Volunteer work Cultural & free time Learning activities Accommodation & food In country staff Volunteer work Since 2008, CHIDO has been working in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the areas of Support to Basic Education, School Construction, Community Mobilization and Sensitization, School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE), Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), Water and Sanitation, and Out of School Children Project (OOSC).  These projects are being implemented in Kenema, Kono and Kailahun Districts where CHIDO has operational bases. In addition to these UNICEF funded projects, CHIDO also collaborate with Ministry of Education, Youths and Sports (MEYS), Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS), as well as Secondary Schools, City Councils, District Councils and Ministry of Social Welfare, Children and Gender Affairs (MoSWCGA). The six EVS volunteers who will be hosted by CHIDO will have diverse activities and tasks focusing mainly on community development, social, education, water and sanitation, trainings and capacity building. The volunteers will have the options to choose which project activities to participate in. CHIDO has at least two projects going on at the same time in all the three districts and the volunteer has the right to participate in all the projects, or choose a specific project to participate in. All the projects implemented by CHIDO have some component of community development. The volunteers will learn how to mobilize communities for positive change in their communities. They will learn how to implement and monitor community based projects. The volunteers will have the opportunity to interact with local people especially youths and children who form bulk of our target beneficiaries. Among the projects funded by UNICEF which develops also in Kailahun, that will provide adequate activities for volunteers to learn and share experience with many stakeholders: Monitoring the effectiveness of the following Soft Component Activities/Services in 20 Primary Schools in Kailahun District - School Management Committees Mother’s Clubs Children’s Governments This project which is commonly known as Mothers Club project is being implemented in Kailahun District. It’s main objectives are: Training and monitoring of School Management Committees (SMC) in 20 Primary Schools in Kailahun District on their roles and responsibilities Training and monitoring of Mother’s Clubs in 20 Primary Schools in Kailahun District on their roles and responsibilities Establishment and monitoring the operations of Children’s Governments in 20 Primary Schools in Kailahun District    Community sensitization for the enrolment, retention and completion of  Basic Education by Out of School and all school-age children: Children’s education in Sierra Leone is strewn with a lot of problems, which deny access of about 300,000 school-age children to basic education. The Out-Of-School (OOS) study was carried out, findings unearthed and salient recommendations proffered, in response to Government objective to tackle the problem of out-of-school children with targeted responses to break down the barriers that prevent children from going to school and seek to reach out to children who have special needs, (e.g. disable children, those living in extreme poverty, etc). Objectives:  To increase enrolment, retention and completion of school for 85% of school-age children, especially out-of-school and vulnerable children in 3districts in the Eastern province by 2011 To sensitise stakeholders in 3 districts in the Eastern province about the importance and benefits of  education and the need to send and retain their children in school, especially out-of-school  children by 2010 To strengthen the capacity of  existing community structures and enhance the knowledge of stakeholders for  local community involvement in supporting and monitoring basic education systems in  three districts in the Eastern province by 2011 The OOSC project will be implemented in all chiefdoms in Kenema, Kono and Kailahun Districts. Cultural & free time The cultural life in the two districts (Kenema and Kono ) is diverse, but with some commonality like the Christian and Muslim holidays – these are celebrated and observed together. Such holidays includes Christmas, Easter, Eud-du- Fitri, Eud- du – Allah and Ramadam. Other cultural activities are naming ceremonies, initiation into secret societies like Poro and Bondo. Kono and Kenema are metropolitan towns now named as Cities by the government of Sierra Leone. There are schools; colleges; a Polytechnic college in Kenema, a constituent college of Njala University; vocational training centres in Kono. Kenema has a lot of pubs and entertainment centres prominent among them are the Capitol, Rendevouz , M and M; these centers serve both as entertainment and meeting places for friends especially at night.    CULTURE AND TRADITION: There two major culture and tradition in the Eastern Region which all visitors or foreigners must respect: Bondo Society (Women Secret Society for FGM practices) Poro Society (Men Secret Society for tradition and culture) These two cultural societies have special meeting points called “Bondo Bush” for women and “Poro Bush” for men. Those who are not members of the two groups are not allowed to enter the zones, else they will be forcefully initiated into these societies. These societies carry out their activities during dry season (November-February) of every year. During this period, the volunteers and all those who are not members of the societies will be advised to stay clear of the Bondo and Poro Bushes. Learning activities Some of the learning activities to be mentioned: Learning to work with children and youngsters with fewer opportunities in centers for non-formal education. Also, our organization is working in partnership with the Mother’s Club, Child Parliament, School Management Committee etc. There are very experienced in local issues and they will share their experience with volunteers and will provide briefings on culture and traditions. The activities will approach also issues that affect directly the youngsters lives, issues like human rights; community mobilization; project management , peace and conflict, governance and democracy; development and social work. Notwithstanding the project activities being implemented by CHIDO, the volunteers will have adequate time to participate in the followings: Participate in preparation, Action planning, implementation and evaluation of on Arrival Training. Involve in personal capacity building in education, carer development, project implementation, monitoring and evaluation Participate in all trainings organized by CHIDO for staff and community members Participate in sports activities with City Council Sports team or with school sports teams. Organize activities geared towards promotion of EVS in Sierra Leone Participate in District Youth Activities, including sports and music. Ensure open communication with mentor, EVS coordinator and CHIDO office in general Participate in any other assignment that will be assigned to him/her by the CHIDO EVS Coordinator and Mentor. Accomodation & food CHIDO has three office guest houses each in Kono, Kenema and Kailahun Districts. The volunteers have the option to live in CHIDO guest house or live with a host family. They can also live in rented houses depending on choice. A standard weekly food allowance of EU80 will be provided to each volunteer who will then decide on how to feed. Rice is the staple food in Sierra Leone, but other foods including Western dishes are easily prepared. CHIDO has well equipped offices in Kenema, Kono and Kailahun Districts. The volunteers will have access to 24 hours internet connectivity in the office. CHIDO has six (6) vehicles and 10 off road motor bikes. Volunteers will be transported to and from each district headquarter to any project site or community.  Local transportation within the district headquarters is mostly done by means of commercial motorbikes. A local transportation allowance will be provided. In county staff James Ebube EVS country coordinator chiddo3000@yahoo.com   CHIDO has well equipped offices in Kenema, Kailahun and Kono Districts. The coordinators of CHIDO projects are: Ms Abie Joy Suale – responsible with the Overall Management and Coordination of CHIDO programme and activities; James Ebube - In charge of all programme operations including Planning, Design, Implementation and Management; Victor Momoh – responsible with Fund Raising, Project Design, Field Staff Coordination and support to Programme Manager The organization has also Field Officers in the communities where the organization works with volunteers responsible with supporting them in their activities.