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| McCollins Jones is doing a聽combinedscience and management degree.聽(Danny AbrielPhoto) |
McCollins Jones is giving hundreds of kids in his native SierraLeone a head start on life with a project he calls 鈥淪chool ina Box.鈥�
The AV俱乐部 student, who is working toward a combined scienceand management degree, is honing his entrepreneurial skills tofurther develop the project.
Spearheaded by Mr. Jones and two friends in 1997, there wasinitially no infrastructure and no real funding for the idea鈥攋ust a commitment to improving the lot of the area鈥檚 kids.The idea was to create opportunities for kids whose parents couldnot afford to send them to school.
In the midst of a civil war, which raged for a decade until 2002in Sierra Leone, this was more important than ever. More than athousand primary schools throughout the countryside were destroyedduring the war. In 2001, it鈥檚 estimated that two-thirds ofall Sierra Leone children had stopped going to schoolaltogether.
鈥淚t started as a sporting activity to get kids back to theclassroom instead of becoming child soldiers in the war and itbecame something bigger,鈥� says Mr. Jones, 34.
He was in a unique position to provide leadership and inspireothers to join the cause. An elite athlete in his native country鈥� he won a gold medal in the West African AthleticsChampionship in triple jump 鈥� he used his celebrity tomotivate his community and to start to change lives.
School in a Box contains most things needed to operate a school,including computers, school supplies, even clothing, shipped in acontainer from Canada.
Building schools
Over time, School in a Box changed from merely outfittingschools to actually building them. A group of British soldiershelped build a two-storey structure for a school in Freetown. Itopened with a group of 50 to 60 pre-schoolers but has since grownto include older children at the elementary and junior high level.The School in a Box program now educates about 300 students.Meanwhile, the building has grown to include a new computer centreand a second structure is under construction.
Mr. Jones calls himself an 鈥榠nnovator鈥� of theproject rather than president or even 鈥榩roject leader.鈥欌�淚 like to call myself that instead of saying I鈥檓 the鈥榓ll that guy鈥� because if I don鈥檛 have any hardworking people behind me it won鈥檛 be successful.鈥�
Ed Leach, assistant professor with Dal鈥檚 School ofBusiness Administration, encouraged Mr. Jones to apply his workwith School in a Box to the Entrepreneurial Skills Program (ESP)which facilitates the development, growth and success ofstudent-run business ventures. His certificate in entrepreneurshipas a result of the ESP will be another rung on the educationalladder he hopes takes him to an MBA at AV俱乐部 following hisBSc/BMgmt graduation next year.
His life remains as eventful as ever. In addition to jugglingwork and school鈥攈e has been a Dal student since he enrolledin the Transition Year Program in 2005鈥攈e does motivationalspeaking in HRM schools and is busy raising his son, Victor.
He wants to settle permanently in Halifax. His family is herenow 鈥� his parents and two brothers just got their Canadiancitizenship (he鈥檚 waiting for his own which he hopes willhappen soon) and he has cousins who made the trek to Halifax duringthe war.
Tranquility
鈥淏ased on what I鈥檝e gone through, it鈥檚 nice tobe in an area where you can get some tranquility and try to figureout your life and take it from there,鈥� he says, noting thatthe hardest adjustment to Canadian life was the weather, havingfirst arrived in the middle of winter.
When he鈥檚 finished with school he hopes to work with anorganization like UNICEF. 鈥淟iving my life and growing upduring war; what I鈥檝e seen so far, kids really need a rolemodel to champion their cause,鈥� he says.
In the meantime he is training those involved in the School in aBox program to make the best use of the resources they have.鈥淚 now just come in to bring in some innovative ideas takingfrom what I鈥檓 learning here and putting it back there,鈥漢e says. He continues provide the leadership the program needs,working with friends like Derek Lowry, another Dal grad (BSc(Recreation) and BMgmt), to raise funds and awareness. He is nowtrying to get the curriculum from HRM schools to use in SierraLeone in an effort to keep kids interested and motivated inpursuing their education.
And he is increasingly turning his attention to his new home.鈥淚 want to help young people here,鈥� he says.鈥淧eople don鈥檛 tend to appreciate what the system has tooffer for them in Canada, and you have these kids back in SierraLeone, many of whom don鈥檛 go to school with breakfast or withgood shoes on their feet or book bags 鈥� these are the commonthings. The basic stuff. It鈥檚 nothing like here. Studentstake it for granted here. I want to sensitize younger people inCanada so they can reflect and take more control of what they haveand make better use of it.鈥