Extra Mile’s chance of a lifetime!

Extra mile is recruiting successful, retired and serving teachers, other professionals and gap-year student volunteers to work in schools in Sierra Leone.

Working with this recently formed, registered NGO offers a fantastic chance to become directly involved in helping the development of education in one of the world’s poorest nations. Volunteering to work alongside some of the most hard-pressed and dedicated teachers provides a unique opportunity to use the skills and experience  from work in the UK to build a nation's future. It is a very practical, direct, and extremely rewarding challenge.

The following stories are typical of the many thousands of deprived children in this amazing country:
Delphine is nine years old and lost her father in the civil war.  She has had one term at school and would love to continue but her school has only one dilapidated room and her mother cannot pay the fees.

Francis’ uncle pays the £10 per term for his lessons.  However he makes little progress as there is often no teacher for the class and on many days of the year Francis is sent home.

Michael walks three miles to and from school each day carrying his wooden chair and his books.  There are over 137 pupils in his class yet he is one of the lucky ones.  He is taught by a qualified teacher for most of the year.

Sammy arrives for school half-asleep. He’s been helping his father break rocks since early morning and that pays for his school fees and helps the family survive.

Boy breaking rocks

I know these children and I know the great frustration of the schools which cannot offer more.