Cindy Nofziger founded Schools for Salone in the fall of 2005. After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone in the mid-1980s, she returned to the country decades later and reconnected with friends and colleagues from Masanga. During that trip, Cindy’s friend John Sesay asked if she could help with efforts to rebuild the school in his village that had been destroyed during the war.
Cindy raised funds for school construction by selling note cards made from drawings done by local Leonean children. The efforts were successful – a short time later, Cindy was back in the village celebrating with the community and students at the opening of the brand new school.
Encouraged by the possibilities, and driven by the unmet need for educational assistance in the country, Cindy launched Schools for Salone to help vulnerable communities all across Sierra Leone.