By Ragan M. Conteh

The Mayawa Mentorship which was organized by the sons and daughters of Gbonkolenken chiefdom has been piloted in Patifu Mayawa village, Gbonkolenken Chiefdom in Tonkolili District.

The aim of the mentorship is to influences the personal and professional growth of students and community stakeholders.

The event attracted prominent stakeholders including the Member of parliament from Tomlolili District, Hon Daniel Fornah, Chiefs, teachers and Chief Organizers of the mentorship, John Reginald Conteh, Education authorities, students and among many others community stakeholders.

Dilating on the importance of the event, the founder and Chief Organizer of the Mayawa Mentorship Program, John Reginald Conteh expressed appreciation to students and community stakeholders for making his dream come true.

He informed the mammoth gathering that, the Mayawa Mentorship program is a dream he has from God which he said must be actualized to save young people from making wrong decisions.

According to Reginald Conteh, the aim is to ensure that students as well as locals in Gbonkolenken Chiefdoms interact with expert in different fields in helping students to gain proficiency.

Mr Conteh emphasized that the purpose of the program is to help connect students and communities with knowledge bearers  as well as to provide students the opportunity to connect in meaningful ways with those whose past experience can help them navigate careers and life.

He buttressed that those students will seek to grow personally and professionally by learning from the mentor’s experiences, insights, and feedback, adding that the relationship with mentors will helps students and community stakeholders navigate challenges, achieve goals, and develop new skills in a supportive environment.

He therefore, called on stakeholders especially duty bearers in all sphere of life to help his dream as well as helping students and communities to succeed in their efforts to actualized their dreams and develop their locality.

The Member of parliament from Tonkolili District, Hon Daniel Fornah, who delivered his personal touching experience explained how he navigate through difficult situations from childhood to success.

“I was a stone miners during my school days, I suffered severely just to gain education. I persist and persevere and finally today I am an MP” Hon Fornah stated.

The MP said what he has gone through anyone of the students can also faced and succeed, stating that students should not relent in their quest to achieve goals.

He urged students and community stakeholders to work towards their carriers paths amidst difficulties.

He thanked the organisers of the mentorship and promised to always supportive to ensure turning point for his constituents and students.

Mr Assan Bangura (Asbo) who chaired the pilot ceremony also heaped accolade for such an educative program which aim to help those helpless students who require mentorship.

Mr Bangura explained that the Mentoring programs create a culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing, aiding in career advancement for students and providing mentors with leadership experience.

He said the program also contribute to higher retention rates and empower students and in addition, they’re useful for identifying future leaders within communities.

One of the organizers, Moses Probyn Conteh also highlighted the benefit derived from mentorship, adding that students and community should work hard  towards what those mentors impacted on them and make good use of the opportunity to achieve career goals.

He also called on parents to put more pressure on the education of their children amidst economic challenges.

He also explained what he went through and urged all to continue patience and help develop their personal skills.

Other stakeholders including Mayawa town chief, a stakeholder, Pa Alpha Conteh and many others spoke salient statements while displaying their struggles to achieve status.

However, the organizers where able to gets feedback that was  extremely valuable in fine-tuning the program for the full-scale rollout in subsequent years.

All the feedback also lends itself nicely to the other reason to use mentoring for the pilot mentoring program.

The climax of the event is the distribution of leaning materials and prize consolation to students who contribute and asked questions during the ceremony.