By Sallu Kamuskay
Dr. Imambay Kamara and her staff of Disabled International Foundation has within this year, 2021, commissioned four classrooms at Forthaneh Village, Simera Chiefdom within the Tonkolili District, Northern Sierra Leone.
In his welcome statement, the Chairman of the event, Thaimu Conteh who happens to be the headmaster of the school applauded the Disabled International Foundation for considering their chiefdom for the construction of the school, of which he assured they will make good use of.
He noted that the people of Forthaneh Village are very happy about such a development in their village which he said will surely complement Government’s Free Quality Education. He further disclosed that the founder, Dr. Imambay Kamara, and her Foundation, the Disabled International, has redeemed them from all struggles and challenges of their children accessing education in the village.
“The President, Dr.Imambay Kamara and her Foundation, Disabled International has redeemed us from all struggles, all stress of accommodation for the smooth learning of the children in this village, this is the purpose why we are here today, to do the official opening of the four classrooms and renovated building that we have all yearned for since the school was opened in 1979.”
Dr. Imambay Kamara, Founder and President of the Foundation during her remarks spoke about what motivated her to build a school in the village.
She said the Free Quality Initiative is a priority in the New Direction Agenda underscoring how His Excellency President Maada Bio considers education as very important which is why he implemented it.
She inspired pupils to take their studies seriously underscoring how education is the key to success.
She also admonished residents to take advantage of the facility, take ownership of it, and also allow their children to attend it.
“I am so happy to be among you all today amidst COVID-19 for the official opening of the school we constructed with your support in the village, it is the mandate of our Foundation to support the President and Government efforts in promoting President’s Bio Free Quality Education, in 2018. When I first visited this village with my friend to do a donation and saw the building and what you told me, the story of my friend who is a daughter of this village who told me that sometimes in class, snakes fell from the trees right inside the classrooms and children congested themselves in class, I and my Foundation felt we needed to do something for you, I told you it wasn’t a promise but that you should all pray for me, four years down the line, with your support, we have all build this school together and have renovated another building too for the children.
I am happy that God answered my prayers for what we have done for the people of Forthaneh village. We are here to hand over the school to the chiefdom, children, and parents of Forthaneh village, we encourage them to send their children to school,” she stated.
Alpha Kargbo is the Education Supervisor of Tonkolili District. In his statement, he said, “we want to thank the President, Dr.Imambay Kamara and her Foundation, Disabled International for building this school in this village in line with President Bio’s vision of many accessing education in the country”
The representative from the Chief assured all that the people of Simera Chiefdom and its environs will make good use of the facility which will benefit their children to acquire early childhood education in that part of the county.
In his address, the Country Coordinator of the Disabled International Foundation, Mr.Saa David Musa Yamba, noted that he is overwhelmed to hand over an ultra-modern facility that will enable young children from that community to have access to early childhood learning, adding that this means that the children of Simera Chiefdom will have the same quality education foundation that children in Freetown attain.
He added that it is very evident that some of the facilities needed to ensure that the children in the provinces benefit from the Government’s Free Quality Education are not available in some parts of the country further stating how the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, which is the driver to ensure its implementation seamlessly across the country, it understands the area of needs and has been pushing very hard to ensure that those needs are addressed.
Saa David Musa Yamba pointed out that one of the objectives is to ensure that the Ministry gets an even distribution of educational development across the country.
He pointed out that they are happy to commission the school at Forthaneh Village, Simera Chiefdom within the Tonkolili District to support the Ministry in their stride to achieve that objective.
The Country Coordinator, Saa David Musa Yamba, revealed that this is among the many schools and construction works they have commissioned, noting that they have just recently commissioned a Mosque in Lungi town, Port Loko District., to ensure that the people in Lungi have access to worship God.
A resident of the Chiefdom, who also happens to be a parent, Abdul Kamara expressed his warm appreciation to the Disabled International Foundation for the construction of the school in their chiefdom, furthering that the facility will help their children to get early childhood education just like children in Freetown.
He assured all that they will surely make good use of the facility as it is the first.
The event was climaxed by the official commissioning and handing over of the school by the Founder and President, Dr.Imambay Kamara, followed by a tour of the facility.
DIF-SIL is a privately funded, Non-governmental, and Non-profit Organisation that was founded in 2000 with feeding centers in Freetown and Waterloo and a proposed site at Lungi. The organization caters among others, to the needs of the disabled in Sierra Leone to empower and ameliorate their standard of living. In pursuant of its main objective, DIF-SIL, in collaboration with other related agencies, strives to work through advocacy, skills training and empowerment, development projects, and educational programs to eradicate the public prejudice against, alleviate the plight of and ensure greater social inclusion for the disabled.
