Celebrating the Generosity to Baiwalla

Pastor Judith Gaima, Director of the Baiwalla Ministry visits Minnesota

Pastor Judith Gaima, Director of the Baiwalla Ministry visited Minnesota for 2 1/2 weeks in September. One goal was to introduce the Baiwalla Ministry to more churches to solicit their support for the Ormsby School.  Pastor Gaima visited schools and farms to learn about educational and farming practices in the USA to bring back to Baiwalla. She visited a number of Minnesota Methodist  Churches, and offered a PowerPoint presentation to introduce or update the church members on the  development of the Ormsby School ministry. Pastor Judith also met Members of the OC Ministries Steering Committee and discussed ongoing support of the school.

Additional Teaching Resources Enable Ormsby Teachers to try new hands-on Teaching Strategies

Four experienced Minnesota teachers spent two weeks in Baiwalla in March 2024, offering their teaching expertise to the faculty of the  Ormsby School.  They were Joann Knutson and Pat Deckas-Becerra from Good Samaritan UMC, and Ann Carlson and Joan Jemison from Hennepin Avenue UMC.  They brought with them 6 suitcases filled with hands on teaching materials.

Here are examples of how the teachers  introduced new resources to their students.

  • Sports activities such as volley ball, soccer, jumprope and frisbee throwing:  The mission team brought volley and soccer balls, jump ropes, and frisbees to the school. Before bringing these additional sporting equipment, there were few sporting outlets for students in Baiwalla.  The major one was soccer using a handmade ball.  With the new sporting equipment, the students could participate in a variety of sporting activities. For example,   The students loved learning the rules of playing volley ball as well as mastering the skills of serving the ball and hitting it back across the net without  it hitting the ground.  The students also learned the importance of teamwork in playing volleyball, soccer or even jumping rope.
  • Exploring the Globe:  The missioners provided globes for each classroom..  Small groups of students gathered around the globe to explore the nature of the world, answering such questions as “Where is there water?  Where are there mountains, deserts and frozen places?  They learned where their own country is compared with other countries in Africa. They learned the relative sizes of countries.  Finally, they got an idea of distances, climates and land features in the world. Learning about the world  from exploring a globe is foundational to their knowledge of geography.
  • Borrowing Books from the Library:  Borrowing books from the school library is a new concept in Baiwalla.  The Ormsby Library is the first school lending library in the country.  The Missioners added additional books to the library, brought  supplies needed for checking out books, and offered the expertise for setting up a lending library.  They showed the Ormsby School teachers how to put pockets in the books for check out slips and how to help children choose and check out a book.  They introduced stories by reading them aloud to the whole class which is not a usual practice in Sierra Leonian schools.
  • The Science Lab equipment includes resources for teaching Chemistry, Physics, and Biology:  OC Ministries raised the money needed to purchase science equipment. (Hennepin Church members donated a large portion of the money for the science lab.  This equipment includes resources for teaching  chemistry, physics and biology.  One piece of equipment provided was a microscope.  It provides the opportunity for students to observe bacteria or to look at a leaf’s micro structure. Chemistry equipment offers the chance to perform scientific experiments. By doing hands on experiments, students discover scientific principles first hand instead of memorizing an otherwise abstract concept for them.

The addition of new teaching materials in varied subjects enables the teachers to expand their repertoire of teaching strategies. The addition of teaching resources is made possible by donations to the Ormsby School through OC Ministries, a program of the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. If you would like to  make an additional  contribution to the Ormsby School Ministry, you can do it in 2 ways:

  1. Online:  Go to www.ocministriesmn.org and click on the “Donate” button.  Scroll down to the Richard Ormsby School, Sierra Leone and make your donation with a credit card.
  2. Mailed Check:  Make out a check to “OC Ministries” Put in memo line  “Richard Ormsby School, Baiwalla”. Send it to Minnesota Annual Conference, 122 W. Franklin Ave. # 400, Minneapolis,, Mn. 55404