Programme for Children,
Sierra Leone
About Programme for Children
Mona Partner Since 2019
Founded in 1985 and formally registered as a nonprofit in Sierra Leone in 2004, Programme for children (PFC) is an example of participatory community-based development at its best. PFC works in collaboration with community members, local and religious leaders, and government agencies to improve access to education for students of all ages in Sierra Leone’s rural villages. To date, PFC has built 89 schools educating thousands of children.
The community provides land and manual labor. PFC secures funding, oversees the construction of schools, libraries, or vocational training centers, and provide educational support including school supplies and health services for girls. The Ministry of Education trains and certifies and pays the teachers to ensure students receive a high-quality education.
Joseph Lamin, the founder and the Executive Director of PFC, raised by a missionary family and educated in London with support from a Danish patron, graduated with a master’s degree in Global Development only to return to Sierra Leone. He has committed himself to providing access to quality education for the children of Sierra Leone.
The Challenge
The unique context for the projects Mona Foundation supports in Sierra Leone is the history of this country: Bunce Island as a slave trading point, Freetown as the British settlement for freed slaves following the American Revolution, blood diamonds and the exploitation of natural resources by many countries even to this day, a brutal 11-year civil war that left thousands mutilated, and an Ebola outbreak that took thousands of lives. Today, Sierra Leone is a secular nation with a constitution that provides for the separation of religion and state and freedom of conscience. Muslims make up about three-quarters of the population, with an influential Christian minority, and Sierra Leone is widely recognized as one of the most religiously tolerant countries in the world, with interfaith harmony deeply embedded in the country's cultural identity.
Against this background, the government has committed 24% of its GDP to education, and its First Lady is leading a campaign advocating for women's rights, visible across the country through billboards promoting girls' education, bodily autonomy, and an end to gender-based violence. All while 56% of the population earns less than $1 per day.
Learn more about Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is the only country in the world which is dedicating 24% of its GDP to education. Dr Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone has declared that, “…that empowering women and girls is not optional; it is a condition for achieving inclusive and sustainable development in our countries."
The Solution: Programme for Children Programs
Access to Education
Programme for Children works with villages to address their local needs for access to education. The village people secure and clear the land for their school and PFC constructs the school building with a water well, latrines, and a hand-washing station included.
PFC also provides the furniture, books, materials, and supplies needed to get the school up and running.
Teacher Training
Teacher training and certification is an integral part of supporting education in Sierra Leone. Programme for Children works to support all teachers at the schools it builds to complete the government's certification program. This ensures teachers have the skills and training needed to be effective. The program takes place during school breaks over three years. Once certified, teachers are eligible for government payroll.
A peek inside the lively Muloma Women's Vocational Training Center and Jaiama Junior Secondary School.
Opening ceremony and celebration for the Jaiama Junior Secondary School.
Construction of the Koribondo Library for elementary, secondary, and college students.
How we help
Mona Foundation began working with Programme for Children in 2019. To date, we have funded the building of two elementary schools, two middle schools, a high school, a library serving 7 surrounding villages and a large addition to the Muloma Vocational Technical Training Complex. Mona also provides for the furnishings, books, learning materials, and supplies, and supports teacher training and certification.
See the community's excitement and enthusiasm at the newly constructed building at Muloma Women's Vocational Center. The center offers 7 training tracks to 150 students in addition to enabling the certification of teachers from surrounding villages so that they can receive their salary from the government and enabling distance learning for students from two universities.
2025 Achievements
- 1,197 students educated at 5 Mona-funded schools, 1 vocational training center, and 1 library
- Completed construction of Kpeyama Primary School, now serving 61 students with water well and sanitation facilities
- 11 teachers from Kpatobu and Tihun enrolled in college through the Teacher Training Program
- 697 students received learning materials
- Health education sessions delivered with 70 health education kits distributed in Kpatobu and Tihun
2026 Plans - $103,725
- Educate 1,447 students at Mona-funded schools, vocational training center, and library
- Construct a new school in Balahun to serve 250 children, with four classrooms, water well, and sanitation facilities
- Continue teacher training, health education programming, and provision of learning materials across partner schools
Hear from a dedicated Mona Foundation supporter about Sierra Leone and his learnings from the experience of visiting the communities in which Programme for Children carries out its important work.
Programme for Children News
Wuyatta's Story
Wuyatta, a 16-year-old girl from Yambama Village, Sierra Leone, joined Programme for Children with a dream to excel in her education and become a nurse. Coming from a family of six with a limited income, her parents struggled to provide school supplies and basic necessities. As the eldest child, Wuyatta, often helped her mother with farming, leaving little time for her studies. Since joining the program in 2023, Wuyatta has received school supplies, participated in Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) lessons, and benefited from improved teaching materials and resources provided to her school. The menstrual hygiene kits she received enabled her to attend school regularly, breaking the cycle of absenteeism caused by a lack of proper supplies...
School Nearing Completion
November 16, 2023 - Tihun Senior Secondary School building project is nearing its final stages of construction. Today, painting of the buildings has commenced. The school consists of four classrooms, a Principals office with toilet and storage room, staff room with two toilets, water well and hand pump to be installed after the raining season and a four compartment septic toilet. This project is on track and progressing on schedule.
School is in Session!
November 5, 2023 - Kpatobu Junior Secondary School construction is complete and has welcomed 89 students - 49 girls and 40 boys! The school is serving 9 villages, impacting about 1,600 community members. The 6 teachers (3 female and 3 male) have been enrolled in the governments teacher certification program.
Latest Update
August 2021 - Four months after the ground-breaking ceremony in March, the families in the very remote village of Masosingbi have a primary school for their children!
The new school, funded through Mona Foundation, has four classrooms, a bathroom with four stalls, and two hand-washing stations. A water well and hand pump installation are in progress. Materials and schools supplies have already been delivered.
The school will soon welcome 250 students (120 girls and 130 boys) whose only option had previously been to walk 6 miles to the nearest school. Now, with a new school in their own village, education will be more accessible and improve the health and well-being of all of the children in this community for years to come.
The video linked below shows the progress of the school's construction.
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