School Kits for Sierra Leone

Choose a Kit: Bedding - Bulk - Flood Bucket - Health - Layette - School - Sewing - Shipping Label/Packing List - Print-friendly.

Sierra Leone has begun the long hard road to recovery following a brutal civil war. Not only did people lose loved ones and suffer physical torture and displacement, but they lost nearly everything they had. Almost the entire infrastructure of the country has to be rebuilt. Schools were destroyed as well as homes.

One way in which United Methodists have responded is by sending a variety of kits through UMCOR. These kits contain very basic supplies–supplies that many of us take for granted, but supplies which are scarce and highly prized in war-torn or poverty-stricken countries.

School kits are especially valued by children and young people. Often, a school kit will provide the only school supplies a child has. These kits, which are relatively easy and inexpensive to assemble, can provide a child with the tools that she or he needs to learn. They help make it possible for children to begin to regain some normalcy in their lives.

Below is an excerpt from a letter written by Elmira Sellu, coordinator of the United Methodist Women in Sierra Leone to an UMCOR staff member, after receiving a shipment of kits from UMCOR:

"I wish to express sincere thanks and gratitude for donating the school kits, hygiene and sewing kits to the department [the Women's Dept. of the Sierra Leone Conference]. We were able to give out the School Kits to girls in our Centre at Kissy, the June Hartranft displaced school at Kingharman Road. Another beneficiary was the United Methodist Women's nursery school which is also a displaced school. [Schools that had to close down and relocate because of the war.] The Albert Academy and the Harford School for Girls [also displaced] ere also beneficiaries.”

Assembling school kits can be an exciting mission project for groups in your church, especially women's groups, Sunday schools and youth fellowships. The homemade fabric bags that hold the supplies make each kit unique and personal. Please follow the instructions carefully. Call the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot 1-800-554-8583 if you have questions. Through UMCOR kits, you can send a tangible sign of your compassion for God's children throughout the world.

Photos: 1 & 2. United Methodist Women of Sierra Leone Display Kits Received from UMCOR. 3.School girls show off their school kits.

Choose a Kit: Bedding - Bulk - Flood Bucket - Health - Layette - School - Sewing - Shipping Label/Packing List - Print-friendly.