By Kemo Cham
The Children Advocacy Forum Sierra Leone (CAF-SL) and its partners on Wednesday kick-started a Boot Camp for young people on entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation and mental wellbeing skills in Freetown.
Some 250 young people between the ages of 16 and 25, drawn from the Western Area Urban, are undergoing training on basic skills of starting and running a business. The four-day long event is part of an initiative that is designed to train 3,000 young people on the tools they need to thrive as both innovative job creators and highly competent job seekers. It is all part of a continent-wide commitment to social equity programme, with the primary goal of equipping young people in Africa for self-reliance.
CAF-SL is one of 16 organizations co-implementing the Sierra Leone project alongside the Center for Advocacy and Sustainable Empowerment Sierra Leone (CASE SALONE), a community-based organization in Bo which advocates for the advancement of the rights of women and children, and in collaboration with Junior Achievement Africa, with the financial support from the Zurich Foundation.
The Freetown Boot Camp which is hosted at the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Days Saint in Dwazark in the west end of the capital city, also entailed pitching of innovative business ideas by participants who stand to gain various cash prizes ranging from USD500 to USD 3,000 at the regional and national level.
An inaugural boot camp was held in Bo, followed by four others in the same district catering for participants across the southern region.
Besides Freetown, two other boot camps are scheduled for Makeni and then Kenema.
Ten of the outstanding group pitches from all these boot camps will be rewarded each with a USD500 cash prize. In addition, the top three winners will get prizes from USD3,000 for the top winner, USD2,000 for the runner-up and USD1,000 for the second runner-up.
The top prize winning-group will also represent Sierra Leone at the continental competition later in the year and have the opportunity to win the ultimate prize of USD5,000.
Abdul KD Swaray, Executive Director of CAF-SL, urged the participants in the Freetown Boot Camp to take the training serious, noting that while there is a prize to be won, the focus should be on the capacity each and every one of them stands to gain from the training.
“This is important to build your self-esteem, build your capacity and go back to your community to be the change maker you are,” he said in a statement during the opening session.
CAF SL was established in 2009 as a women and youth centered organization, focusing on youth empowerment and entrepreneurship. Its programmes also have health components, notably sexual and reproductive health and immunization.
As part of its youth empowerment programme, CAF SL has provided livelihood supports to marginalized communities in and around Freetown, including the establishment of safe public spaces for young people to pursue their dreams.
“This project at hand is at the heart of our work – empowerment of young people,” said Mohamed Samura, Programme Manager at CAF SL. “It is a unique opportunity to learn from these experts.”
Mariama Kunateh, Executive Director of CASE Salone, said her organization partners with duty bearers and organizations like CAF to realize their goal in making the rights of women and girls a priority. She told the participants, who comprise at least 80 percent female, that the knowledge they stand to gain from the boot camp is bigger than the prizes up for grabs, noting that it is to make young people creative and enable them to change their society.
“This is a journey for you to become a CEO and entrepreneur,” she said.
The participants will be taken through various sessions designed to educate them on entrepreneurship, composing resume and self-awareness. They will also be taken through the business model canvas, which is a guide for them to attract funding from investors through well prepared business plans.
Another important session is the leadership capital.
“When you have an investment, you are leading and managing assets and people… Logistics and human resources are very critical. You can put resources in a particular investment but if you don’t know how to manage people and the logistics you might end up destroying everything,” Mrs Kunateh explained in an interview.
Emmanuel Turay, Acting Director of Information at the Ministry of Information and Civic Education, said in his keynote address on behalf of Minister of Information and Civic Education Chernor Bah, that the project aligns with government’s plan for the country’s youths.
“Young people form a larger portion of the population… and this programme comes at a time government sees the need for young people to take leadership positions,” he said.
Mr Turay also said that one of the government’s top five priority in its development agenda is youth empowerment, noting that this initiative complements that agenda.
“This means that what you are doing here today falls within the ambit of the government’s plan,” he said.
