MCW OPENS SECOND COMMUNITY CENTER IN SIERRA LEONE
Youth to Benefit from Entrepreneurial Training
SIERRA LEONE, June 12, 2011—Miracle Corners Sierra Leone (MC-SL) opened its second community center in eastern Sierra Leone today. Based on the MCW community center model whose mission is to develop sustainable youth-focused learning centers as spaces for education, exchange and entrepreneurship in communities in Africa, the new center is located in the rural village of Sukudu in the district of Kono. The center will teach leadership, business, and entrepreneurial skills that will ease unemployment issues for youth in the country.
To celebrate the occasion, MC-SL leaders organized an opening ceremony. Guests included local community leaders, section chiefs, educators, NGO representatives, and youth organization members, as well as MCW representatives and MC-SL advisory board members.
In the keynote address, Hon. Sahr Musa Sessie Gbenda, Koidu City Council mayor, encouraged the community to “make good use of the facility” and to “use this opportunity to empower themselves.” The Mayor also addressed the youth attending the event, “Even without a university degree you can still be successful; just look at Bill Gates.”
Michael Goddard, an MCW fellow based in Sierra Leone, provided a brief history of MCW’s work in Sierra Leone highlighting the role late Ambassador Daudi Mwakawago played in bringing MCW/MCLS to Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The program included performances by a local drama group and the comedy troupe Kono Entertainers, as well as cultural rituals.
The program also included:
• An introduction of the attending dignitaries by Doris B. Allieu;
• An introduction to the event chair, Sahr Emmanuel Yambasu, Deputy Chief Administrator for Koidu, New Sembehum City Council by Tamba Kanawa, MCSL-Kono IT program manager;
• Thank you remarks from Dr. MS Fofanah, MCSL trustee;
• Thank you remarks from Chief Kai Banju, an MCW Advisory Board member;
- A welcome address by Hassan Mansaray, Freetown centre coordinator;
