PJ Cole award from Queen Elizabeth II: a solid personal achievement and an inspiration to young people
When on Tuesday, January 13, 2015, it was announced that Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom will honour P.J. Cole with an award in recognition of his community work and his fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leoneans all over the world paused to known who this young man is, and how, and why, he managed to catch the attention of the British people and the grand Queen Elizabeth II. (Photo: P J Cole on relief work in the Kuntorloh Community)
From a survey I conducted, and the many phone calls I have continued to receive since the announcement, it is clear that what they found out about this young man has impressed them greatly.
Now fighting to clock 30, P.J. Cole as he is popularly known, full name Philip Joel Mandewa-Cole, has been involved in community work since his birth, as his late father, the late Revered Richard Mandewa-Cole projected Christianity in practically addressing community issues like water, sanitation, health, agriculture, skills training, formal education, peacemaking and reconciliation, rehabilitation and reintegration of vulnerable and underprivileged children, most notably ex-combatants of this nation’s civil war that raged from 1991 to 2002, and generally training young men and women to become leaders.
To put it in proper prospective, P.J. Cole was born into community work and he has lived all his life working in communities both in Sierra Leone, Great Britain, and elsewhere. For his tender age, he has been very exceptional in taking the lead in his community and using his skills to transform lives in Sierra Leone.
P.J. Cole who is studying Law in England, is the Executive Director of the Lifeline Nehemiah Projects based in Kuntorloh, Wellington, in the east of Freetown, which has a Nursery, Primary and Junior Secondary Schools, a Transport Section, an Agricultural Section and a Church to cater for the spiritual needs of the community.
Working in partnership with Lifeline Network International in the United Kingdom, Medair and Oxfam, his organisation is in the lead in fighting Ebola by engaging in sensitization programmes, providing food and psycho-social support to quarantined families from Eastern Police in the heart of Freetown to Waterloo and they have just completed the building of the Kuntorloh Community Ebola Care Centre at the Approved School Field in Wellington.
As I write this commentary, the Lifeline Nehemiah Projects is now completing the building of an orphanage to take care of Ebola orphans.
In recognition of their leading role in the fight against Ebola, the National Ebola Response Centre has invited them to sit on the National Ebola Response Committee where strategies and policy formulation in the fight against Ebola are made.
Available records show that the Lifeline Nehemiah Projects Ebola Education Programme has reached over thirty two thousand people and over one thousand six hundred people have been supported by their quarantine programme and they continue to expand their response.
When I talked to him about the award, unassuming, humorous and humble as always, he said,
“I am thrilled to accept the award, as it does not just reflect my journey as an individual but the work of a whole team. The leaders that I work with were once child soldiers who are now committed to serving their communities.”
The team he refers to consists of Mr. Prince Tommy Williams-Deputy Executive Director; Mr. Leonard Kamara-Finance Director; Mr. Philemon S. Kamara- Administrative Director; Mr. Jabba Pessima-Coordinator; and Mr. Mohamed Turay-Operations Manager.
Perhaps I need to mention that of the 60 leaders nominated for the conferment of the Queen’s Young Leaders Award that will take place in June this year in at Buckingham Palace in London, P.J. Cole is the only Sierra Leonean nominated.
“Young men like P.J. Cole are the type of people that should be recognised and supported by everybody so that they can do more for their country,” most of the community people I spoke with said to me.
Prince Tommy Williams, Deputy Executive Director of the Lifeline Nehemiah Projects sums up the aspirations of their objectives when he stated that, “P.J.’s work has really had quite an incredible impact in changing the lives of those who thought there was no hope. Even during this Ebola crisis, collectively so many lives have regained hope in the communities since he led the Ebola response efforts. He is an inspiring leader.”
Congratulating P.J. Cole on his nomination, Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, a fellow Sierra Leonean and United Nations Under-Secretary General, said: “P.J. Cole is a dynamic and very knowledgeable young man. By mobilising his peers under the Inspire Initiative, he has demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities.”
P J Cole on relief work in the Kuntorloh Community
For more information on P.J. Cole and Lifeline Nehemiah Projects, contact Abdul Hassan Fackie on +232 76 889156 or Email: abhasfackie@gmail.com
By Abdul Hassan Fackie
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