FUTURE PLANS

Secondary School

In Sierra Leone, the net male secondary school enrollment ratio is 30%; in contrast, only 20% of females are enrolled. However, actual attendance rates are astoundingly low, with 21% (males) and 17% (females) actually attending school regularly. Zion Ministries hopes to mitigate this social issue by providing greater access to secondary education.

Currently, we are planning to build two secondary schools, which will  provide greater access to education for youth. Secondary education is an essential gateway to accessing and proving benefits, which stimulate a community's social and economic development, as well as provide opportunities for personal growth and intellectual vitality. Demand for secondary education is set to grow substantially as the region moves closer to achieving universal primary education. A quality secondary school education is invaluable in creating a vibrant future for individuals and communities both in and around Bo and throughout Sierra Leone. Zion hopes to meet this demand by continuing to plan and seek funding for the two secondary school projects.

Income Generating Projects

In order to achieve its social mission, Zion Ministries is focused on developing revenue-generating projects in order to ensure long term financial sustainability and organizational self sufficiency. A one of the income-generating projects we are working on is the Love Bakery, a bread bakery which will employ local community members as bakers and businesspeople. Love Bakery is so named for the selfless compassion the people of Bo show one another, even in the face of difference and hardship. Through the region of Bo is home to people of many different religious persuasions and cultural/ethnic origins, love is the underlying motivation that supports the work for social good being enacted in the region.

The bread baked at Love Bakery will be supplied to Zion Ministries' orphanages, churches and schools, as well as sold to the community at large. The profits associated with this venture will not only cover operational costs for the bakery itself, but will be returned to the health and education projects that Zion operates as a resource strategy for sustainability and self-sufficiency. The benefits of this project are beyond food and revenue; the project ensures the provision of an important commercial entity, which will employ local community members as staff, and promises to foster a sense of community, pride and achievement.

New Clinic Schools

A primary school and maternal health clinic pairing model is currently being constructed on the new Bandawa campus through a partnership with Seven Hills Global Outreach (USA) and their corporate sponsor, Consigli Construction, Inc.. The intentional pairing of a clinic and a school is a model that will comprehensively address a progression of social issues initiated at birth and continuing through childhood and adolescence. Zion Ministries hopes that this model can be repeated throughout Sierra Leone as a successful way to address multipronged and complex social needs.

Through maternal and infant healthcare, our hope is to see more families thriving before, during and after childbirth. A healthy mother is the foremost determinant of a healthy family - socially, economically, nutritionally, and spiritually. With a mother and child's good health accounted for, a child can grow and develop to attend school and receive the benefits of an education. Ensuring that medical services and education stay connected and accessible, fosters the understanding that good health is more than just physical, but extends to a way of life that emphasizes positive cycles of wellbeing and learning.