Rokassa Dorm Under Reconstruction
Published Wed, Apr 26, 2023
Written by Sarah Pietryga
By: Samuel Sesay, EduNations' President
On February 2, 2023, a dormitory that hosted 39 students and one staff member in the EduNations Senior Secondary School was burned down to ashes through a charcoal fire that was started by a student unintentionally. The miracle of the day was that no student was hurt or damaged by the fire and by an act of God, the fire did not spread to the other 13 dormitories in the school. Even though we were very sad for such a great loss of property, we saw so many reasons to praise God, and that was what we did.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”
Remembering the many partners and donors we have around the world, we reached out in our time of need and reported the incident. Without asking questions about how it happened or finding fault with us, so many of our partners reached out to us with words of encouragement and support. Within a few days of the incident, our US staff launched a fundraising campaign to rebuild the burned down dormitory and this brought great encouragement to us.
As a temporary measure, we moved the 39 students and staff to other dormitories and provided almost everything they needed for their education that was lost in the fire incident. We also mobilized a team of Christian counselors who worked with our Psychosocial Coordinator to organize one-on-one sessions with the staff and students. Additionally, three days of prayer and fasting were organized and we discovered that within a short period of time, the Lord was healing up the bodies, souls, and minds of all the staff and students who were affected by the fire incident.
By the end of the fundraising campaign, our US staff reported that the Lord’s people had donated all the money needed to rebuild the dormitory. Hallelujah! The Lord and His people continue to show us mercy and kindness and we could only lift up our voices in praise.
When we received the funds in Sierra Leone a month ago, we immediately proceeded to start the rebuilding process. Three weeks down the road with gratitude in our hearts, we are excited to report to you how far the work has progressed. The contractor and his team are on the ground daily working on the construction with the goal of raising the roof of the dormitory by the end of April and completing the reconstruction work by the start of the new school year in September. This could never have happened without your prayers and support and for this we say Tenki!
