New Vision for Education

Education is a human right; not a privilege. Learning in EducAid Sierra Leone It is a good thing actually I never knew at the time that Education is a right for me and other children of Sierra Leone who struggled (and are still struggling) to get an education. In my experience now as a young man, I have learned that education, like all rights, are there to uphold the freedom, respect, and dignity of every human and to treat everyone with fairness. And, I have also learned that my government, to whom I pay my taxes, has a responsibility in upholding and promoting the right of every Sierra Leonean to get an education. Seeing this month’s theme took me down memory lane. I am specifically remembering the events which took place in my life about nine (9) years ago, forging the new path I was going to walk on. I was then in my first year of junior school and had just promoted to year two when all hell let loose on my mother. Years earlier, my father passed away in the rebel wa...

America votes Donald Trump and Britain voted Brexit, so what? This is an interesting topic and I will try to make my contribution from an African angle. America has elected Donald Trump, a businessman with no experience and knowledge in governance, and not very long ago Britain voted to leave the European Union "on what many believe to be xenophobic grounds". What does this mean for Africa? To understand what this means for Africa we have to understand some key factors that motivated these decisions which both sent huge shock waves throughout the world. Every country has the right to choose their leadership, and the path they want their country to take. However, this decision of choosing the leadership and path a country takes has a lot to say about the people of that country. This can be especially so when it has to do with countries like the United States of America and Britain, whose actions forged a new path for Africa, left an indelible mark on the continent, and who...

A country this beautiful deserves 'leadership' it can trust! We cannot afford to distrust our leadership! A country as beautiful as mine deserves a ‘leadership’ it can trust. This month’s theme ‘distrust in leadership’ strikes close to my heart. The presence of trust and its absence thereof as one of those things that makes or breaks any relationship from personal ties to business relations may have been clichéd in the world of business, but one which still holds quite true. Where trust exists between people amazing things can happen. Even mountains can be moved with ease! On the flip side however, lasting success is a dream too far to grasp wherever trust fails to exist. As said quite often, nothing significant can be achieved where trust is missing. Even in the presence of overwhelming resources at the disposal of an organization. My conception of this theme of distrust in leadership however goes beyond an organization, though not too far perhaps. Trust remains qui...

Migration is only a symptom of the actual problems Say the word Africa, and see what comes into most people’s minds first. Not the green, beautiful, exotic, virgin, wealth endowed continent that it truly is. Africa now connotes the harshest extremes of poverty, violence, disease, hunger, corruption and helplessness. The image of this beggar Africa is the repellent that is suffocating, and chasing away the youngest, most skilled, and the most talented of Africa to flee their homes in exchange for an ‘opportunity’ to live in Europe, further plunging the continent into even deeper misery. Africans either escape at all costs or stay risking their dreams and ambitions dying with them. Those who endure the pains of this suffocation either stay  and pass on their poverty to their next generation, or they take the driver’s seat. Now away from the realities of real poverty, they have forgotten their past. They have become the new oppressors themselves. I am a Sierra Leonean, an African ...

Society failed me, and it was not my fault; Story by Alusine Barrie. Standing in the face of such a beautiful, respected and powerful young lady seeking help, I feel sure that something is going to happen. Eyes wide open firing a brilliant, vigilant and scowling gaze onto the wall opposite like a scarecrow in the seasons of ripe in my village. Questions shooting from the deep of my heart, worn out tear sacks burst open, a sorrowful spring of tears flowing from its pores, it is happening, just as I knew it would. It is all coming back to me now,  it has only just happened. Wow! Was it my fault to be born a girl? Why has it been so difficult to be me? The battered life I now live is the relic of age-long discrimination and subordination of all women in my community. Countless numbers of girls are suffering through the same ordeal shoved down my throat while I was just a budding young girl . Why is this silence so loud?! I was only eight years old, if I can still remember. Or perh...

It was not my fault Was it my fault to be born a girl? Why has it been so difficult to be me? The battered life I now live is the relic of age-long discrimination and subordination of all women in my community. Countless numbers  of girls are suffering through the same ordeal shoved down my throat . Why the loud silence to such a disease with conspicuously devastating effects? I was only eight years old, if I can still remember. Or perhaps even younger when men (very old ones) started investing in my sexuality. Men older that my father, my uncles started bringing gifts saying jokingly “ mother-in-law, this money is for my new wife’s nappy.” Or perhaps, as it turned out to be, it wasn’t a joke at all. As I grew up, more gifts, money and favours took a different pace. My mother and father seemed proud to have been the parent of such beautiful fruit. I experienced the title of ‘wife’ at a very tender age. This all seemed so ‘normal’ in my village that I also started conceding t...

Democracy must go to school! I have never really woken up until today when I set my eyes on these words from former US president, "Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of a democracy, therefore, is education." -Franklin D Roosevelt.  A few steps on, the words of former UN Secretary General shot at me from another chart on a wall. "Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development."-Kofi Annan.   Questions shot out of every corner inside my head! If education is so crucial to the freedom, democracy and sustainable development, and we do have an educational system, then one of our task then is  to focus on the training of our next generation in a way that makes them productive citizens able to champion their personal and communal development. What can we do as a nation to ensure ...

Hope, Where can I find you here? On the streets of Freetown: by Alusine Barrie Oh hope! Give up not though As thy courage worn I thin and saggy Crossing cycles of seasons you stood my camel Crossing endless nights of toil convincing Weakened phalanges to keep Grinding you bore my burden Through the dark dank blackholes of corporate Salone sniffing Like angry dogs of beautiful African huntsmen; nothing Thoroughly stuffed with fellow prisoners, panting In a bale of new junk clothes headed for Africa The young walls of my heart broken, crumbling, Exiled in my own country You kept me moving Oh hope! Give up not though As thy courage worn I thin and saggy Throat dry like sweetened rivers of African Sahara of Deserts lost and thoroughly stripped yet You kept a slow and steady makambo in the quiet of my mind Crossing cycles of seasons you stood my camel Shoes giving up the cool of molten tarmac of days in vain Perforated by a million stitches of ...

I have a dream! I have a dream of a Sierra Leone where educated citizens come together to tackle poverty, corruption, and promote sustainable development using the mighty instrument of Education. This blog will be a reflection of my thoughts on education in and out of the classroom. It will also reflect the thoughts of fellow Sierra Leoneans as we sail through the ups and downs of making this dream a reality.  This blog will create a platform for sharing perspectives and ideas with fellow educators and those working to see real change in the African continent. I believe in the truth that a society is never doomed to fail forever! Every point can be a new beginning. Let's begin!