Welcome

Our full website is currently being developed. In the meanime, here are a few details about FCRS. If you want to get in touch, email .

In 2004/5 Tanya Walmsley from Broseley, Shropshire became the first voluntary teacher at the Refugee School. At that time the School was in serious danger of closing as they couldn’t afford the rent.  She felt for the plight of these children. With the realisation that the only prospect for their future was to have access to an education, upon returning home Tanya and her mother Ruth began fundraising and Friends of Conakry Refugee School (FCRS) was set up.

Every penny we raise goes direct from us to the school. There are no administration costs.

The wonderful generosity of local people has kept the school running by paying rent, helping pay the teachers, providing funds to buy essential materials for the pupils and, in some cases, paying school fees for those children unable to pay. Their first library has just been set up and a school meals programme has just started so that every child is ensured one meal each school day. The only income the school receives is from school fees:  the pupils are asked to pay a meagre £3 a month. Often this is impossible which means that many refugee children can’t afford an education.

“My name is Estelle. My mother died when I was 12. I don’t know whether I will see my family again because I can’t find my father or my brothers and sisters. Life in Guinea is very hard… The best thing I have here is just my education.”

Conakry Refugee School (CRS) is an urban school situated in Conakry, which is the capital of Guinea in West Africa. Guinea is among the poorest countries on the African continent with a weak infrastructure and politically unstable. The School was founded to provide an education for refugee children from Liberia and Sierra Leone after many thousands fled to Guinea to escape from civil wars in their own countries.

After spending time in refugee camps many came to Conakry and the Conakry Refugee School was founded in the 1990s. At the present day it is run by a dedicated and supportive staff of 25.  However, it has struggled for many years due to a lack of funding from any external sources, and has had to rely on pupils paying school fees which they often cannot afford.