we are
We are your music distribution team
Forward is a distribution platform and charity project owned by Lost on You Music, the first electronic record label and benefit program to donate all money raised from album sales to help fight malnutrition, health, and sanitary problems in the poorest parts of Africa.
We are your music distribution team
Forward is a distribution platform and charity project owned by Lost on You Music, the first electronic record label and benefit program to donate all money raised from album sales to help fight malnutrition, health, and sanitary problems in the poorest parts of Africa.
Causes
We support
Causes
We support
Street Child
Street Child's vision is to close the inequality gap through education. They work in the world's toughest places, focusing on education, child protection, and livelihood support.
Utopia 56
Utopia 56 is an association created in 2016 to help volunteers in the Calais jungle. They provide access to medical care, food, clothing, and legal aid in various French cities.
Plan International
Plan International is a global children's charity that advances children's rights and equality for girls. They work in 45 countries to give children a fair chance to survive and thrive, especially girls.
Against Malaria Foundation
The Against Malaria Foundation fights malaria, which kills about 400,000 people yearly. They distribute bed nets, a proven and cost-effective way to prevent malaria transmission.
context
Schools for
Tomorrow
Schools for Tomorrow is a project to build, renovate and re-energize 1,000 schools across Sierra Leone by 2023, giving over 100,000 children education to start them on paths to change their world.
This is our most ambitious and far-reaching project yet, and we are excited to be taking such a significant step towards providing universal basic education in Sierra Leone. We will be working alongside Street Child of Sierra Leone: who have been delivering education and protection for vulnerable children in their country for over 20 years.
At the very minimum, education gives children a better chance of sustaining themselves and ensuring they lead a more prosperous life. At its best, education gives children the tools to become architects for changing the future of their community and their country.
Children living in rural Sierra Leone are missing out on their right to basic education. There is evidence that a shocking 88% of primary age out of school child in Sierra Leone, are living in rural areas. Parents' own education is one of the strongest influences over a child's enrolment and progression in school, yet 70% of rural Sierra Leoneans are illiterate - and the majority have never been to school themselves. This is a cycle of illiteracy that must be broken.
Children who do attend school will still face major challenges in learning how to read and write. The quality of teaching is generally very poor because teachers in rural primary schools are often unqualified, untrained, and poorly paid. School costs are often passed on to parents who cannot afford it, dramatically hindering full enrolment and regular attendance.
project
approach
Our Approach
Through this project, we will target communities most in need - where over 70% of children do not complete primary education and, most importantly, where communities have shown a collective commitment to education. The goal is to empower communities where there is little, or zero, effective education provision to take a leading role in the education of their children.
Key Focus Areas
Together with Street Child's rural schools' officers, we will work with communities to develop a plan for education based on their needs. Project activities will vary depending on the needs of each community but investments will focus on 4 key areas:
- School infrastructure
- Teacher training and support
- Community engagement
- Child protection
Schools construction
Many rural communities either lack a school structure entirely or the structure that is available is unsuitable and unsafe. We will work with each community to either build from scratch or extend and repair existing school structures. This will be based upon our low-cost approach that leverages local labor and materials. Depending on needs this will also include the provision of classroom furniture.
Education quality
Rural classrooms are often under-resourced and teachers are untrained. We will provide teaching and learning materials and work to improve the quality of teaching. Untrained teachers will be enrolled in distance-learning Government-approved teaching certificate and we will invest in the on-going professional development of inexperienced teachers through in-classroom coaching by our teaching specialists.
Advocacy
Communities will be supported to advocate with parents on the importance of education, particularly for girls at the upper primary level where drop-out rates spike.
Sustainability
Many rural schools receive no government support and are forced to pass costs onto parents who cannot afford it. We will support schools to establish an Income Generating Activity (IGA) to cover basic running costs and reduce the financial burden on parents.
Generating Initiative (IGI), such as a school-owned rice farm or seed bank to cover the costs of teachers. We will also work to establish strong School Management Committees and support them to lobby the local government for school approval and integration into the national budget.
This approach will be low-cost, sustainable, and locally-rooted and will make a real difference by helping to ensure children living in hard to reach rural communities can access and progress through quality basic education.