68-year-old Mammy Adama Kanu is a single parent living in Rosengbeh village in the Gbanti chiefdom in Bombali. Life has not always been kind to Mammy Adama; once a mother of 10, Mammy Adama has suffered intense grief with only three of her children living past the age of 25. Of her two surviving daughters, one recently married and moved to another village far from where Mammy Adama lives, while her only son has also left the village in search of new opportunities. Mammy Adama now also shoulders the responsibility of caring for her late
daughter’s two children since their father left the village in the aftermath of his wife’s death. This is an
additional burden and one that Mammy Adama struggles to cope with alone, following the death of her own husband a few years ago. Mammy Adama’s means of survival depended on the small earnings she made from labour activities she
engaged in with her grandchildren in the community. She could not afford to provide the necessary materials and support to her two grandchildren to go to school. Life was extremely tough and the challenges that Mammy Adama faced had started to have an impact on her social life and interactions with others in the community.
The narrative of Mammy Adama’s life changed dramatically when AAD-SL, through its EU cofounded GAUGED Civil project, came to her community and identified her as one of its project beneficiaries.
Mammy Adama tells of how her involvement in the project enabled her to start to realise her potential and how she began to feel lively again. Attending regular meetings and trainings, Mammy Adama notes how she started to feel integrated in her community and how excited she felt at being able to participate. She says: “I have the opportunity to contribute to discussions that can make a change in our lives. I now enjoy the pleasure of going to the farm with
other community members, this time as part of a farming group owning its own tools and seeds, not as a mere labourer who works to make ends meet.” Mammy Adama is thrilled to share with us that her participation in the project has contributed to restoring her self-esteem and dignity among her fellow women and community members. She goes on to say, “with the large quantity of rice our farming group has harvested, I am very hopeful that I will soon have substantial amount of food to eat with my grandchildren, as well as have some crop seeds to be able to embark on my private farm too.”
Mammy Adama is also now part of the Village Savings and Loans Association within her community that was established by the GAUGED Civil project and into which she makes weekly contributions. Mammy Adama tells us: “Through the scheme, I recently secured a soft loan of Le250,000 (approximately EUR 20) which I used to support the schooling of my grandchildren and address some urgent personal matters. It would have been a daunting moment for me to mobilise finances had it not been for the VSL scheme.” Mammy Adama concludes the interview by
expressing her happiness and thanks to AAD-SL and partners for the intervention. She says: “I am now a happy woman living with my grandchildren at Rosengbeh village. I express my appreciation to AAD-SL and its donors, the EU and Trócaire, for selecting me as one of the beneficiaries of this project which I consider very timely and empowering.
AAD-SL has successfully conducted aiming for paralegals of Timap for Justice and Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) on
confidentiality and friendly interviews / communication
skills on behalf of UNICEF.
The activity, which was held at St. Edward’s School Compound CARITAS Hall, Kingtom, Freetown, involved paralegals from the above organisations who will be working to deliver access to justice at grassroots levels. Participants played an active role in the training through a range of activities, such as energizers, group work, presentations, and role plays. This helped to engage participants in the topic and allowed them to demonstrate for themselves the importance of confidentiality and friendly interviews / communication skills.
AAD-SL adopted a flexible approach to the activity which allowed the training to meet both the demands of UNICEF and the participants.
Feedback collected from participants at the end of the training praised the innovative approach of AAD-SL’s facilitators and highlighted how AAD-SL’straining can support staff development and learning. Due to the success of the activity AAD-SL will, on behalf UNICEF, deliver further training to paralegals at the end of November.
AAD-SL has conducted, as part of the ECNISS programme, two dialogues to prevent youth from involvement in political violence before, during and after the 17 November 2012 elections. The event also focused on increasing youth participation in local governance structures. A commitment form was issued by AAD-SL to the various political parties who attended the dialogue to allow them to give their commitment for violence free elections and the involvement of youth in local governance.
“We are VSO youth volunteers from UK and Sierra Leone who are mixed together to know our different cultural backgrounds. We have really enjoyed being with AAD-SL and we have gained a lot of things from them, such as computer and presentations kills, facilitation skills, community approach and experience with grassroot people at community level.” – Zainab, VSO Volunteer