By Mohamed K. Turay
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sunday Foundation, Sander De Kramer, and his team who are currently in Sierra Leone on a working visit are impressed with the excellent performance of completed projects and ongoing projects that Sunday Foundation, which is based in The Netherlands, is undertaking in Sierra Leone since 2008 targeting girls’ education countrywide.
At present, the Sunday Foundation has established 52 schools nationwide. In Kambia Town, the 12-member delegation held an interactive meeting with pupils of Sunday Foundation Secondary School and parents at their school grounds where Sander De Kramer delivered a message of hope.
Sander De Kramer informed the gathering that his Foundation wanted the future President of Sierra Leone to come from that school and that his Foundation would do everything within its powers to see that it became a reality. He urged all the pupils to focus on their school work, noting that his Foundation would not relent to boost the education sector in Sierra Leone.
In Kambia Town also, the 12-member delegation from The Netherlands witnessed a football match that was sponsored by the District Council in which Sunday Foundation Football team encountered Masubla FC which ended goalless.
Prior to and after that match, Sander De Kramer also used the occasion to assure young people that his organization would continue to do more. He stated that he was extremely expressed with the performance of both teams and further assured that nothing would stop him from elevating the potentials of young people.
In Maseba village in Kambia District, the 12-member delegation from The Netherlands made spot checks on the status of their projects. They said they were impressed with what they saw.
In Kaamba village which is also located in Kambia District and the last village visited last Sunday, Sander De Kramer and his team were impressed with the work of their local counterparts.
Some beneficiaries of Sunday Foundation disclosed to the visitors that had it not been for the intervention of the Foundation, they might still be in the streets facing a bleak future. They noted that since primary school, secondary, and up to University level; they had not paid a cent as Sunday Foundation had been taking care of everything.
The National Coordinator of Sunday Foundation, Alimamy Sawyer Bangura, said that as a Sierra Leonean he felt fulfilled to give back to society by complimenting the efforts of the government in the education sector.
He disclosed that all 52 Sunday Foundation Schools in the country were free of charge in addition to the Foundation providing uniforms, books, bags, and shoes. “For pupils in institutions like technical/vocational institutions, they are provided with startup kits at the end of their trainings,” he revealed.
Mr Bangura noted that, “the Foundation provides loans to teachers and even parents as well as paying medical bills for pupils and teachers and scholarships to our former pupils now in universities”. He promised to do more in their quest to improve the standard of education in Sierra Leone.
Cultural dances were performed in all the villages visited including Kambia Town.
Today, Tuesday, the visiting team is expected to visit The Sunday Foundation’s facilities at Hastings in the Western Area Rural.
It could be recalled that the founder of the Foundation, Mr Sander De Kramer, was inspired by a UNICEF Report which stated that five-year-old children in mining communities in Sierra Leone were the most vulnerable. This captivated him to come to Sierra Leone on a fact finding mission and visited especially the mining communities to gather first hand information.