Fostering a better future

Royalwood

West End

A Winnipeg teacher has arrived in Sierra Leone to help provide hands-on help and guidance to members of a local community.

Jen Nicholson is a member of the Sierra Leone Action Mission (SLAM) – a charitable organization comprised of a number of local volunteers who have, most recently, fundraised and supported the building a new orphanage in Koidu in the West African nation.

SLAM falls under the umbrella of several initiatives of Accountable Development Works, a registered Canadian charity based in Winnipeg. The organizers of each initiative of ADW do their own fundraising.

Nicholson – who became a SLAM committee member last year – is looking forward to spending time in a community that includes the orphanage, which was built on the site of a school. Both were previously built with the support of SLAM. Nicholson has previous experience volunteering in Africa, having spent a year in South Sudan teaching geography, chemistry, and biology more than a decade ago.

“There are efforts to become more sustainable,” said Nicholson, who lives in the West End and is on a leave of absence from her teaching job at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute. “There are not a lot of jobs for the students that have now finished high school, and the aim is to direct them towards trades such as agriculture, hairdressing, and sewing.”

One of Nicholson’s roles will be to help guide this process, which will include things such as making schedules and ordering supplies.

“I’m really excited. I find the whole idea behind SLAM inspiring. The idea of partnering with local people s exciting to me, and it’s something the organization is grounded in.”

Inspiration is also something that struck Royalwood resident Gerald Sliva, and his wife Cecilia, who are longtime members of the group. The couple was first introduced to the build projects by one of the driving forces behind them, Jason Dudek.

Sliva said it’s important to be able to provide the youth in the community with vocational training, as it provides them with practical, lifelong skills.

He said one of the goals is to build a garden in the community, where “they will hopefully raise some of their food.”

“We’re aiming for a garden beside the orphanage and school. The climate is desert-like, but they do have a rainy season. The nice thing about their climate is they can raise more than one crop a year, and there’s no frost,” Sliva said, noting Nicholson’s trip is “one of the nicest things that’s happened” since he became involved with SLAM.

“My first experience in Africa was in Kenya building a resource, and I’ve seen both so many struggles and opportunities. I want to give back and share,” Nicholson added.

Nicholson is set to return to Winnipeg on Dec. 21, and will be joined by her husband, Marty Enzlberger, for four weeks in November.

Visit slam.accountabledevelopment.org or Sierra Leone Action Mission on Facebook, email 4g.c.sliva@gmail.com, or call 204-583-7467 for more information.