2YoungLives Completes Recruitment Drive Across 12 Sites in Sierra Leone funded by Upside Trust
This past month 2YoungLives concluded its recruitment drive across 12 sites in 6 districts of Sierra Leone, approving 102 pregnant underage girls for its mentoring scheme.
The program received an overwhelming number of applications from pregnant girls seeking to join but, due to the limited number of trained mentors, the team was unable to accommodate all applicants.
However, 6 exceptional cases in Calaba Town, Mattru Jong, Portee and Punduru were granted permission to participate in monthly activities and, although these girls are not officially registered in the scheme, they will be supported through community engagement sessions.
During this recruitment drive, the 2YoungLives team faced some particular cultural challenges in Bumpe, where the Poro society, a male secret society that conducts public rituals requiring non-members to remain indoors, clashed with local political leaders over the installation of a paramount chief they opposed, the protest escalating to the burning and stoning of the chief’s house while the 2YoungLives team was in town.
As a direct result of the incident, the 2YoungLives coordinator lost her home, but we’re very happy that all the team members returned safely to Freetown, and the situation is now under control by the authorities, with calm having been restored to the community.
Despite the various operational and cultural challenges, 2YoungLives remains committed to supporting these vulnerable adolescent girls, continuing to work with local authorities and community leaders to ensure the safety of all the staff and the beneficiaries, and we are grateful to Upside Trust for their support.
On the right you can see the 2YoungLives team proudly displaying their new polo shirts, courtesy of Upside Trust.