Why We’re Here

Because Education Equals Opportunity

Sierra Leone (also known as ‘Salone’) is a small country in West Africa. Torn apart by civil war and more recently by Ebola, the country is working hard to reclaim a hopeful future.

Today it is estimated that 70 percent of Sierra Leoneans live in poverty. Of all regions, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion. Nearly one in three children in the median country does not complete primary school, and three in five fail to complete lower secondary.

Access to high-quality primary education is a globally-recognized solution to the cycle of poverty. For students who experienced trauma as the result of war, poverty, natural disasters, education restores a sense of connection and school provides a safe place to learn.

Because We Can Make An Impact

Schools for Salone has built 41 schools and 3 libraries in villages across Sierra Leone. We focus on building schools in rural villages that are highly motivated to educate their children.

In keeping with our belief that self-initiated solutions are best, requests for schools must come from Sierra Leoneans. Villages wanting a new school participate in a rigorous vetting process to assure that the most committed and motivated communities are chosen for our team to work with. Once a community is selected, our team works with the village leaders to formalize the agreement and commitment.

Because We’re Connected

In 2002, a decade long civil war ended in Sierra Leone. The destruction was vast, leaving the impoverished nation with years of rebuilding ahead. Countless schools were reduced to rubble, a tragic outcome that caught the attention our founder, Cindy Nofziger.

Cindy worked in Sierra Leone in the mid-1980s as a Peace Corps Volunteer and returned to the war torn country in 2004. During that visit, her friend and Sierra Leonean counter-part, John Sesay, asked for help rebuilding the school in his village that had been destroyed during the war. Cindy quickly got to work coordinating a team. Thanks to the in-country expertise provided by another Sierra Leonean friend, Joseph Williams-Lamin, Director of Programme for Children, School for Salone’s first new school was built and opened in 2005.

The project was the start of our fruitful relationship with Programme for Children and marked the beginning of School for Salone’s commitment to community-initiated solutions. Together, the two organizations carefully identify and select villages with

whom to partner to successfully expand education – one school, one teacher, one child at a time.