What have been the greatest challenges to the MVS and Health Center project?
- Finances. The biggest challenge of Madina Village School is financial. Starting with his own retirement funds, Francis began to build, which inspired others to help him. It is a fulltime job to continue to solicit funds for the continual operation of the school, and for the building of the clinic.
- Corruption. Another huge challenge to anyone who attempts to build anything in Sierra Leone is the culture of corruption. At every level, when legal documents or licenses or approvals are required, there are far too many obstacles, and often there are deceptive people who stall the progress unless given a “brown envelope”. Francis has insisted on the integrity of refusing to bribe, and this has slowed down the receiving of approvals, etc.
- Ebola. During the Ebola epidemic of 2014, all schools in S.L. were closed for seven months. MVS continued to pay the nurse and teachers, and their community wide information project helped Madina area to remain Ebola free. This long break in schooling did set the students back and much had to be made up when the crisis was passed.
- Malaria. In the first two years, two little girls died of malaria and many other students were absent or got sick at school. When tested, 89 of our students were found to have chronic malaria in their systems. A bed net program to protect students from the mosquitoes carrying malaria was put in place the third year and since then, the situation has greatly improved. Malaria is still a constant problem in the area, though, and continuing to provide or replace nets and mattresses is ongoing.
- Sponsorships. The most effective way to connect donors with the children and teachers they are helping is the MVS sponsorship program. As of 2022 there are 185 sponsored children out of 440 children in the school. Continual communication with the sponsors is effective, but difficult, since there is no mail service in Sierra Leone. It takes time to keep it organized, and we are also looking for more sponsors all the time.