The Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation launching: what a night!

Part of my job that night together with the smartly dressed SLPP UK/Ireland Young Generation Team was to offer guests their correct seat allocation. In an event like this which was advertised by the most popular African TV channel in the United Kingdom and on a night when you have a well decorated hall with forty dinner tables, each with ten decorated chairs, for an expected minimum of four hundred (400) guests, surely all you do want is for such purposeful banquet to be as organised as Chinese feast.

As I stood by the entrance welcoming guests and ushering them their allocated seats, I bumped into a very senior Sierra Leonean diplomat who was one of our guests. Shocked by the hundreds of people he saw in the Prestigious hall of the African Community Center, as he sat down he could not suppress his amazement of the numbers of people so he smiled and said to me “As a very long serving Sierra Leonean diplomat in the UK, I have attended many formal functions within the Sierra Leone Community in the UK whether it is banquets for Presidents or UK based organisations but this is one of the largest formal gatherings of Sierra Leoneans. I think it is very impressive”.

I thanked the diplomat for his compliments on behalf of the organisers but I had to quickly remind him of what makes us great as Sierra Leoneans. I reminded the diplomat that Sierra Leoneans are very compassionate people and we have the capability to care for one another. I said to him that we are a loving people but too often we have allowed politics to divide us on the very thing which should bring us together which is caring for one another. I went on, “It is that issue about caring for one another especially the vulnerable people in our society – children, women and youths – that is what the Foundation will symbolise, a true Sierra Leonean spirit”.

When the Founders of the Foundation, Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio and his wife arrived, the hall became electrified with hundreds of guests on their feet for an ovation. As Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio and wife walked through the loud ovation from the audience they showed their usual humility with their affectionate smiles and waves of appreciation. The guests loved their humility and it was a spectacle.

As they took their seats it was the time for the talented Sierra Leonean entertainer popularly known as H.E Tommy Massaquoi who constantly kept his audience in stiches. As the Master of Ceremony, H.E Tommy Massaquoi just could not stop his audience from laughing. After several performances from both Sierra Leonean and International artists then came the solemn moment when it was time to hear the big speech of the night which was to be delivered by the Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio.

In a complete twist of event which got many in the audience scrambling to take pictures, as the Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio got on the lightening stage, he suddenly started dancing. It was a reminder of that Barack Obama Moment when he showed off his dancing moves on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2007 as the Democrat Presidential candidate.  And like the audience at the Ellen DeGeneres Show whom were absolutely marvelled, many of the guests had to leave their seats just to take pictures and video clips. As one of the female guests who was standing closed to me taking pictures put it “Maada Bio is a genuinely nice man and he has wonderful skills in interacting with people. No wonder he is a grassroot politician”

After that Barack Obama moment for the Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio, it was time for the delivery of a speech which would go down as one of his most compassionate speeches to date.  In his speech, the Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio started by saying that today the world is neither just nor sustainable He claimed that  Poverty and hunger have been the suffering of too many whilst the environment and natural resources are plundered for the benefit of the few.  But like a man on a mission, the Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio said that these problems may be enormous but they are not surmountable.

With a great sense of determination, Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio told his audience “I believe that each of us has a role to play in shaping not only our own lives, but the future of our country and the wider world. That is why, together with my wife Fatima, I have established The Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation”.

Speaking about the Foundation, the Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio said that The Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation is a charitable, not-for-profit organistaion dedicated to empowering the marginalised and powerless children and youths in Sierra Leone. He said that the activities of the Foundation will range from health interventions for children in order to reduce child mortality, to providing quality education to youth empowerment centers and provision of scholarships to high school and university students.

