We have just returned from a month long visit to the three schools supported by our charity - namely the Nursery, Primary & Peninsula Secondary Schools in Waterloo, Sierra Leone. Sue & I were very happy to introduce Margaret Mandrell, who had accompanied us this time. Margaret very quickly found that there was plenty to do and "Aunty Margaret" was soon being greeted by all the children.

The Nursery School, as always, is a real joy and the tiny tots are learning their English language under the enthusiastic tuition of Christiana and Adama. This means that when they go on to the primary school they will not waste the first couple of years in learning English in which they will be taught for their entire education. Water Aid have introduced toilets and hand washing facilities, by way of the "tip-it-up" an ingenious way to use a 5l container with well water and a bar of soap in a cloth bag.

Many happy hours were spent by Margaret and Sue storytelling and teaching songs. Laurie painted another mural - which means that both outside walls onto the verandas are now decorated. The animals and scenes depicted can be incorporated into storytelling and nature studies.

The money raised through fundraising events over the last year made it possible to repair, repaint and redecorate all five primary school buildings inside and out and they now have secure windows and doors. Local carpenters have made a strong lockable cupboard for each classroom so that at the end of the school day books can be kept in the classroom rather than having to carry them back to the library each night for security.

The Peninsula Secondary School now has a purpose built science block where 40 computers donated by Great Barr School in Birmingham are up and running. The children have a half hour lesson built into the curriculum and are learning the skills of mouse control and menus. Lessons will soon be beamed from South Africa via a satellite dish installed by Unicef. In the domestic science room tailoring, cooking and family health are now being taught in a well-equipped classroom where the students prepared and served us a wonderful lunch.

At home fundraising continues and we are constantly amazed by the generosity of our supporters. This year 19 new six year scholarships of £25 per year have been allocated to first year secondary school students. Ten of these are from Worcester Severn Rotary Club and nine from other supporters. This will enable the scholars to complete their education - only 27% of children go on to secondary education. We feel strongly that education is the answer to many of Africa`s problems.

British & Foreign Schools have recently awarded us a grant to enable Phase 1 of the Technical & Vocational Skills Building to be commenced. The plan here is to teach woodwork, mechanics, building & tailoring so that children leaving school will be able to find work and thus support their own families and pay for their children to go to school. We have been given many wonderful tools that are just waiting for a place to be used! We are grateful to British & Foreign Schools for making this possible.

A new website is in the process of being launched which will be linked with Facebook and we hope that this will tell the Waterloo story to many more people and in turn increase our funds for this worthwhile work. Sierra Leone is a beautiful country and our friends in Waterloo are trusting that we will be able to continue to improve their school. We will let you all know when the website is up and running and will be grateful for your views.

It is you who have made this all possible - thank you!