The Prince of Wales School Alumni Association- Georgia Branch held its 2008 annual celebration and fundraising event at Atlanta Georgia
from Friday May 23 - Sunday May 25. A high point of the celebration was the raising of $10,000 from the fund raising golf tournament at the Southland Golf Club. It was clear at the business meeting that this Diaspora association is very serious about supporting their alma mater, the Prince of Wales School in
Sierra Leone. Among the recent projects of this association is the unprecedented accomplishment of raising about $60,000 to set up a computer lab powered by solar energy and ready to go with a technical trainer supported by the Georgia based association. The president, Mr. Samuel Atere-Roberts will be in Freetown sometime in June to launch the lab in conjunction with the Sierra leone based Alumni association and principal of the school Mrs. Millicent Oogu.
At the annual business meeting the alumni association of Georgia registered an appeal to  younger old students Prince of Wales School in the diaspora to
consider activating their commitment and support for the organization.
 


Thanksgiving Service on Sunday May 25, 2008, at the Druid Hill Baptist Church, Atlanta

The Business Meeting. L-R Melborne Garber, President New Jersey Chapter, Kayode Robbin-Coker, Vice President U.K. Branch. Samuel Atere-Roberts, President Georgia Chapter, Robert Strasser-King, Acting President Washington Metro Area and William George, Social Secretary.
Rehearsing the school song for the thanksgiving service
LtoR Samuel Syl Newstead, Kayode Robbin-Coker, Melborne Garber

Flanked by Preacher, Crispin Cole Sr. and Christopher Davies
Muslim Call to Prayer
 
Snippets From The Sermon
  • We are wanderers here, and the compelling task is to figure out how we can sing the Lord's song in this strange place; with the right lyrics and right tune.
  • We can only claim health if Africa, and Sierra Leone is well.
  • We can only be regarded as smart when our scientists and engineers begin to produce goods and services from the abundant raw material God has blessed us with.
  • We can only be accomplished if we eradicate the disease and decay in Africa.
  • We need to mortify our egos. We tend to put so much blame on our leaders, when our leaders are just mirroring what the culture has cultivated; Super-Egomaniacs.
  • Every one in Sierra Leone, regardless of their training and discipline seem to end up being a teacher, manager, administrator or politician. What are we teaching and managing when there is no production of marketable goods?
  • Lets stop dumping useless stuff into Sierra Leone in the name of development. The time is now when we must begin to allocate funds for grassroots research and inventions.

Rev Crispin R. Cole

 

Sierra Leone set for solar-powered school PC center

Background Information on the Solar Powered Computer Center for the Prince of Wales School

On February 1, 2006, Mr. Eben Strasser-King, a member of the Board of Governors submitted a document that listed his personal views about the needs of the Prince of Wales School, including estimated cost for implementation.  This document was circulated amongst Princewaleans in the Diaspora.  One of the needs in that document dealt with improving the operations of the Computer Center.  He listed the following problems associated with the existing Computer Center:
· Lack of proper supervision and capable trainer due to high cost of hiring expertise
· Lack of enough computers to service the student population
· Cost and unreliability of related internet support services
· Lack of regular and reliable electricity supply
· Misuse of and damage to computers by staff members

The document recommended that additional computers be purchased and that existing computers be repaired.  Also recommended was the purchase of a Generator for power a, provision of internet service and the employment of a Manager/Teacher and Assistant for the Computer Center.

Mr. Samuel Atere-Roberts, a Professional Engineer and then the Vice-President of the Prince of Wales Alumni Association (POWAA) -Georgia Chapter, reviewed the document and developed a project to address the Computer Center needs.  In May 2006, he presented his proposal to the POWAA Georgia Members to raise funds to implement a project to create a new Computer Center powered by Solar Energy.  He estimated that the capital cost will be between $60,000 and $70,000.  The Georgia Chapter accepted the proposal and committed to an initial funding of $25,000 to this project. Presentations were also made to the other Prince of Wales Alumni Chapters including Maryland/Washington DC, New Jersey California and the United Kingdom/Ireland.  All Chapters gave their support to the project. 

A Global fundraising drive for the project was then started and Princewaleans from all over the world were encouraged to support the project.  All the four other Chapters contributed generously to the project in addition to individual contributions from Princewaleans and their supporters from all over the world. While fund raising was going on, Mr. Atere-Roberts took the lead in developing project specifications for procurement of solar equipment and computers.  A Technical Committee of Princewaleans was formed to prepare a plan for implementing the project.  Solar Equipment and Computers were purchased in the USA.  Some Computers were donated by Princewaleans and Non-Princewaleans.  Mr. Atere-Roberts also procured construction services for the new center and also installation services for the solar power system from local firms in Freetown.  By December 2007, $61,000 of pledges was received with actual cash received at $55,000.  

The New Computer Center will have 21 Laptop Computers powered from 14 solar panels totaling 2,310 Watts.  There are ten (10) Deep Cycle Batteries for storage of power generated from the solar panels. Plans are in place to have a Backup Generator to use to charge the Batteries during the rainy season or poor weather which results in limited sunlight.

 Internet Service will be available at the Computer Center and both Students and Teachers will have access to the Center.  An IT Teacher/Administrator will be employed that will be responsible for developing a curricula to teach students at the Prince of Wales School.

The Commissioning Ceremony will be attended by two members of the Technical Committee including Mr. Samuel Atere-Roberts and Mr. Denzil George-Stone
 
 

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