I am currently involved with some research in Sierra Leone, on the privatization of our alma mater, St. Joseph's Secondary School, in Freetown. I am working with Nalinie Kouame, a British-trained lawyer who served as the most recent outgoing president of our USA alumni organization. She and I are both graduates of St. Joseph's.
Our research will examine the viability of privatization as an alternative to the government-funded option currently in place. We will be examining research from other West African countries, especially in Ghana and Nigeria, to gain further insights. We are looking for research models and best practices or case studies from Ghana or neighboring African countries. I attended both St Joseph’s primary and high schools for the duration of my schooling in Sierra Leone.
[Here in the US], I still work for a church-based non-profit in Hyattsville, Maryland where I started a childcare center that services 10 area schools in Prince George's County, Maryland. We are in the process of opening a fully licensed pre-K to high school Christian academy. It has been an interesting journey. This year, we are opening elementary Christian schools in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. We currently have an orphanage in Uganda for orphans who have lost their parents to HIV-AIDS. I am looking forward to sharing my skills to enhance local school programs in African countries where our ministry has established branches. [3/17]
Lulu earlier wrote to CIE about her monitoring work in adult education and Washington DC schools:
When I moved to DC, I worked at several internships, including the World Bank, Refugee Policy Group, Bread for the World, and FAIR. I also taught evening classes at Montgomery College and the Montgomery County Public Schools’ Adult Education Program in Maryland. I then accepted a 2-year assignment as Monitoring Coordinator with the DC Public Library's Literacy Resources Division, where I coordinated a monitoring activity involving some of the major adult education programs in the District. The contract lasted for two years and at its conclusion in September 2002, the monitoring team won two new contracts under two separate RFP's to continue monitoring adult education programs in the District. My dissertation was based on my activities in this position.
More recently, I have accepted a position at DC Public Schools as a Federal Compliance Monitor. As part of this role, I have had an opportunity to design a monitoring survey instrument that is now being used to monitor 300 public, non-public and charter schools throughout the District. [5/03]
Email: maryloudavies@yahoo.com