Happy New Year! We are truly grateful for the #YearEnd support we received!!

We asked for your help to send Mariama to college and your support made it possible for Mariama to start college this semester.

Mariama made this video of gratitude to you saying

Thank you very much for the support you have given me this past year.  You helped to pay my first-year tuition fees at the University. You’ve really helped me a lot and I’m very grateful.  Thank you very much! 

Menstruation shouldn't prevent a girl from getting her education.

Generous supporters help provide microfinance loans, which empower small businesses like Susan's. The goal of interest-free microfinance loans is to provide parents/guardians with the ability to support their families. 

Susan expresses her thanks for the microfinance loan she received saying

Continued support is helping to provide long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) also called bed nets or mosquito nets to families and individuals in Sierra Leone. These mosquito nets create an effective barrier and provide protection from mosquito bites while families sleep.  Because of the mosquito nets they received, families like Sallay's family pictured here and Aminata's can now sleep without worrying about mosquito bites at night

Aminata tells us in this video 

Did you know that in Sierra Leone, first-year college students are typically asked to pay tuition upfront for an entire semester of college?

This is required before starting college classes. These students also typically do not have access to student loans or financial aid. There are very few and limited scholarships.

Mariama, pictured above, has been accepted to the University, but she will not be able to start classes until her tuition is paid. 

Thanks to countless donors, 31 drums full of school supplies left our Tennessee office on December 1st. The drums arrived at the shipping company in Maryland on the following day. They were then loaded onto a 40-foot container to travel to Africa. Once in Sierra Leone, they will be unloaded and transported to our office in Freetown.

Saying "THANK YOU" isn't enough. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for your support for future leaders this year!! 

Your generosity has helped hundreds of future leaders- 

Thanks to donated chairs from Sevier County schools, over 700 children in West Africa are now benefitting from donated furniture.  Develop Africa coordinated the distribution in October and November in 4 communities (urban and rural) in Sierra Leone.

Develop Africa was delighted to partner with Sevier County schools and help find a new home for the chairs and tables. The pupils of the different schools were visibly happy to receive the chairs.

In July, Sevier County schools in Tennessee donated nearly 700 desks to benefit students in Sierra Leone.  News coverage can be watched at https://www.wvlt.tv/2022/07/11/sevier-county-schools-donating-desks-africa/

The Develop Africa Team was heartbroken to learn of the passing away of Rashid S. Conteh early in October.