Support PFCF’s Expansion in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone faces many challenges. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 60% of the country living below the poverty line and 43% living in extreme poverty. 82% of the national population is food insecure. Educational outcomes reflect this poverty, with only 22% of students completing high school. Kush, a synthetic drug both very cheap and highly addictive, has become a national emergency, with rampant use among youth. Freetown, the capital city, has become an epicenter of kush use in West Africa.
One institution stands out to engage youth positively and get them into safe spaces for creative self-expression, mentorship, positive mental health development, and peer-engagement and support: PFCF’s local partner Ballanta Academy of Music & Performing Arts. Ballanta is the first music education institution established in Sierra Leone over 30 years ago, and has impacted thousands of youth, parents, and community members in that time. With your support, we can directly engage among the most vulnerable youth in the Clinetown area of Freetown, where PFCF and Ballanta are expanding this year.
PFCF and Ballanta have partnered with the World Monuments Fund (WMF), which is leading the restoration of the Old Fourah Bay College (OFBC) building in Freetown. OFBC was the first institution of higher learning in Sub-Saharan Africa after the collapse of the university in Timbuktu, Mali in the 17th century. OFBC was founded by freed slaves and was the foremost African educational institution during the colonial and post-colonial period. Its cultural and historic value on the continent cannot be overstated.
WMF has raised significant funds to complete a phase 1 restoration that will allow PFCF and Ballanta to expand our programming into this new space. WMF and PFCF are continuing to fundraise for additional restoration phases, as well as funds to operate this new space.
SUPPORT OUR EFFORT
Support needed for program operation includes:
- $200: Salary for one music teacher for one month
- $2,000: Salary for one music teacher for one year
- $5,000: Purchase music instruments for 50 students
- $7,500: Peace though Dance project for girls from slum communities in Freetown
- $10,000: Equip Ballanta with music studio capacities
- $15,000: Food security project for impoverished youth in Freetown
- $25,000: Salaries for 10 staff members for one year
- $100,000: Completely outfit one floor of OFBC with music instruments, furniture, acoustic treatment, and music studio equipment
OFBC restoration led by:
