The Mayor of Makeni City, Sunkari Kabba-Kamara has officially launched the first ever mind changing foundation My Father’s House Foundation (MFHF). The launching was in the form of a dinner which took place over the weekend at Makambo Village Resort, Makeni.
In her keynotes address, Madam Sunkari said she felt very humble to be part of the official launch of the Foundation, stressing that she admired the passion of Ninie Unachuku, Co-Founder and Head of Strategy and Rosemarie Suma-Keita, Co-Founder and Head of Public Relations and Fundraising for them to come back home and be part of the development process of the country.
She described the coming of the Foundation as very timely as Sierra Leone just came out from the deadly ebola which she said the youth suffered the most and they also contributed a lot to that fight.
“So if you are coming today to launch this program which is geared towards lifting our youth from poverty, I must commend you for the passion and love you have for the country. I can imagine if 30 of you come to support the government, the impact such will make,” she said.
The Makeni Mayor spoke about how responsible the government is and how President Koroma believes in the future and sustainable future for the nation.
“If we don’t empower the youth now, Sierra Leone will be doom. President Koroma has challenged young people because he has gone the extra miles to do more for the youth,” she said
She further spoke of the President desire for the youth but she said as government they can’t do it alone as they need other partners such as My Father’s House Foundation.
“You have a very strategic role to play and most of these big organisations have no permanent place. I am humble and I am pleased with all your plans for the youth.”
The Makeni Mayor went further to talked about the rate of unemployment in the country and while some of the employed youth are unskilled.
She urged all present to see the need to give the youth skills and for them to be empowered.
“Our youths are not only unemployed but they are unemployable. This Foundation makes me proud.”
She stressed that they are losing most of the young people because their minds have already pre-occupied with some of the horrible things they are doing such as drugs abuse which she said are things they need to look at.
She concluded by saying her doors are opened to the Foundation at all times.
Rosemarie Suma-Keita, Co-Founder and Head of Public Relations and Fundraising of My Father’s House disclosed that they are working in strong alliance with the Youth Forum Sierra Leone. She pointed out that they decided to create a lasting change in the life of Sierra Leoneans.
She expressed her thanks for the opportunity to be able to come with all the things they have in mind. According to Madam Suma-Keita the thing that is going to change Sierra Leoneans is their mindset. She said they will particularly focus on trauma cancelling as they intend to build a house that will host different skills training that will benefit the youths.
She went further to disclose that the first phase of their work will start from East end Police to Wellington will target girls between the ages of 16 to 22.
“We know and believe that together we will support these youth for them to have better opportunities and future that they will work on. This is our focus and this is what we are about to do. Our vision is alive we are going to work on this. Start with one is our focus. We look forward to your contribution.”
Deputy Minister of Transport Hassan Omolaja said the launched of such Foundation is the beginning of a greater future. He said My Father’s House Foundation has come at the right time, stressing that the youths of Sierra Leone have a future indeed with such Foundation.
The Deputy Transport Minister spoke about the position some young people have in governance these days and the role the women are playing in governance such as the first female Mayor, the first female Local Government Minster, the female Major General.
“The wind of change is blowing in this country. You are seeing it, you dreamt about it long ago and now its happening. The youth of Makeni were unemployed but jobs are readily available. There is room of all of us in this country. It is not the number of people that matter but the calibre of people,” he said.
Youth Forum Representative said 2012 their Forum was founded and it is based on transforming their mind set. He pointed out that the youth have a role to play for their future.
According to the Youth Forum Representative they scale down due to financial constrained.
“We have thousand of graduates every year but they have no required skills. By going through this program we will have the best leaders. If we can succeed we have to give a helping hand. We need to believe in this program and hold it. As a Forum we have signed up to the mentorship program free of cost,” he said.
Ninie Unachuku, Co-Founder and Head of Strategy MFHF said My Father’s House is a place to call home.
She went on to say that they called their first project ‘Start with One’
From statistic, Madam Ninie Unachuku said the largest population in Sierra Leone are aged between 16 and 25, the largest uneducated group is aged between 16 and 25, the largest unemployed group is aged between 16 and 25, the largest disenfranchised group is aged between 16 and 25, the largest number of prostitutes, drug addicts and criminals are aged between 16 and 25 and the age group with the greatest potential for greatness is now 16 to 25.
“If we miss the opportunity to raise this group out of despair and moral decay we are heading for a repeat of the rebel war. This time it will be worse than the last as they will have nothing to live for. Empower the youth with Education, training, medical assistance and business opportunities and transform Sierra Leone
She said the intend to achieve this goal by inviting high net worth individuals of Sierra Leone decent to become patrons, invite people from all works of life aged 25 and above to become mentors, document every young person ages 16 to 25 and offer them mentoring, invite every company in Sierra Leone employing more than 10 staff to become our Shining Light Partner organisations offering work experience and internships as well as a monthly donation to MFHF, organizing monthly mentoring meetings, inviting speakers from all works of life to give master classes, inviting Specialist Doctors from abroad to give 1% of their time to offer free medical checks and advice, holding monthly competitions to keep the youth engaged, re evaluating our strategies to keep up with current trends and formulating new strategies to tackle emerging challenges, reing proactive in dealing with disaster relief and potential humanitarian crisis and refusing to take no for an answer.
She explained that MFHF is a non-profit community initiative set up in Sierra Leone to assist in the regeneration effort of the nation. She mentioned that all their membership are Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad that have real passion to help young people from falling below the poverty line and build a strong nation.
She disclosed that they strongly believed that every Sierra Leonean’s life matter and every Sierra Leonean can become great contributor to the national good.
“We have targeted this group because they are the most susceptible to dropping out of education due to personal challengers. As the next generation of leaders, these age ranges are our best hope for a brighter Sierra Leone,” she said.
According to her, when the youth succeed they succeed; if they fail they would have failed to impact their next generation of potential Doctors, Lawyers, Sportsmen, Entertainers and Business Moguls among others.
She urged all to consider their role as an influencer and for them to join and support the Foundation to help every young person fulfil his dreams and thereby fulfilling the dream of a prosperous Sierra Leone for everyone. She urged all to join the campaign by visiting their website on www.mfhfsl.org
