November 1, 2021
BY MOHAMED M. SESAY
The Jamil and Nyanga Jaward Foundation (JNJF) has on Friday the 29th of October 2021, launched a project called ‘Adopt a Widow’ at Dwarzark Community in order to seek support for Dwarzark Widows.
Giving a historical background of JNJ Foundation, the Head of Communications of JNJ Foundation Osman Koroma, intimated that the organization has been in operation for over three years in Sierra Leone.
He added that the organization has been helping vulnerable people in the country. As part of their many support to the less privileged, Osman Koroma also noted that they have been providing Solar Light to some village people in Moyamba District. He added that the Foundation has also provided over one thousand educational materials for under privileged children and youth across the country.
Osman Koroma continued that the organization has done so many things for widows such as community farming for a whole widow community in Grafton. Koroma Osman also disclosed that the organization has been opening shows for widows in order to engage them to do business for themselves. He emphasized that the reason for gathering the Dwarzark widows is to implement their proposed project call adopt widows which is part of their larger programme call Women Empowerment Kall (WEK).
“This women empowerment programme is the umbrella project for the ‘adopt wisdom’ project. The ‘adopt a widow’ project has huge packages and one of the packages is that, we will seek support from partners for the widows. Our partners will also provide two hundred and fifty thousand Leones.” Mr. Koroma said.
The project also has another package which is to provide micro business set up wherein, we will start a business for widows which is worth four million Leones.
Osman Koroma however noted that, their generosity cannot happen without donor support which is the more reason he is calling on development and humanitarian organizations to support them.
He also called on other organizations to partner with them in a full view of helping widows and the less privileged across the country.
Making a declaration of purpose, the Admin Officer MS. Elizabeth Frazer said the passion of JNJ Foundation is to help women especially widows.
She acknowledged that it is not easy for a widow to take responsibility of a whole family.
Madam Frazer added that their visit to the Dwarzark community was to do a thorough need assessment of the Dwarzark widows for possible intervention through the support of their partners.
She disclosed that the foundation has been helping widows in many part of Freetown and therefore, assured the Dwarzark widows that the foundation will go all out to solicit support for them.
On his part, Chief Samuel J.S Pessima welcomed the JNJ Foundation to his community.
He said he has so many widows in the Dwarzark community.
Chief Pessima also expressed that he will be very happy if JNJ Foundation could come to the aid of the Dwarzark widows under the just launched project ‘adopt a widow’.
He however sent a strong worded warning to the JNJ Foundation that he does not like fake promises more especially when most organizations have been making fake promises to the community people.
Chief Pessima continued that many organizations have gone to his community and made colossal promises to his people without translating them into visible reality. He said a lot of widows in the Dwarzark community are very pitiful and are in dire need of help. He concluded by encouraging JNJ Foundation to keep to the promises made to the Dwarzark widows.
Explaining her ordeals, one of the Dwarzark Widows Ella Tejan said she lost her husband in 2020 and since then, things have been very difficult for her and her six children. She disclosed that the only means of survival for her and her six children is from the sales of coal.
She reiterated that after God, her only hope is on the sale of coal for the survival of her family. She therefore, appealed to JNJ Foundation to support the Dwazark Widows in whatever way they could.