Merseyside schoolchildren film Ebola appeal video
Children from six Liverpool schools have joined together to raise awareness of the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone.
School council reps from Rice Lane, All Saints, Rimrose Hope, English Martyrs, St Monica’s and St Robert Bellarmine primary schools have created an appeal video urging other school councils from across Sefton and Liverpool to get involved and help raise vital funds for medical aid and food provisions to Sierra Leone.
The schools involved in the appeal are part of the Waterloo Linked Schools partnership, which was founded in 2005 to support the people of Waterloo Sierra Leone and to establish links between the two communities. As well as the linked schools scheme, The Waterloo Partnership undertakes many projects in the country, including constructing classrooms and wells, supplying uniforms and tools and providing children with bursaries for further education.
Rice Lane Junior School is in regular contact with its partner school, The Victory, in the city of Waterloo. This was set up to educate the pupils on different cultures and experiences and has been as great way to learn from each other. Lizzie Waterman, a teacher at the school visited the country and got the opportunity to meet local teachers and experience school life which is worlds apart from their own.
Since the visit, Rice Lane has kept in regular contact, becoming pen pals and sending supplies such as pens, pencils and cameras; to capture their new friends and share their classroom environments. During this correspondence, pupils at Rice Lane have been made aware of the huge impact of Ebola on Sierra Leone and the Waterloo community and felt compelled to help their new friends miles away.
Children from the six Liverpool schools filmed the two minute video to raise awareness of Ebola and have joined together to share their fundraising ideas. Since filming the video, Rice Lane have sold bracelets, with all profits going towards fighting Ebola and plan to give half of the profits from their Christmas fair to the cause.