SIERRA LEONE — As Sierra Leone faces extreme poverty and high rates of illiteracy, Christian school Destiny Grace Academy is teaching hundreds of children, who’ve been rescued from the slums of the capital city of Freetown, to be the country’s next generation of leaders.

A Christian-run school in war-torn Sierra Leone has provided life-changing education to hundreds of children who have been rescued from some of the worst slums in the capital city of Freetown.

Destiny Grace Academy is part of Destiny Village, which relocates these children with their families and provides them with sustainable housing. The project is run by NGO Home Leone and supported by UK charity Cry. Jonathan from Home Leone explains more.

Jonathan – Home Leone:

“Omleon has relocated people from here to Destiny Village and there are thousands of children here that don’t have access to education. There is a lot of manual labour down here with these children and so if there is an opportunity for those children to be educated it can alleviate them from poverty.”

And Steven from Destiny Grace Academy says their work is all about generational transformation.

Steven – Destiny Grace Academy:

“The key focus of Destiny Grace Academy is to bring generational change in the life of kids.The literacy rate of this country is depending on the lack of well-educated people, people that will think out of the box.”

Steven says they’re creating an environment for independent learning.

Steven:

“They see the school as a very good, convenient place for them. They can interact here, they can feel comfortable whenever they are. Kids can read on their own now. They are able to articulate without the help of teachers. They can think globally when they are educated. They can help to solve problems critically.”

He concluded by sharing how they hope to train the next generation of leaders to impact their nation.

Steven:

“They can solve problems, they can able to handle situation and on their own because they are having out the mindset, they are having out ways of developing their thinking ability. Because of the foundation that they are having now, in the future they can be a prominent people that will be taking decision in the country. To me, education is one of the key role if we want this country to be up there.”

And it’s hoped Destiny Grace Academy will enable thousands of young people to break out of the cycle of poverty and flourish in their communities.

Read more news on Christian Ministry and Poverty Alleviation on Missions Box.