Having spent his childhood in a rural community with little no or opportunities, Foeday Zinnah decided to create a different experience for youths growing up in rural areas in Liberia. In this interview with Project Inspire Africa, Foeday talks about what he doing and the change it has brought.
Can we meet you?
My name is Foeday Zinnah,a 27 years old Liberian citizen. My hobbies includes listening to music, observing nature, and meeting new friends.
I am a Christian, a Seventh Day Adventist by faith,a husband and father.My hobbies include listening to music, observing nature and meeting new friends.
Tell us briefly about your childhood experience.
I grow up at a refugee kid in Guinea due to the civil war in Liberia.I am the first child in my family and I have four little sisters (Krubo, Pauline, Musu, and Godsay). My parents have been married for over 28 years and they are very young in appearance. I love them and always get inspired by their lifestyles. I didn't have the ‘ideal’ childhood experience like many people would want but my parents worked really hard to meet our daily needs and were strong enough to conquer every odds that came against them.
What’s your educational background?
I attended the Mother of Jesus Christ School,Dolo Town and the Firestone Senior High School Margibi County, Monrovia for primary and secondary school education. I have a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Liberia. I have also obtained a lot of certification in Leadership Development ranging from National and International institutions like YALI RLC, West Africa ; National Training Academy in Egypt, YPLSA in Liberia, and World Peace Initiative.
What is the level of youth political participation in your country?
Many young people are getting more involved in politics. This current administration has done better in terms of youths occupying high political positions. The sad news however is that young people are always used by politicians to achieve their political goals. Young people are still struggling to create a political space for themselves. Many of them are still serving their political masters but we believe that the future will be better.
What are your contributions to making your country a better place?
I owe my country a lot. For the past years, I have been involved in rural youth development and advocacy. Youths in rural areas seem to be the forgotten ones. They don't have the tools to create safe spaces for themselves. As a result, they have to migrate from their homes to urban areas for a better life and education and those who can't migrate dream less. To fill in these gaps, I founded a nonprofit organization called Youth Alliance for Rural Development in Liberia(YARD-Liberia), Inc. with the vision to create self-sustaining generations of youth in rural areas in Liberia through education outreach, health, leadership development, and other social ventures.
What steps did you take to bring your vision to fruition?
To help others develop, you must first develop yourself since you can't give what you don't have. The major step I took to bring to reality my vision for Liberian youths was to begin to acquire basic leadership skills and build a global network of like-minded youth and influencers. As I traveled,I gained more exposure that has helped me performed better.
What are your achievements?
Establishing YARD-Liberia, Inc. is my biggest achievement. Over 2000 persons have been impacted in rural places. We have continued to be a beacon of hope for youths in rural areas as we advocate, lead, and inspire development in rural.
We have trained over 530 young persons in the areas of leadership development and volunteerism. Over 5,000 persons from rural areas have benefited from our health outreaches. We have mobilized and advocated for transparency, justice , citizens participation and gender-based violence. We have trained over 20 primary and secondary students to serve as campus ambassadors for our organization.
During the COVID-19 pandemic,we carried out awareness campaigns and distributed prevention materials to 25 communities.
What motivated you to do what you are doing?
I grew up in a rural with no opportunity to self-develop. There was nothing like mentorship programs, leadership training, and public speaking coaching; yet these opportunities were available in urban areas. After gaining such exposure, I decided to replicate same not just where I grew up in but in every rural community I can find in Liberia.
What has been your major challenge since you began YARD-LIBERIA ?
Like many non-profit organizations, my major challenge has been funding.
How have you been able to raise money to implement your ideas?
At first,all of our projects were self-funded between me and the members of my team. But again, I discovered that if you have an inclusive project, the local community gives their full support. This has always worked for us. Recently,we obtained mini-funding from Shareyourself.org and UNDP through NAYMOTE to implement our COVID-19 response projects.
Could you share with us one or two experience(s) you have had in the course of your campaign that has impacted you?
In the course of this work,I have realized that many youths in my community look up to me to show them the way. I am humbled by this responsibility and committed to continue to give my best. I have had the privilege of travelling to different parts of the world and my goal always is to learn new things so that I can come back home and improve the state of things in my community.
What are your prospects in the next 5 or 10 years?
Our goal in the next decade, is to inspire more Liberian youths in rural communities not just to dream big but provide them with the necessary tools to actualize those dreams.
Personally, I am working towards establishing a construction company that would provide employment opportunities for our young people. I also want to build a great family, make my wife and children the happiest people on earth.(laughter)
What do you think is the major cause of unemployment in Africa, and how can we get over this?
We are running a bankrupt educational system sponsored by defective leadership. To make matters worse, some youths have refused to think aside the box. They prefer to be handed out peanuts by politicians instead of developing themselves for a better future. The solution to this is to revamp our educational system in a way that makes what we learn relevant to the labour market.
If you had an opportunity to speak to presidents in Africa, what would be your message?
Build the African we want to see, through a collective, and collaborative youth alliance because the future of Africa lies in our hands.
Thank you Foeday for sharing your story with us.
My pleasure!
Follow and Like Us On Facebook and Instagram:
Comments
Post a Comment