A Call to Action

1
A Call to Action

• The mission
• of Sierra Visions, Inc.
• is to foster social reform and economic
  development in Sierra Leone and ultimately West
  Africa.

2
Past A Tourist Destination

• Known as the Athens of Africa
• Beauty recognized globally
• Commercial center in Africa
• Haven for dignitaries
• Former Prime Minister Blair educated in Sierra
  Leone
  
• Britians Prince Charles often visited
• US Corporations and celebrities have embraced the
  most recent struggle
  

3
Culture and Global Presence

• Historical draw for African Americans
• Global diamond exporter
• Coastal community
• People, culture and natural resources

4
Scarred History of Rebellion

• My people, I encourage all of us to lend a
  helping hand.

11-year war changed the people and the worlds
view.
If there is no hand, there is no vote.
Disarmed youth soldiers turned to petty crime
65 pop. illiterate
War Amputees
School Dropouts
5
State of Education

• Educators are not fully prepared
• Education is for those who can afford it
• Crowded classrooms
• No desks in some classrooms
• Outdated teaching materials
• Illiterate workforce

Average of 68 students per classroom
6
Facts
Sierra Leones education system faces major
disparities in education as

• Sierra Leone has one of the worlds youngest
  populations, with over 60 below the age of 35
  
• Almost 2 million are between the ages of 15 and
  35
  
• Likelihood of dying before the age of 40 is 47
• The vast majority of these are unemployed, and
  over 1.5 million youth live in conditions of
  poverty
  
• 70 of the countrys population of six million
  live on less than two dollars a day
  
• 64.9 are illiterate

7
Generations of Oppression
This Cycle Strangles Future Generations
8
US Has Similar Problems

• Inner cities experience same cycle of
  destruction
  
• Long Beach, California is an example of a
  gang-ridden city
  
• A teacher found the solution to improve the
  individual in order to break the cycle
  
• Accomplishment was featured in Hollywood movie
  Freedom Writers

9
A Teacher Can Change a Community

• Freedom Writers profiled a teacher whose
  curriculum changed a neighborhood
  
• Another Los Angeles county teacher is also making
  a difference in both her classroom and in her
  parents native country Sierra Leone
  

• Yeniva Sisay, M.Ed
• Teacher of the Year (06, 07)
• Greatest of All Time (07)
• Most Wanted by Students
• 1 Requested

10
Sierra Visions, Inc.
Five T Model EducaTion Technology YouTh Heal
Th
ShelTer
Founded by Young Sierra Leoneans in

• Program Objectives
• Develop global students to compete in 21st
  century
  
• Computer literacy
• Team player
• Critical thinker
• Leadership
• Establish long-term programs to help teachers
  prepare students

11
The Five T Model Programs
Digital Village
EXCEL ThinkBuildChange Salone
Technology
Internet Society AccessPoint Africa
EducaTion
YouTh
HealTh
ShelTer
Program Name
Program Name
Program Name
12
Program Components

• EXCEL
• Secondary Education Program
• For teachers and students
• Digital Village
• Workshops seminars
• Career fair
• Cybercafe
• ThinkBuildChange Salone (TBCS)
• Paid internships (in SL)
• Volunteer opportunities (outside SL)
• TRSURE
• Recruits talented expatriates for volunteer
  opportunities

13
Sierra Visions Impact

• EXCEL
• 20k students educated
• Digital Village
• 20 workshops seminars
• ThinkBuildChange Salone (TBCS)
• 20 internships
• TRSURE
• 20 volunteers

14
Global Spotlight on Sierra Leone

• Hollywood
• Blood Diamonds movie highlights conflict
• Hip Hop
• Artist Kayne West sings of Sierra Leone struggle
• Latin Music
• Reggaeton artist asked to explain why he wont
  buy/wear diamonds in interviews
  
• Starbucks
• Book spotlighting war

15
Other Benefactors/NGOs
Sierra Visions is part of a movement to empower
Sierre Leones to move forward.
16
Milestones

• EXCEL launch in October
• US based executive team moves to Sierra Leone
• Scholarships granted to 12 students in X county
• Partnership with CelTel
• TRSURE launched in Freetown

2007 2006 2005
17
How to Help Sierra Visions Develop Sierra Leone
EXCEL Wish List Items

• EQUIPMENT
• Binding Machine
• Laminator
• Paper cutter
• All in one TV, VCR DVD
• Boom Box
• LCD Projector
• Laptop Computers
• Copy Machine
• All in one fax printer scanner

