Corruption is endemic in many countries in the world. In West Africa it can be a big problem, so we only deal directly with those we are helping, and we make sure that everything we do is carefully monitored. To achieve this we use several control measures:

• careful monitoring of financial transactions takes place with a third party as witness;
• plans for projects have to be forwarded to EWA before ANY funds are released;
• we release funding in phases for larger projects;
• photos of progress have to be submitted before further funds are released;
• we use trusted contacts to carry out local monitoring of quality and quantity, including the sustainability of the wood for furniture;
• Trustees visit Sierra Leone regularly to carry out monitoring;
• we have a Risk Policy which makes clear that we have a low tolerance towards fiduciary, reputational, safeguarding and operational risks.

Our EWAprinciples.docx document sets out how we work.

We use skilled local people to train others; for example, the furniture seen in Mano Dasse was roughly built, so our local contacts arranged for the carpenter in Mano Dasse to visit the carpenters in Bo to see the expected quality. In Kenema the carpenter was able to take on apprentices because of work commissioned by EWA, and the carpenter in Lein reported that his business was also benefitting from the furniture project.

We encourage educators in Sierra Leone to take greater ownership of the projects and bring their ideas to us. For example, after EWA ran the first conferences for headteachers, a planning group of headteachers and education officers was set up to plan future conferences. We were also happy to support the proposal for the printing press in Freetown, which should generate enough income to pay for printing exercise books for schools.

The map also shows other places where we have supported schools, including Port Loko, Moyamba and the island of Bonthe.

If you enlarge the map, you will see some of the smaller places where EWA has worked with schools, including Zimmi (in the south-east near the Liberian border), Masiaka and Kuiva, and Blama where some of our carpenters are based. However, some of the villages such as Sahn and Lein are too small to be shown on the map.

Penelope could see how much needed to be done to support the schools. Buildings and furniture had been damaged or destroyed during the war, many children and young people had missed years of education and the country was desperately poor.

After speaking to headteachers in Sierra Leone about their greatest needs, Education West Africa was born, to provide practical support for children and schools. Projects were set up to provide school uniforms and school furniture.

Since EWA began its work, Sierra Leone has suffered an outbreak of Ebola from 2014 - 2015 and severe mudslides around the capital Freetown in 2017. Schools were closed again in 2020 due to Covid-19. EWA worked to provide practical support for children and schools to deal with these emergencies. Our more recent projects have provided training for headteachers, and we have also donated a printing press so that schools can print their own exercise books. We also provide funds for school refurbishment projects where there is a severe need, while continuing to provide uniforms and furniture for schools across the country. Trustees visit Sierra Leone to check on projects and assess future needs.

For more information, see our projects pages.