CeOSA launches urgent appeal
Alumni of Sierra Leone’s Centennial Secondary School in the United States recently held their 2010 Annual Alumni Convention JULY 29-31, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Hotel, College Park, Maryland. (Photo: EWB and CeOSA Leadership meet at 2009 CeOSA Convention In Philadelphia. (R-L) CeOSA North America President Joseph Abu, Financial Secretary Francis Mustapha, and (R) Dr. Lauretta Will, Secretary General. (Middle – Lauren and Cirruci)
In his annual address, President Joseph C. Abu of CeOSA North America called upon old students worldwide to donate their time, talents and money towards the building of water and sanitation systems at the war-devastated school campus.
CeOSA is a non-profit organization formed by members of Centennial Secondary School alumni. The organization has chapters in Sierra Leone, United Kingdom and North America consisting of the United States and Canada. CeOSA worldwide has been involved in fund raising efforts for funds towards infrastructural rebuilding as well as other academic support including science apparatus, donations as well as textbooks and other educational materials. (For more information, please refer to www.centennialsecondaryschool.com. )
EWB partners Diana Dunn and Lauren Magolia, Dr. Lauretta Will, CeOSA NA Secretary and Russ Zick former teacher at Centennial Secondary School and American Peace Corp to Sierra Leone in the 70s at the 2010 Annual Banquet.
Alumni from many schools in Sierra Leone including Prince of Wales, Albert Academy, Sierra Leone Grammar School, Harford Secondary school for Girls have been doing wonderful things for their various schools like shipping books, computers, laboratory equipment, reconstructing damaged buildings and so on. Some alumni, like those from the Albert Academy, even help to pay the salaries of some school staff.
It’s in this spirit of giving back to one’s alma mater that CeOSA was formed several years ago. CeOSA is the acronym for Centennial Old Students Association. Centennial Secondary School, located in the south of Sierra Leone, is one of the country’s oldest schools with its alumni spread across the world, in countless professions and positions of trust and academic excellence.
School campus
CeOSA organization has been working relentlessly with the Engineers Without Border (EWB) Lehigh Valley Professionals (LVP) Chapter on partnership to provide safe drinking water and sanitation for the boarding school at Centennial Secondary School which were destroyed during the 10-year civil war in Sierra Leone.
At CeOSA 2010 Convention in Maryland
The EWB is now in partnership with CeOSA and recently travelled to Sierra Leone for assessment of the school campus. The EWB project is to provide safe drinking water and sanitation for the boarding school at Centennial Secondary School. The project involves assessing the water supply options and available resources; collaborating with stakeholders to identify community needs; developing an appropriate, sustainable water and sanitation system design; planning and supervising construction; and training.
Engineers Without Borders (EWB) LeHigh Valley Professional Chapter – Special Guests of CeOSA North American 2010 Convention in Maryland.
EWB-LVP is poised to be extremely successful in implementation of this project. They have over 50 professional members with widely varying skill sets, numerous credentials, and hundreds of years of collective engineering experience. In addition, the Lehigh Valley area is home to many companies, and we plan to recruit for specific skills (or train current members) as necessary during the evolution of the project.
This project is to provide safe drinking water and sanitation for the boarding school at Centennial Secondary School. The project involves assessing the water supply options and available resources; collaborating with stakeholders to identify community needs; developing an appropriate, sustainable water and sanitation system design; planning and supervising construction; and training construction, operation and maintenance workers. In addition, the team will provide consultation to help the school integrate the project into the education of students and the community. The members of Engineers Without Borders – USA number more than 10,000 strong across the country.
Historic Background: Centennial Secondary School (CSS), established in 1955, as Sierra Leone’s first experimental co-educational boarding school, by American missionaries, was among one of the most prestigious secondary schools in the nation. Centennial, in the 60s and 70s, ranked among the best in national public exams especially in the area of the Sciences, thereby producing a number of engineers, scientists, professors, ambassadors, doctors, lawyers to name a few professions within Sierra Leone and the diaspora. In addition to academic excellence, CSS was also famed for her strict institution of Christian values and integrity, thereby attracting students from around the country as well as students from neighboring countries including Liberia. The school motto in Latin reads, “Pro Deo Et Patria” meaning “For God and Country” as the original goal and objectives were to raise patriotic and God-fearing young men and women. For more information, visit: Centennial Secondary School Website: http://www.centennialsecondaryschoo…
CeOSA is calling upon all Old Students to contribute towards rebuilding the school’s Water and Sanitation. Checks, made out to “EWB-USA” are also welcomed, please contact Ron Pearlstein for details. Non-monetary contributions (e.g., construction supplies, services, frequent flier miles, fundraising items) may also being accepted if they can further our mission.
By Dr. Lauretta Will, USA.
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