Sierra Leone Journalist uses Social Network to Change Lives

Award winning journalist, Murtala Mohamed Kamara has utilized the popular social network to change the lives of some desperate Sierra Leoneans.   A single post by the renowned journalist on his Facebook page will  bring changes to the lives of few individuals who desperately need help.

The young journalist explained to this press how the whole incident started.  Kamara said he went into town last Monday to attend a meeting and on his way back he stopped at the Post Office to  buy newspapers.  He decided to ask the newspaper vendor how the business is going since Kamara himself  is a publisher.  He said the vendor, Mr. Sesay told him that business is not going well for him. He said worst of it is that his daughter has  passed the WASSCE exams but he could not afford to pay her fees to the university.  Sesay said, according to Kamara, that he has been saving for months to meet the Le1.5 million and he later learnt that the university authorities have increased fees.  Sesay said he has even used money he has been saving on other family commitments and that he is worried how to explain this to the young aspiring accountant.

Kamara said he proceeded to the Law Courts and saw a woman sitting on the ground cracking almond nuts to feed her 9 month old baby.  The journalist said he was stunned and nearly shed tears. “Yes I know of beggars in Sierra Leone but to the point of feeding a child less than a year old with hard nuts, is unacceptable,” he said.  He explained further that he became numb and asked himself who might be responsible for that.  Confused Kamara said all sort of things ran into his mind and he even enquired to himself why  is God showing him all those ‘scary’ pictures when t?ere is no resource to help?   He said he was in isolation for almost the rest of that day and eventually decided to share his experience on his popular Facebook platform. The post generated serious attention and one Mr. Ali Mansaray decided to help.

Mansaray  said in a message to Kamara that his Facebook comments made him restless in the United States. He said he read the post over and over and decided to do something about it.

Mansaray went on further : “Mr. Murtala… it’s okay… we all in life at some point have had to lean on someone for assistance… it’s just a shame that people are suffering this much.   It’s not that we all have to be rich but it doesn’t mean also that we should be living a life of destitution – when it is not warranted,” he wrote.  The message read further,  “Stay strong, because you are doing your own part. There are different ways of providing assistance… If you hadn’t gotten  in touch with these folks, I wouldn’t have been able to know about their story,” he said.

Mansaray sent the sum of $100 to the poor lady for immediate feeding.  He promised to take care of the the lady and her 3 children including schooling and medical.  He also promised to pay the university fee for the newspaper vendor’s daughter.

Handing over the monies to the poor woman at Cotton Tree on Wednesday, Kamara said sometimes we just need to look back to change the lives of others.  He said he is just a regular young man who is also striving hard to make ends meet.  He said one does not need to be rich to help others. “I am not rich but I have the passion and the will to help others,”he said.   He thanked Mr. Mansaray for his kind gesture and urged other Sierra Leoneans to emulate his good deed.

Kamara said his dream is to set up his own charity foundation which will seek to empower other young Sierra Leoneans.  He said he wants to do more but lacks the resources and therefore called on other well-meaning individuals to come on board and support him.

Kamara also raised about $200 on his Facebook page which he contributed to Fatmata Turay who was flown to Ghana with a swollen face.  “I know how it feels going without food for days; I also know what it means to be homeless. I was there and I want to pull those that are still there, “he concluded.

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