The 2YL team held their annual conference at Bumpe, Bo District, with 58 delegates drawn from the 12 sites, located in the 8 districts of Sierra Leone.
The conference was launched with an address given by Prince Tommy Williams, the Executive Director of Lifeline Nehemiah Projects, who thanked all the mentors for their hard work and for the good reports he had been hearing and witnessing in some of the communities.
He also took time to honour the memory of the late Musu Kabba, coordinator of the Moyamba mentoring team, who sadly passed away just a week prior to the conference.
In concluding, he encouraged all the mentors to continue upholding and demonstrating the values of LNP in serving within their individual communities, irrespective of any direct 2YL project activities.
The week-long conference involved numerous training sessions facilitated by:
- Prince Tommy Williams, Executive Director, Lifeline Nehemiah Projects
Mangenda Kamara, Research Assistant with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) & Welbodi Partnership, cofounder and in-country manager 2YL, lecturer at Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology
- Manty Jalloh, community midwife, one of the first group of TBAs (Traditional Birth Attendants) retrained and upskilled in 2002
- Dr Moghalu Vincent Okechukwu, National Paediatrics Officer working with Partners In Health (PIH) and the World Bank in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone, as Consultant to a Multidisciplinary Team seeking to strengthen the nation’s health system
- Nancy Kamara, Community Health Office (CHO) student at Njala University, Bo, experienced small business creator and coach
The training covered topics focused on such issues as care and safe environment for children, breastfeeding facts, pregnancy prevention, danger signs for babies, administering first aid treatments prior to reaching available health facilities, caring for children with disabilities including those with learning disabilities, and how to manage a small business.
The last night involved a highly-competitive Talent Competition, presided over by ten judges drawn from the local community, including the town chief, the heads of local schools and the former principal of Bumpe High School.
The judging team were given no easy task but after considerable deliberation the results were announced with Port Loko taking 1st place, followed jointly by Mattru Jong and Bumpe Town.
Mangenda also used the occasion to present awards to various mentors and coordinators who had done exceptionally well in their work during the past year.
At the end of the week, on the Friday, Prince Tommy Williams engaged the community stakeholders in an effort to clearly assess their views, understanding and appreciation of the impact of 2YL in their individual areas.
All the leaders expressed their gratitude for the work of the 2YL project, especially highlighting the noticeable decrease in maternal deaths and the increase in return to school by mothering children, with the speaker representing the Paramount Chief making a passionate plea for the project to be extended to many other towns and communities.
This is just a small selection of the many photos taken during the weekend, hoping you’ll catch a flavour of the great time enjoyed by everyone!