By Amin Kef Sesay
On The 27th Of November 2020, Guest Speaker and Champion of the fund raising ceremony for the Rehabilitation of the Harford School For Girls, Dr. Adonis Abboud, a philanthropist and humanitarianist, urged members of the Old Girls Association of the Harford School for Girls in Moyamba to donate to the fund for the rehabilitation of the school, and provide the enabling and conducive environment that had led to the school producing eminent personalities and leading a glory unmatched in female academic achievement in the country’s history.
Speaking during the ceremony, Dr. Abboud said that there is joy and satisfaction in giving. “Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving. You give little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
In the case of schools, it is not all about shaking the charity cans or raising money for good causes, it is also about the joy that envelopes the lives and faces of the beneficiaries, as the students become more inclusive and a buzz is created around the school.”
Dr. Adonis Abboud reminded the audience of what COVID-19 has taught humanity that new ways of should be found to do things, especially in raising funds, in the absence of luncheon sales and school dinner and dance, which he described as “all priceless acts of charity.” These activities, he furthered could not be embarked on during COVID-19,. But with resilience, people should be able to contribute in their own little way to help others. He admonished the audience to nurture those charitable and voluntary acts which “transcend the differences between us and which motivates us to put self-interest aside and which are explicitly, beyond politics.”
He noted that 2020 has been an unpredictable hot mess for charitable organizations and even non-governmental organizations that depend on generosity, goodwill and fund raising. He commended the intervention of the old girls association of the school, which “jump-started the school’s performance, increased the academic output of the girls and complemented the government’s determined effort to restore and revive the well-documented level of Sierra Leone’s famed education system.”
Dr. Abboud recalled the humble beginning of the school in August 1900, with eight girls housed in a hut, stressing that today the school has produced excellent eminent personalities in society and across the globe, and expressed optimism that the school’s glory will return and even greater exploits will be achieved.
“I’m sure that with your help and the concerted effort of the executive members of the old girls association, the glory of the latter days of the Harford School for girls, will indeed be greater than its former.”
He expressed delight over the anticipated beauty of a renovated school and the facilities that will be made available through the success of this event. He called on people and organizations to appreciate the tremendous work of those who have called-out for help, in the pursuit of a dream that they are not direct beneficiaries.
Dr. Abboud noted that Harford prides itself not only on academic success, but also on creating school ethos that encourages all students. This, he furthered, is best achieved in an enabling environment that is conducive, and which is the driving house behind the work of the old girls association. He commended the Old Girls Association and the school authorities for their tireless efforts to transform the school. He called on all to help the school achieve its goal by making generous donations to the fund.
Launching the fund, Dr. Adonis Abboud donated, what he called the widow’s mite of Le1billion (One Billion Leones).
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am asking for your Leones, pounds, dollars, euros and any currency in fact, to see these ideas of the Harford old girls association and future programmes, come through to fruition. Every little helps. With that, I hereby sound the gong for this launching, with my widow’s mite of ONE BILLION LEONES and challenge you all to beat it, if you can. Thank you.”
Umaru Fofanah, BBC Stringer, who was also present had this to say:
Today my wife and I are in Moyamba Town – the home of Sub-Saharan Africa’s first female cabinet minister. It’s my first time here in a very long time. I’m honored to have been invited by the Harford Old Girls’ Association to motivate the future leaders and to help them raise Le 1.2 Billion to rehabilitate their dormitories, which are in a bad shape. It is 120 years since the school was founded as Sierra Leone’s first outside the capital.”
He also gave a brief history of his own life and how education and determination had brought him thus far, admonishing students to put more effort in their work and engage in research on google than spending time on WhatsApp or Facebook. He called on parents to invest in the education of their kids, especially the girl child, as well as coming to the aid of the school to help them get things like water tanks to improve on sanitation and beds and solar energy.
