The Kalanthuba Chiefdom is a newly de-amalgamated chiefdom in the Northern Province of the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Through professor Ronald Oakerson, Houghton College has been sending research teams to the region for some years and developed a relationship with the chiefdom. This year’s visit was prompted by a request that Houghton students return to do research after last year’s baseline development study was conducted, which locals found immensely helpful for directing development efforts.
This past May, the student research team studied agricultural marketing, ecotourism feasibility and community school formation. After a brief stay in Freetown, they set out to Kalanthuba to conduct interviews in villages every day for two weeks. The experience was intense, physically, academically and emotionally. Traveling from village to village gave them a taste of rural life in Sierra Leone and allowed them to make meaningful connections with locals.
Once the research period was over, they frantically compiled our findings in preparation for a meeting with community stakeholders at the end of the Mayterm. Other members of the team stayed an additional three weeks for internships; the ecotourism team worked with the Bumbuna Watershed Management Authority and the schools team worked for the chiefdom, writing project proposals and helping initiate school formation in a remote section. This included a 20-mile, overnight trek to meet with stakeholders to begin the formation of the future Ronald J. Oakerson Community Primary School. For students interested in the outcome of these teams’ research, there will be forthcoming reports in addition to the information provided here.
Community schools are what they sound like; schools created and operated by a community. None of Kalanthuba’s seven community schools are government-approved and do not receive government funding or teacher salaries. Teachers work voluntarily, subsisting on token payments, alternative livelihoods and family support. They work on behalf of their communities, utilizing what skills they have as they teach the standard curriculum all Sierra Leonian teachers use. Enrollment and attendance are low due to poverty, agricultural needs, poor road infrastructure and food insecurity. Education is an urgent need in Kalanthuba due to the staggering adult literacy rate of two percent.
The student research team found that there are community level structures in place for development aimed toward the betterment of educational and social infrastructure. Communities give what labor and finances they are able to after a social entrepreneur initiates formation. Communities have a high level of investment in these schools, but the support is limited due to poverty.
The team’s research sought to identify where the critical need lies, in order to help build upon existing programs. Their internship focused on this as they wrote proposals for the chiefdom to give to NGOs to reinitiate communal agriculture, provide tools for road-building labor groups, finish school construction and an environmental education project.
Beyond the academic, the Houghton students had various encounters that impacted their lives and expanded their worldview. On the trek to Kamakolo, the team visited a nearby village where a scene pierced their hearts. A woman was singing songs of lament outside of her home, where her son lay dying of edema. There was no way to get the boy treatment due to the village’s remoteness. At the end of Mass, in honor of the Day of the African Child, some young children from the parish gave brief presentations on development issues. A youth group from Magburaka also came, telling of their mission of empowerment and development. The students, encouraged in knowing that work is being done on the ground, furthered by courageous yet unknown individuals like these who daily take up the cross in service to their people, satiating the thirst of Jesus in the hearts of the poor.