A team from AWOL Australia and AWOL Secretariat in Freetown have donated assorted food items to the
Escario Pascual Pre-Primary School and Orphanage at Matindi village, Waterloo in the Western Area Rural District.
The items include 10 bags of rice, a 50kg bag of sugar, six boxes of tomato paste, 10 boxes of assorted Maggie seasoning, two jerry cans of cooking and frying oil, 25 bundles of water sachets, and cash of Le1,000 (One Thousand Leones) for subscription for the Free to air satellite television to enable the pupils to watch educative children movies.
AWOL Australia’s former Chairman, Saidu Mansaray, said the gesture is part of their annual donation to the school for the second year running. He said the donation was financed by members of AWOL Australia and from proceeds from their Annual National Achievement Awards.
“A core objective of AWOL as a global organization is to give back to society. That is exactly what we are doing. We also identify people/institutions/communities that actually need help and target them with our donations,” said Mansaray, adding that they are working to upgrade the school’s library with computers and internet facility.
The Global Secretary General of AWOL, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, gave a brief history of AWOL, its values, and core activities including the annual June 16 Feeding and Awards program for school children and the annual National Achievement Awards scheme which he revealed would return this year on December 30th 2024 at the Bintumani International Conference Center.
“AWOL is non-political and not-for-profit. We give back to society and complement the efforts of the Government of Sierra Leone in nation-building. We support the green, white, and blue and put Sierra Leone first above all else,” said Nasralla.
Nasralla highlighted the names of past chairmen of AWOL and admonished the pupils to work hard and aspire to become men and women of substance and good and law-abiding citizens. He urged the school administration to ensure the items go towards the welfare and well-being of the pupils and warned against any diversion to personal use.
Receiving the items on behalf of the school/orphanage, Head Mistress Agnes Sesay thanked AWOL for the gesture and prayed that God would richly bless the members. She gave a brief overview of the school, its facilities, and the challenges they are facing.
“This is the main school in this community and we are trying very hard to keep it running. The community does not value education and they are not helping. We have challenges with feeding, bedding, clothing for the orphans, and furniture for the classrooms,” lamented Agnes and she pleaded with AWOL to amplify their challenges so that other well-meaning Sierra Leoneans and organizations would come on board to help.
According to the Coordinator of the school, Clifford Alim Jones, they have 165 pupils, mostly from underprivileged backgrounds and some orphans, and eight teachers. The school does not only support Matindi Village but also the surrounding communities. The school has a library and a sewing sub-school supporting the community’s girls and women to learn a trade from which they can earn a living. There is also a medical facility in the compound with volunteer doctors from Spain who come in about three times a year to offer free medical services. The school’s feeding program financed by friends in Spain offers the pupils a plate of rice and a glass of milk each for lunch.
The main sponsor of the school is a Spanish-based NGO called Amigos De Sierra Leona (Friends of Sierra Leone). The school is named after the Escario Pascual family in Spain, who constantly support the project, as a way to honor them.
