Vocational Training
Our two vocational college in Sierra Leone provide practical, hands-on training to vulnerable young people—particularly young women—in trades such as tailoring, catering, and hairdressing. These courses offer a lifeline to students who are determined to build brighter, independent futures. These colleges not only empower women to learn a trade but also become financially independent, grow in self-esteem, and become role models in their communities.
In Sierra Leone, women are commonly expected to stay in the home, marry, have children and be financially dependent on men. Women are discouraged from work and often are not taken seriously. Low self-esteem, abusive relationships and resorting to unsafe work to make ends meet is common.
In the 2023-2024 Human Development Report, Sierra Leone ranked 184 out of 193 countries, and it ranks in the ten lowest ranked countries in the world for the Gender Equality Index. There is very little social mobility or financial security in the country, especially for women who do not have the access to education or basic resources.
This makes the Vocational Colleges extremely vital in the local communities.
“Investing in girls and women isn’t just morally right, it is essential for the development of families, communities and countries. When we educate girls, we see reduced child deaths, healthier children and mothers, fewer child marriages and faster economic growth”
“One of the problems is here we are raised to pursue marriage and having children as our goal. We are raised to believe our place is behind that of our husbands or fathers or brothers. But what happens when our husbands leave us? Or our fathers can no longer feed us? We are alone.” Tutor, Kumba R Sellu Vocational College
I am 20 years old. I have a son, but we’ve separated with his father. He is not taking care of us. I am the one that is responsible for my child’s schooling, clothing, food and paying rent on our home. I get my income from the garden [growing crops] and doing odd jobs for people but this is not reliable. That is why I want to do something in order to be self-reliant.
“Our vocational colleges are not just about skills, they’re about life knowledge and how to survive. … No matter what has gone on in their week the students never miss their sessions.” Director, Helga Sellu
Sponsor a Student!
Help a student learn a trade to provide for herself and her dependents.
It’s difficult to make a living in Sierra Leone, especially if you dropped out of school due to circumstances beyond your control. Many young women resort to scraping a living from unsafe work, and still live in poverty.
This does not have to be the case.
Fund a student scholarship so she can learn either catering, tailoring or hairdressing and skills to run a business.
Once she starts learning, she can use the money you send to buy materials such as food ingredients, fabric or hair products. She will use these materials in college to learn to make products. Then, she can sell the products she makes to provide a living for herself while she studies.
£30 a month for 24 months.
A Nursery Built by the Community, for the Community
Until recently, many of our students and teachers had to bring their young children to class due to lack of childcare. It wasn’t safe or ideal and the young children were missing out on a chance to learn and play. But thanks to income from our sustainable Palm Kernel Oil business, our team have now built a nursery on-site with three nursery teachers.
The children are thriving — learning, playing, and preparing for school in a safe and happy space. Here they are enjoying their new toys that our Team brought. We’re looking for donations towards toys, educational materials, or food for lunches. If you’re interested and would like to support the nursery, please get in touch or simply donate here!
Donate here
The palm oil project
Powering vocational training in Sierra Leone with Sustainable Palm Oil
Our vocational colleges offer a lifeline to students who are determined to build brighter, independent futures. But these colleges don’t stand alone. They’re supported by a unique and sustainable social enterprise.
Our team in Sierra Leone sources discarded palm nuts—a byproduct often left to rot—and transforms them into oil, a valuable product used by local communities. The oil extraction process has many steps; from sourcing waste palm kernels, to processing them to extract oil, and then transporting it to sell.
This is a sustainable way to reuse agricultural waste to produce rubber oil that is used locally by the community. Not only that, our Palm Oil Project also helps us create more job opportunities and while all profits from the sales go directly to fund our Vocational Colleges. It’s a unique system that helps us maximise our impact!
