On Monday 17th March, fifty 2YoungLives mentors from all over Sierra Leone descended Mangenda’s home town, Bumpe, ready for the 2025 convention. This has become an invaluable element of 2YL, a transformative gathering to allow for refresher training on hot topics, care and encouragement of the mentors through friendship-building and fun activities, and an opportunity to address key challenges faced by adolescent mothers. Through sports, training, women’s wellbeing checks and cultural activities, the event facilitates a shared identity, empowerment and trusted relationships.
So what did we learn? Our paediatrician Dr Vincent is a passionate advocate of breastfeeding, and helped bust some myths which confuse girls and lead to early weaning.
Our Director, Prince Williams used real-life scenarios to refresh the mentors on safeguarding issues, provoking animated discussion about mentors experiences.
Manty Jalloh, our health worker, taught on women’s wellbeing and did 1-1 health chats to allow mentors the space to consider their own health needs.
And Mangenda, chairing the convention with seemingly unlimited energy and joy, explored how cultural issues affect pregnant girls, the importance of integrity in the role – that our actions match our words – and kept us on our toes with singing and dancing at any show of snoozing!!
Then there was the football!! Mangenda challenged Bumpe town to a women’s football match – Bumpe vs 2YL. Dawn on Tuesday saw the entire 60-strong group of mentors taking a jog around the town, singing songs of pre-emptive victory, backed up by a mega-speaker!
However this only spurred the opposition on, with a surprise appearance of their captain, Bobby P, in a show of counter-intimidation!
The excitement reached boiling point when the teams gathered in the evening, ending in a 0-0 draw, cheered on by the entire town. This was the first woman’s football match ever to be played in Bumpe, and the Headwoman thanked 2YoungLives for their work which over recent years has transformed so many aspects of the Bumpe community.
The talent show, a whole-community event judged by a panel of respected local stakeholders, was a kaleidoscope of colour and sound, with traditional dancing, acting and singing teams of mentors all competing. Well done to Mattru Jong for your well-deserved 1st prize.
There is no space to talk about the afternoon spent at the river-beach, swimming and running relay races, or the prize-giving evening where deserving mentors and teams were honoured for their tireless and compassionate volunteering. And it is impossible to quantify how the conversations into the night with old friends, the warm inclusion of new mentors, or the overheard throwaway comment ‘I love it here because you can leave your phone out and no-one will steal it’ are all reflections of the 2YoungLives ethos of compassion, inclusion and integrity which we strive for in our work with adolescent girls. Being part of this adventure with you all continues to be my absolute joy and privilege.
Lucy and Mangenda
Saying Goodbye….
