Introducing the AdAmi Project

 Hi, I’m Kirsty and I’m the Founder of the AdAmi Project. At present I’m working closely with a talented bunch of individuals both in the UK and Sierra Leone to turn our vision for the project into reality.

Our Vision - to support expectant and young mothers to return to education or find meaningful employment in Sierra Leone  

The concept for the project has been in development for almost a year.

So a brief background of how it all began. As some of you may know, I co-founded a small girls education project in Sierra Leone in 2009. The project now provides free quality primary education to 120 girls who were previously out of school, as well as awarding scholarships to graduating girls so that they continue their education at secondary school level. 

In November 2017 I received the news that two of the girls being supported with secondary school scholarships, and who had joined the project in 2010 as primary school pupils, had become pregnant. Sierra Leone has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world and presently all visibly pregnant girls in the country are banned from attending school. The justification for this ban? That pregnant girls set a bad example to their peers and must therefore be banned from attending school.

This ban continues to be enforced in spite of the fact that large numbers of girls in Sierra Leone become pregnant due to rape and coercion, often by men in positions of trust including family members and teachers. In one UNICEF study it was found that 30% of forced sex amongst teenagers was by a teacher[1]. Once out of school, many of these girls struggle to return to education. Without an education they risk being locked in a cycle of poverty - unable to find employment, become financially independent or live empowered lives.

When I learned of the girls’ pregnancies I immediately drew up an action plan to support them at a no doubt terrifying and uncertain time. But the school Manager took the decision to expel them, on the basis that they had taken advantage of their scholarship opportunity. There was much debate with the other UK trustees on the issue, but it was eventually agreed that we should not intervene due to cultural sensitivities. This was a decision I strongly disagreed with - it went against everything that I believed the project should stand for - and I was left me with no choice but to resign from the project I had originally set up in 2009.

[1] https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/assessments/teenage_pregnancy_report_unicef_final_aug_2010_2.pdf