A few weeks ago, students of the Holy Family School reminded me how to grasp a great meaning in a small gesture.
The Holy Family School is located in Mayenkineh, eastern part of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. Thanks to AVSI's Distance Support Program, 890 children have the chance to attend the Holy Family School - from preschool to high school - and receive the continuous economic support of a family, group of friends or company, for quality education, formative and recreational activities. Among these activities the highly anticipated field trip that allowed students of the middle and high school to visit the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, a rehabilitation center established to rescue, take care and set free hurt or abandoned chimpanzees.
In Sierra Leone these animals are an endangered species and this situation is often caused by human activities (wild deforestation, poaching, lack of environmental protection). For this reason, the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary organizes awareness-raising events, in particular for children and students.
Those who participated in the field trip wanted to share their experience with the other students of the Holy Family School. They have decided to be Ambassadors for their own country, so that more attention is payed to the animals and the environment they live in. AVSI’s social worker helped them organize a meeting with the whole school, students and professors.