makes an immeasurable difference to the health and hygiene of community members.
Kabgankona Primary - continues to function well and is at full capacity. The school has seen a second crop of pupils pass the exams for secondary school. Once again most of these pupils have been sent by their parents to live with other family members in towns where they will be able to access secondary schools. Plans for the current year include creating a playing field for the pupils. Additionally one of the 5 wells being dug in the community will be located at the school so that the children will no longer have to walk to the village for water during the school day.
Click here for more information about the Thuan Mathinki Community Rehabilitation (TMCR Project) | 
28 ex-child soldiers who finished their first year at the Songo Agricultural Training Centre described their outlook on life. Each one of the students had an incredible story to tell before starting the course and the past 12 months at Songo will redefine the direction in which the remaining chapters of their lives will be written. The students have made amazing progress both emotionally and in terms of their agricultural knowledge but perhaps most strikingly, the students have developed an incredible sense of hope for the
future. The dedication of the teachers at Songo has been outstanding. It has been a new and challenging experience for them. Dealing with issues of conflict and discipline with young people who were once armed combatants has been testing but the teachers have succeeded in building a strong rapport with the students that has enabled them to effectively manage problems and provide much needed emotional support.
