SOS Tomboya Primary School

The primary school of Tomboya is located in the prefecture of Coyah, Guinea. The school suffered from flooding during the recent rainy season which partially destroyed a classroom and risked also losing the roof. The school is in a rural community with limited road access and is about 9 km from the town of Coyah. The current school building is quite old and there is little money available for maintenance from the education department.

The community have done some rapid repairs so that the school does not have to close. Since 2021 the teachers, in collaboration with the parents of students, have started the construction of new buildings so that the school can continue. However, they have run out of funds, so this building remains unfinished and the childen are required to use the damaged classroom.

We are asking for donations to help finish the new school building before the next rainy season to allow the school children to continue studying here in safety. This will complement the work we are doing to promote the conservation of the forest in this area which is now only found in isolated patches, such as the sacred forest of Kakiwondi, indentified as a Tropical Important Plant Area. The partnership has an environmental education programme working with the schoolchildren to create a tree nursery and plant native trees to bolster the forest.

In addition to the work on the classroom we are also looking to build new latrines for the school. The absence of toilet facilities can be a major barrier to girls attending school.

We have a target of £10,000 to complete the school and undertake the work on the latrines. The project will be monitored by AGEDD, a local environmental development NGO with the support of the partners of the National Herbarium of Guinea and Guinee Ecologie.