By Amin Kef Sesay
On Thursday 4th June 2020, one of Sierra Leone’s finest female media practitioners, Florence Njai-Sesay received a prestigious 2020 Bronze Award from the B-Peace Women Forward Organisation based in the USA. She has now become the first female from Sierra Leone to have bagged such an award. The virtual online award ceremony was relayed live via video link from the USA at about 6.00 pm local time.
Chairing the program, which was organised as a surprise to honour her, Madam Finda, another active personality in the Media, expressed pride in the knowledge that women are stepping up and making their voices heard. She maintained that for too long every aspect of society has been male dominated and it is refreshing to see women rising up from their slumber and taking their rightful place in society. She expressed hope that the award will further encourage other women and female journalists to do more to show case their work.
Speaking at the ceremony, Florence Sesay, conveyed appreciation to her colleagues for the surprise, but stated that had it not been for the COVID-19, she would have loved to share the award with the women of Sierra Leone. She disclosed that her work with women across the country contributed largely to her eligibility for nomination by her expatriate boss and the story she told of Sierra Leonean women, captivated the attention of the Judges who then decided to award her the bronze award.
In her view, the award is for all Sierra Leonean women, as it is their story (the untold stories) that she told. She recalled working with women on FGM, sexual and reproductive health issues and other socio-cultural issues, even at personal risks and expressed satisfaction that the ‘Sowies’ (Mammy Queens of the FGM practices) are coming on board, albeit cautiously and slowly. Madam Sesay further disclosed that the setting up of the ‘Girls Camp’ in the country has contributed greatly to awareness raising among residents in rural communities and remote, hard-to-reach areas in the country.
The aforementioned camp has a group of young girls who are now spreading the messages to their peers and other women folks. COVID-19 has not stopped this activity, as the girls are now using tablets and their phones to pass on messages to their compatriots.
Elaborating on the BPeace Award, Florence Sesay, said that the award is given to 20 women across the world and this year, out of the over one hundred nominees, she was lucky to be among the twenty and is proud to be the first female Sierra Leonean to bag an award from the organisation. She admonished her colleagues in their organisation, Media Matters For Women (MMW), to step up and lead women on the speed lane.
According to Mariam Khai Fornah, who is the Chairperson of Media Matters For Women had this to say : “Mrs. Njai-Sesay’s work with MMW-SL has enabled the organization to efficiently expand its efforts into new geographical areas within Sierra Leone so more women and girls can access critical information. Florence is an excellent mentor who has helped many in our organization reach their full potential both personally and professionally. She greatly deserves this award and we are pleased that she is being recognized for her efforts.” She and some members of the organisation offered congratulatory messages to the awardee and prayed for good health and long life to continue to lift the plight of women high on both national and international stages.
In his brief statement, Chairman of the Guild of Editors in Sierra Leone, Donald Theo Harding, expressed pride in the development seen in female journalists and encouraged them to hold the fort and make the organisation proud. He congratulated Florence Sesay for her achievement, which he described as no mean feat, but a giant step in putting female journalists in the country on the international stage.
The ceremony was climaxed by the cutting of cake by Florence Sesay and other Executive members of the MMW.
Media Matters for Women-Sierra Leone (MMW-SL) works to build innovative communications networks in Sierra Leone to bring valuable information to women and girls. The organization first came to prominence during the Ebola crisis for its solar-powered, Bluetooth transmissions of podcasts produced by a team of female journalists that educated entire remote villages on how to prevent the spread of the disease. MMW-SL currently distributes critical Covid-19 health information in three districts and it also produces the popular radio drama “Mamie and Omo”.
