By Nasratu Kargbo
CEO of Focus 1000 Alhaji Bailor Jalloh has kicked off a Crowdfunding Basket Campaign by donating twenty thousand new Leones for Orphans. Jalloh made the commitment at the launch of the crowdfunding basket on the 7th October 2023.
The basket will be stationed in different areas across the country in a bid to generate money to help more orphans.
Before the launch of the crowdfunding basket, Focus 1000 and partner Sierra Leone War Trust (SLWAT) supplied eighty children with school materials and a bag of rice given to each of their caregivers.
Jalloh asked the beneficiaries to ensure that they take care of the school materials given to them, to avoid buying the same materials next year.
He cited that if they take care of the text books, the institution will not have to buy the same books for other children who will be promoted to that class. He advised that they take proper care of the books in order for their young ones to also benefit from them.
Addressing caregivers, Marion Morgan from SLWAT advised them to take proper care of the kids.
Emphasizing the need to care and monitor kids, she briefly explained a personal story of how she had to switch professions in order to be able to look after her children.
She advised the children to appreciate the caregivers and make sure they study hard. She added that they have had so many success cases of orphans that they’ve helped to university level and that some have traveled to different countries to further their studies.
National Chairman of Kombra Network, Dr. Ramadan Jalloh said there are many verses in the Holy Quran that speak on the blessings that are attached to helping orphans.
Speaking on some of the benefits of helping orphans, he explained that according to the Quran helping an orphan is one of the most righteous deeds one can undertake. He said the Holy book emphasized the need to take care of orphans and having them in one’s home, as the act of kindness brings blessings.
Jalloh said that being an orphan is not a sickness, and gave a brief history of Prophet Muhammad SWT who became an orphan at an early age, therefore calling on the orphans not to lose faith.
Giving testimony of how her life used to be before she met Focus 1000, an orphan Mabinty Kamara was emotional about how her Aunt had brought her from Waterloo to the central part of Freetown and ensured she was admitted to school. She explained that when the Ebola outbreak happened in Sierra Leone, she lost her aunty and cousin to the disease, adding that when she returned to Waterloo, she was abandoned for fear of not transferring the disease.
Kamara explained that she slept on the street for some time, but later got help from Focus 1000 and SLWT and was later admitted to school. “I thank them for taking care of me because I had no one who could cater for my education”.
Certificates of recognition were then issued to children who performed well in the National Primary School Examination.
Copyright © 2023 (09/10/23)
