Rocky Branch Greets Seydi International

Last Wednesday, November 9^th, we were paid a visit by Douglas, the Peace Corps expert in Sierra Leone.  Douglas was making a farewell tour of most the PCV sites before leaving the country on Nov. 17^th.  He has made a career of PC service as much as anyone can.  He started in Morocco as a PCV in the sixties, then served in Burkina Faso, the Ukraine, and Guinea. In Guinea he was the country director.  Peace Corps service is a family tradition.  His father was the country director of Sierra Leone in the early eighties. 

Douglas delivered a large envelope from the States, post-marked October 25^th, that I had been expecting.  It was from my friend Joe in River Falls.  Joe served in the Peace Corps in Nepal.  Like me, he met his future wife, Sunita, while serving as a volunteer.  Joe teaches fourth grade at Rocky Branch Elementary.  Each year he has his class study a country, so Joe and I had agreed to set up a pen pal correspondence between his class and one from Sierra Leone.  The envelope Doug brought contained 25 introductory letters from Joe’s students.

Joe’s pupils described themselves in various ways.  What foods did they like to eat? Not too many surprises there. Pizza, ice cream, and spaghetti were repeatedly mentioned, but what will the local kids think of cheesecake and sushi.  Favorite sports mentioned were American football, soccer, and gymnastics.  Would the class over here understand bowling?  Hobbies like horse-riding and ice skating might also be unfamiliar to them.  By far the most popular topic of the letters was pets. Predictably, they listed dogs, cats, and fish. One student mentioned chickens and Guinea hens.  Favorite animals included a rat and starfish.  Joe’s class asked their future pen pals to describe themselves in a similar way. Pasted at the bottom of each letter was a small school photo of the student.

Abdul, teaches at the Government Secondary School which is right across the road from the college where Ann and I teach.  Abdul is on leave from his job this year to study more mathematics.  He is one of three students in my Calculus II class. Since I knew he was a teacher, I had told him that I was looking for an elementary class that would agree to be pen pals.  He knew just the place, and on Monday morning with letters in hand, we went there.



Seydi International Bi-Lingual School

The school, Seydi International Bi-lingual Private School, is located in a nearby area called Kissy Town.  It was founded in 2011 by Mr. Johannis and his wife Mrs. Susan. The school has a pre-school program and grades K – 9 with an enrollment of 350 pupils. All of the students learn French and English. West Africa is made up of eight French speaking countries. Sierra Leone is one of five English speaking ones in West Africa. Having a command of both languages would be very useful in this part of the continent.  When the students get to the 7^th level they begin to learn Spanish.  The flags of France, Britain, and Spain join those of Sierra Leone and the school’s flag at the entryway to the school.

Johannis and Susan under the flags at the school entryway.

Johannis introduced Abdul and me to a couple of classes.  The classrooms were a bit dark as a recent power outage had not yet been repaired. As we entered each classroom, the 35 or so students jumped to attention beside their seats and began a rehearsed conversation with us in unison.  First they greeted us in French and English, asking us how we were.  After we replied, they welcomed us to their class, again in both languages.  Their voices were loud and echoed off the concrete walls of the small room.  Every student was dressed in the school uniform as is the custom for private schools. The second class we entered is taught by Jerimiah, the oldest son of Johannis and Susan.  Abdul pointed out his son Unpha in the first row.  Now I knew why Abdul had picked this school. He wanted his son to have a chance to participate in the pen pal program. 


Seydi-International Pen Pals

Afterward, Johannis talked with Abdul and me in his office.  He was very enthusiastic about the program.  He recalled days back in the 60’s when he participated in a pen pal program (again facilitated by Peace Corps) at his school on Bonthe Island. It was run by Irish Catholic missionaries. He is very much in favor of global education.  He has traveled to France to study the language. Johannis and Susan began their careers teaching at secondary schools in Freetown.  Additionally, Johannis gave private language lessons to a Chinese family that owned a restaurant in the capital city.  The owner wanted to open a new Chinese restaurant in Conakry, Guinea.  He asked Johannis, because of his language abilities, to move to French-speaking Guinea to help with the restaurant.  After two years in Guinea, the relationship soured and Johannis took a job as a translator for the Nigerian embassy in Conakry.  The family decided to stay in Guinea once the civil war in Sierra Leone began. Johannis worked for the embassy for over 13 years before the family decided to return to their homeland. 

November 14-18 is International Education Week.  The lives of Douglas, Joe, Sunita, Johannis and Susan have been greatly influenced by the free exchange of knowledge between countries.  Hopefully, the pen pal project between Rocky Branch and Seydi International will foster for the participating students a better understanding of the life of someone growing up in a different culture.   Let us wish that additional barriers will not be built to hinder global learning.  We need to leave this world a better place for the next generation.