Sierra Leone: Goderich Waldorf School
100 young coconut palms for the Waldorf School near Freetown
As the Goderich Waldorf School is completely dependent on donations, you have been helping them with your WOW-Day activities to pay the teachers' salaries for the last past years. In addition to the teachers' salaries, the school would like to buy and plant 100 young coconut seedlings in the next school year. With the yield of the coconut trees, which is about 2,000 coconuts per year, the school can generate additional income on the local market. A single coconut can be sold for about 30 cents. So, for 2,000 coconuts they would get 600 euros, which is a lot of money for the school.
One palm seedling costs about 20 euros. All in all the school wants to buy 100 seedlings and needs about 2,000 euros for the young plants. The coconut palms will already produce their first yields in three to five years and will then supply the children and the local market with coconuts for 40 to 50 years. As you can see, the cuttings are a very good long-term investment for the school. Not only because they taste delicious and are refreshing, but also they help to improve the financial situation of the school and make it less dependent on donations in the long run.
About the Project:
The Goderich Waldorf School in Rokel (Sierra Leone) has its roots in 1995, when Shannoh Kandoh started teaching children in Freetown during the civil war. In the year 2000, he was able to officially establish a small school there, which (almost 10 years later and after several moves) has found its permanent home in Rokel. Rokel is close to Freetown. Since its foundation, the school has grown a lot. Today 262 children attend the school and are being taught here.
It is only through donations that the teachers of the school are able to educate the children, who come from very poor backgrounds. Currently, the school is planning to build a new school building. It will have twelve new classrooms for the pupils and offices for the teachers and administrative staff. On the photo, you can see a part of the current school building. The star- and flower-shaped holes in the wall serve as "windows" for the classrooms.
