In January 2022 Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE established the YAS Girls Leadership Foundation in response to the countless requests she constantly receive from school girls asking her to be their mentor. She physically cannot provide one-on-one mentoring to thousands of girls, but through the YAS Girls Leadership Foundation, a platform was created that can touch and inspire thousands of school girls.
The motto of the YAS Girls Leadership Foundation is simple but powerful: Give her wings – watch her fly! On Friday 23rd May, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr was delighted to engage 150 school girls in Makeni and then another 150 school girls in Magburaka with this message. At the start of each session she asked the girls to shut their eyes and image what they wanted to be doing 10 years from now. The girls then enthusiastically shared their dreams of becoming surgeons, engineers, teachers, barristers and more. Turning those dreams into reality requires school girls to “grow wings”.
During a very interactive and inspiring sessions, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr explained to the girls that to get their wings, they must:
- Believe in themselves
- Prioritize their education
- Persevere through challenges
The girls had an opportunity to share some of the challenges they face and she listened attentively as they raised the issues of peer pressure, early marriage, sexual harassment from male teachers, financial difficulties and more. She encouraged the girls to offer advice to each other, learning from their own experiences before sharing her advice and sign posting them to external support structures and agencies.
To further motivate the girls to prioritise education, scholarships of NLe3,000 were given to 12 girls (the girls with the best BECCE results and best exam results from SS1 to SS2) from each of the 6 participating schools.
A total of 50 girls attend from each participating school: Saint Joseph’s Senior Secondary School Makeni, Rogbaneh Government Municipal Girls Secondary School, FAWE Senior Secondary School for girls from Bombali District; and Government Secondary School for Girls Mathora, Saint Joseph’s Secondary School for Girls Magburaka and Missionary Church of Africa (MCA) Magburaka from Tonkolili District.
“It was a beautiful celebration of girls empowerment and leadership and I am most grateful to Mayor Abu Bakar Kamara of Makeni City Council and Chairperson Yabom Tessim Sesay of Tonkolili District Council for hosting the events. I also extend my sincere thanks to the principals and teachers and of course to the school girls for a super fun and meaningful engagement,” Mayor Aki-Sawyerr said.
