Hello Echoers!
Lots of updates to share!
First off - through your donations this past Summer and into the early Fall, we managed to successfully relocate the Women in Action Development Project to their new home following their eviction from the previous building. We managed to raise nearly all the funding we needed to cover a year of rent at the new location. The new landlords agreed to let the school move in with the bit of funding we still need to raise with the understanding that we will continue to do so. We are just shy about 1000US dollars. Again, thank you all so very much. You are helping Esther’s work continue and once again a new class of young women has enrolled and begun this year’s school season.
Also! Women in Action has expanded to a SECOND location! Esther was talking about the possibility of doing this for a few years now. She was interested in ensuring access for rural women to the centre’s vocational studies. The second centre, which is located in the Port Loko region of Sierra Leone, opened this past Monday. It is in a building that Women in Action is renting in combination with Red Cross which operates the building. The advantage is that the equipment and supplies are already present - including a whole classroom of computers! - which saves a lot of money in comparison to opening a new location from scratch. An official opening event for the new school will happen on February 14th to coincide with the founding of the first Women in Action Development Project
Esther at the new Port Loko Location
Computers at the Port Loko Location
Freetown is where the first Women in Action Centre is located. Port Loko is shown here where the new location is located.
Also, you might recall our purchase of farmland two years ago. Well the crops were hard hit by flooding in the two years since, but Esther sent these images of crops growing on the land just recently which is great news! These crops are sold to help fund school operations.
Once again, all of this awesome news - the relocation, the expansion to a second location, and the farmland - wouldn’t have been possible without all your support. Also a big thanks to those of you have been donating on Facebook. We have run THREE successful Facebook fundraisers now including the most recent this past August for my birthday! So thank you to our growing community of Esther’s Echo supporters! Be sure to find us on Facebook as well!
I will continue to send updates as they come. Keep a look out for our Holiday fundraising campaign which will begin December 3rd with Giving Tuesday!
-Matthew