As a former teacher himself, the centrepiece of his speech was on education and on that he told his guests “Education is our focus, because education is the foundation of individual empowerment and of national development.  Education not only sparks a wonder in the endless possibilities of the world – it gives the youth a means of achieving them. And it is only with the knowledge that education brings that we as Sierra Leoneans can hope to promote a culture of peace, tolerance and understanding that acts as the foundation of diversity, human rights and freedom.  Children and youths can only benefit from education if it is offered in its entirety, ranging from nursery school all the way to either vocational training or university scholarships coupled with internships”. The audience responded with a loud applause.

The Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio went on to say that the heart of the Foundation’s work will be to ensure that our children and youth receive quality education that gives them the confidence and skills to take control of their own lives. He also said that the Foundation’s mission is to improve support for the poorest and the most vulnerable – to give them the opportunities that only a decent education can provide.

At the end of the speech, the Rtd.Brig. Julius Maada Bio made a very passionate appeal to a very attentive audience captivated by his vision and to them he said “Many of you here will regularly return to Sierra Leone each year. I am asking you to join Fatima and I, in dedicating your time each year, in rolling up your shirt sleeves and volunteering with the Foundation in its work amongst the poorest communities in our country.” He emotionally added “Together, we can change what the world thinks it knows of Sierra Leone, but we must do it, child by child, village by village and we will only do it if all of us work together to deliver the vision of universal, quality education for all our youth ad children.” As he concluded a very moving audience rose to give him a standing ovation. One of the Sierra Leonean guests who travelled from Holland to attend the event used one word to describe the speech and the delivery amidst the loud ovation, he said to me in a very exciting mood “Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant”.

The responses to the speech symbolised that Sierra Leoneans have the ability to care for one another but many times it takes leadership and vision to bring people together to address the many challenges children, women and youths face. This is why on the popular Monologue Programme, during my interview on the night of the launching I told my good friend David Tam Bayoh that this Foundation will aspire to work above party politics and make its contributions to addressing the challenges of vulnerable people and deprived communities.

After the brilliant speech, it was also time for a special surprise by Mrs Fatima Maada Bio to her husband. It was a big birthday cake with a 50^th happy birthday inscription on it. Friends and relatives pose with the celebrant and wife for the cutting of the cake as camera phones, ipads and tablets battle out for good spots to take pictures.

As we finished the cutting of cake and photo ops, it was time for Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio’s traditional thank you meeting with the guests. With hundreds of guests and his usual humility the Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio went table after table shaking hands to thank people individually for their support and attendance. At many of the tables, the show of affection for Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio went beyond handshakes as both male and female guests had to embrace him with broad smiles. With the handshakes and embraces so also were flashes from smart phones.

But it was not only about the jokes, dancing and brilliant speech that would make such a night very memorable, even the food. Organised by some of the most dedicated women of the SLPP UK/Ireland branch, all the guests praised the wonderful Sierra Leonean dishes and the traditional dinner dishes. And for many of the guests who liked keeping it healthy there were also fresh fruits and sumptuous dessert to enjoy a balanced diet.

The calibre of the guests at the event was also very noticeable. There were Sierra Leoneans from different professional works of life – lawyers, medical doctors, accountants, bankers, nurses and professionals in the social service sector. Sierra Leoneans and foreign guests travelled from United States, Europe and Africa and they included politicians, international press and diplomats.

Whilst it was not a strictly political event but majority of the membership of the SLPP UK/Ireland were in noticeable attendance to support a good cause by a fellow party member who has once led the party as a Presidential Candidate. Amongst the many respected members of the SLPP UK/Ireland were the Chairman, Jimmy Batilo Songa, the Women’s Leader, Madam Kenye Sandi, majority of the executive members and Former SLPP UK/Ireland Chairmen, Harold Saffa and Tamba Lamina. Also in attendance was the SLPP National Organising Secretary, Mr. Sheku Kondeh.  No doubts,  it will be a night many of us will remember for the brilliant speech, the jokes, dancing and above all the resolves by hundreds of Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora to support a good cause for our vulnerable children, women and youths through The Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation.

By Yusuf Keketoma Sandi

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