ESL Classes at SELI

The Sentinel English Language Institute (SELI) offers beginning and intermediate-proficiency English classes in Tengbeh Town for teen and adult speakers of other languages who are residing in Freetown. Instruction engages students in all aspects of language—speaking and writing, reading and listening, and grammaring; the beginning students shown here are working on a writing task. The American instructor is an experienced, U.S.-certified ESL specialist. SELI's instructional materials are specifically designed for teaching adult ESL in an international setting.

And just think: all fees are paid to SELI, so ESL learners at SELI are, at the same time, supporting educational projects in other schools in Sierra Leone.

The SRWP is a Rural Program

Running Young Writers writing-workshop clubs in junior secondary schools (middle schools) in Freetown over the past 3+ years has been difficult.  The biggest challenge is finding the time and space for students to sit down and write, and share their writing with each other, after school. For the most part, junior secondary schools in Freetown operate in the first half of the day. They then hand over the school compound to a senior secondary school which operates in the afternoons. Often there is no space for the club to meet. We care about outcomes of the clubs, and infrequent meetings mean loss of momentum and motivation.

Therefore, we've made a change. From the 2012-2013 school year, Seli River Writing Project will operate exclusively in rural junior secondary schools that carry out full school days. We are conducting a Leading Young Writers facilitator training in August for teachers who wish to conduct Young Writers clubs in village schools on the Freetown Peninsula, and for new teachers in the Koinadugu District who are replacing departed teachers. Can't wait to meet our new facilitators!

Chapter Books

The Young Writers from the Seli River Writing Project who have written five or more personal experiences in their clubs, were given the opportunity at the end of the school year to prepare My Life booklets.

Each one chose the sequence in which their experiences would appear as chapters in the book.  They also prepared a dedication and an "About the Author" paragraph to appear at the end.

It's an exciting moment for all authors to walk off with their first new book in their hands, and a wonderfully validating experience for these junior secondary students.  We congratulate each one of them for the perseverance it took to get through so many drafts of at least five different topics.

The IRA supports the SRWP!

The Seli River Writing Project is delighted to have received a Developing Economy Literacy Project grant from the International Reading Association to support the Young Writers clubs during the 2012-2013 school year! It lifts such a load off our heads to know that some of our expenses will be paid, and we can concentrate on carrying out goals. Read about the award at this page.  Hurray for the IRA!

Five Writing Lessons

Five Writing Lessons, a program of the Heritage Writers project, has begun at SELI! The opening unit is Kuranko, and the first of the five lessons took place today at SELI. Thanks to sponsorship from individuals from many parts of the world, we plan to conduct a unit of five writing lessons in as many Sierra Leone languages as possible.

Each class has up to sixteen participants. All should be primary language speakers of the language of any age who have reached or completed junior secondary school, and who are interested in authoring books in their language. The class is offered free of charge.

We are seeking funding for the next stage in the Heritage Writers project, which will support the writing efforts of these would-be mother-tongue authors, and take them onto publication. Exciting, no? Be a part of it by contributing at www.seli.co. Click on "DONATE" to make your payment through PayPal.

A Notice Board for Services JSS, Wilberforce

Today SELI donated a notice board to Services Junior Secondary School in Wilberforce, so everyone in the school can read the pieces of writing they are producing. The donation was made possible by a grant from the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy.

Jackie Leigh, SELI's director, has been running the Young Writers club at Services since 2008, but this year, teachers from the school have taken over as its facilitators. Here we see one of the teachers, Mr. M. Kanu, with the principal, Mrs. S. Kenny (right), and the secretary of the school. The second facilitator, Mr. A. Sheriff, is not in the photo.

Heritage Writers is on the move!

Twice as many people as last year attended SELI's International Mother Language Day 2012 event on February 21st. About half were students, making very serious efforts to write in their mother tongues as these two girls are, writing in Kono and Krio.

Keep checking back for updates! Many participants were interested in the tutoring lessons for which we have been able to gain sponsorship. That program will be underway soon.

Sponsor a Writer! (a Heritage Writers initiative)

Let's Write in our Mother Languages

It is said that there are some eighteen indigenous languages spoken in Sierra Leone. Orthographies have been approved for four of these: Mende, Themne, Limba and Krio. Some junior secondary schools offer one or more of these languages as elective subjects, so there is a chance that a fortunate child might learn to read and write his/her mother tongue while in junior secondary school.

But what if that mother tongue is one of the many "unwritten" languages in Sierra Leone? What do children burning to write in their mother tongues do when educators tell them that writing programs cannot be established for languages that lack approved orthographies?

Read our article advocating for writing in mother languages: http://www.seli.co/seli-forum/seli-editorials

Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of SL PEN

SELI hosts and chairs the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of Sierra Leone PEN, and has just developed this brochure which expresses the committee's vision of what it would like to accomplish.

Are these your interests, too? Contact SL PEN at the numbers given in the brochure and let them know about your support. And do join SELI in its annual celebration of International Mother Language Day every February 21st at 14F Clarke St., Tengbeh Town!