On 29 June 2017 HRH Queen Elizabeth II will be awarding 60 young people from across the Commonwealth for their exemplary services to their countries and communities. Among them are Queens Young Leaders Kumba Musa and Salton Massally from Sierra Leone. Both are wearing Madam Wokie for their visit to the BBC.
Kumba has been working to encourage more women to enter the science, technology, engineering and mathematics professions. As an engineer, Kumba became disheartened at the lack of other women working in her field. So in 2015 she founded Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Women Sierra Leone (STEM Women) to try to motivate girls to pursue STEM careers and improve STEM education in the country. Kumba and her team visit schools to talk to pupils about the benefits of STEM subjects, and mentor female students who are interested in pursuing such careers. She is currently planning to introduce STEM Social Clubs into schools, which will focus on the practical aspects of the subjects. The organisation will also recruit and train STEM teachers.
Salton is using online and digital technology to help generate employment, and address some of the socio-economic challenges facing his home country. He is the creator of careers.sl, a job search website that aims to reduce unemployment by advertising work opportunities around Sierra Leone. He also began the start-up company iDT Labs, which uses technology to develop scalable solutions for some of the country’s social and economic issues. For example, Salton and his team helped create a payment system for Sierra Leone’s 27,000 Ebola Response Workers during the 2014 Ebola crisis. iDT Labs also runs a computer literacy training programme for business owners and recent graduates. In future, Salton would like to develop careers. sl workshops to teach computer literacy to young people.
Congratulations Salton and Kumba
Queens Young Leader Kumba Musa with former U.K. Prime Minister, John Major, wearing Madam Wokie.
Queens Young Leaders Kumba Musa and Salton Massaly at the BBC wearing Madam Wokie
Salton Massally and Kumba Musa recipients of the Queens Young Leaders Award 2017 at the Commonwealth Secretariat Headquarters in London wearing Madam Wokie. Congratulations guys, Sierra Leone is proud of you. #madamwokie #Madeinsierraleone