• PROGRAM SUPPLIES
• 3 inch Binders/Spiral Notebooks
• Dividers
• Portable Easel
• Name Badges/Tags
• Board Games i.e Monopoly, Life,
• Brain Teasers
• Vocabulary Math Flashcards
• Stapler
• Transparency sheets
• Sharpie Expo Markers
• Post-It Easel Pads
• Expo White Boards/Erasers
• Crate on Wheels
• Education Programs on CD

• BOOKSSET OF 40
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou)
• The Giver (Lois Lowery)
• Sula (Toni Morrison)
• The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)
• The Devil that Danced on the Water (Aminata
  Forena)
  
• Night (Ellie Wisel)
• Letters to a Young Brother Manifest Your Destiny
  (Hill Harper)
  
• The Young Travelers Gift (Andy Andrews)
• The Coldest Winter Ever Sister Souljah)
• Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul (Jackcanfield)
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (Sean Covey)

18
Sponsorship Opportunities

• 5000 will rent, run, and furnish
  classroom/office space for a year
  
• 1000 will supply 3 novels and program materials
  for 35 students
  
• 500 will create scholarships that will send 5
  students to school for a year
  
• 100 will create a job opportunities for two
  Sierra Leonean program staff
  
• 50 will provide nutritious snacks for students
  for one month

5,000 1,000 500 100

50
19
Our Future

• We need to cultivate Sierra Leone with programs
  to change a generations psyche
  
• Sierra Visions is creating an infrastructure for
  universal change and will utilize collective
  resources to achieve program goals
  

Education is not preparation for life education
is life itself.
Yeniva Sisay
20
Contact Information

• Sierra Leone
• Name
• Address
• City, State Zip
• Phone
• Email
• United States
• Name
• Address
• City, State Zip
• Phone
• Email

21
Think Build Change Salone
Overview Bridge to help expatriates participat
e in Sierra Leone's development by providing them
with the information to volunteer with non
governmental and community based organizations
(NGOs).

• Encourage all Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad
  to actively participate in Sierra Leone's
  development and post war reconstruction
  
• Challenge young Sierra Leoneans to come up with
  unique and creative approaches and projects for
  Sierra Leone's development
  
• Provide young Sierra Leoneans with meaningful
  paid social development internship experiences
  that will contribute to their professional and
  personal development
• Share positive and inspirational information
  about Sierra Leone to Sierra Leoneans

22
TRainSUstainREtain (TR'SURE)
Overview Bridge to help expatriates participat
e in Sierra Leone's development by providing them
with the information to volunteer with non
governmental and community based organizations
(NGOs).

• Our ongoing initiative is to reverse Brain Drain
  into Brain Gain in Sierra Leone. Sierra Visions
  launched its first in Training Program - TR'SURE
  in Freetown, Sierra Leone in April, 2005.
• Sierra Visions continues to form strategic
  partnerships, and sponsor qualified professionals
  in Africa and throughout the Diaspora, to train
  individuals and professionals in Sierra Leone
  with leading industry specific skills. They
  include but are not limited to these key areas 
  ICT (Information Technology), Human Resource
  Management, Finance Accounting, Sales
  Distribution, Marketing, Customer Care/Service,
  Law, etc.

23
Gift to Success Scholarship
We believe that providing scholarships for
at-risk children and youths who have been
crucially affected by the 11-year war could
contribute to the development of Sierra Leone and
prevent a return to a conflict situation.

• Through the Gift to Succeed Scholarship Program,
  Sierra Visions increases tertiary educational
  opportunities and access for children and adults
  who otherwise would not have been able to receive
  a formal education. Education Drive SV holds
  Education Drives to help promote literacy and
  education in Sierra Leone. Sierra Visions seeks
  out and accepts educational material donations
  for all ages throughout the year to benefit
  primary, secondary, and post secondary
  institutions, along with community libraries in
  Sierra Leone.

24
EXCEL

• Inspiring and educating students to become
  self-motivated, confident learners through the
  use of non-formal learning, and engaging them in
  hands-on, participatory experiences that make
  learning fun.
• Empowering students with the skills they need to
  become productive contributors to their community
  and thus avoid the cycle of persistent poverty.
  
• Exposing students to the possibilities in Sierra
  Leone and the continent of Africa by teaming them
  with influential advisors, guest speakers taking
  them on college tours and field trips.
• Providing educators and community leaders with
  training and workshops, on the use of non formal
  education as a tool for design.

The goals of the EXCEL program are to advance the
leadership development of students by