The coolest school in town - Youth Dream Centre
Story by Nina Ottosen
Youth Dream Centre Sierra Leone. A pretty awesome organisation. Dreamtown and Youth Dream Centre have basically grown up together, and been collaborating on supporting education and safe learning spaces in Sierra Leone for more than 10 years. YDC-SL runs a different school - a non-formal school . Here, they make their own rules - so that noone is left out. We’re lucky to have our education programme supported by Erik Thunes Legat to invest in the education of some of the kids and youth who need it the most. YDC-SL has an education centre in the three cities Freetown, Makeni, and Kono. In this story, have a look and join us in Makeni for a visit to the coolest school in town.
In the non-formal education classes, YDC-SL follows an official curriculum - however, they have the flexibility of adapting it to the level of the individual students. Some have never been to school, some have dropped out of school - and some might attend school but don’t have the needed support and help around them to make it through. Everyone is welcome at YDC-SL.
With their focus on education, YDC-SL is trying to help solve a challenge in Sierra Leone. And that is that not everyone is able to attend school - or does not have the support system around them to keep them in school, help them with homework, and pay for fees and materials. At YDC-SL’s schools, everything is free. On paper, so is going to formal school. But in practise, students are still having to pay different fees, and cover costs of materials, transportation, extra classes to pass their exams, etc. And this situation still leaves many children and youth with little opportunity to continue their education.
Of course, there is no school without passionate teachers. Meet Adama and Kassandra. They are 26 and 30 years old. And they dedicate a lot of their time to teach in YDC-SL’s non-formal school. Every afternoon, they put together classes for up to 80 students in the city Makeni, right outside the office of YDC-SL. The kids gather under the trees, grap their chairs and tables - and there you have it: the classroon is ready! They go on for two hours in the afternoon, and focus on basic education, making sure the kids learn how to read and write. It’s a noisy and chaotic scene - but it’s also full of smiles.
We decided to come and help so that they too can be able to read and write. Because we even have the adults who have dropped out from school, they don't even know how to write. Since we started the programme, some of them already know how to write and how to send text messages - Kassandra
For someone when they came here, they did not know how to express themselves. They were shy. We motivate them to be in the society and express themselves. someone it can be added to the shy side society expose them so as you can see, they are now able to expose themselves - Adama
The teachers at YDC-SL are role models for the kids. YDC-SL runs their own teacher training, where Adama and Cassandra have been part, and gained insight into teaching methods. And they understand that their students might have some special needs. They pay attention to the language they use, and they focus on the individual. Also, they try to make it fun and lively - and create a learning space where everyone is welcome. And Adama and Cassandra are especially motivated to support the girls in the community. They are often those without access to education - as boys are sometimes prioritised if the family needs to make a choice of who to send to school, and girls and young women are given responsibilities in and around the household, keeping them from school.
We found out that some of the girls, their parents are not sending them to school. So in this project, we came here to motivate them because we also, we are girls. We learned we serve as a role model - Adama
And mobilising around girls’ and young women’s role is not only important within education - but all across the society. YDC-SL also runs technical and vocational skills training for young women, where they learn how to do tailoring, catering, IT, and learn about basic business management. The dream is to invite even more kids and young people into their learning spaces - and make sure no kid is out of school.
Join us in the classroom…
So, what’s up next? The YDC-SL team continues to advocate for education and develop their teaching platform. They host meetings with the parents and caretakers of the kids, and meetings with other education actors and the people in power in and around the communities where they work. To mobilise collective support for education and strong networks that will join the journey towards education for everyone in Sierra Leone. We are really happy to have the Danish foundation Erik Thunes Legat on board this journey with us - a big shout out to them for supporting our work! And of course to all the kids and young teachers who keep learning and teaching.
