By Mariama Sheriff Kabia (YES 2018-2019, Sierra Leone, placed with AFS in Cleveland, OH)

As we all know, COVID-19 is a deadly virus in every part of the world and it has killed so many people. So as a YES alumni, I decided to come up with the project of providing face masks to pupils and also giving them handouts with COVID-19 precautionary measures. I discussed this with my YES country coordinator and she gave me the green light to go ahead with project. We chose the Rosetta Primary School and the Lirem High School to carry out this project. 

I was accompanied by my parents when this project was carried out on June 30, 2020. We went to the school and talked with the principal and she welcomed the idea. I talked to the pupils about COVID-19. They should always be washing their hands with soap and water or using hand sanitizer and to be wearing their face mask in and out of the school compound. These are the only ways they would be safe if they put it into practice. Then I distributed the face masks with handouts of COVID-19 precautionary measures to the pupils. 

This project impacted 100 pupils. The number is not that large because school was just reopened, and parents were scared to send their children to school because of the pandemic. However, looking at confirmed cases within the country, I said to myself that I needed to step in and help out, especially with the pupils since school just reopened. This inspired me to go on with the project, as not every parent would be able to provide these things for their child. So as a concerned citizen and a YES alumni, I was motivated by this and that made me do this project. 

Owing to the rise of confirmed cases and deaths globally, I want to continue the project, although slightly differently from the previous one. This time around, I will engage stakeholders within the community, like local authorities, chiefs, councillors, spiritual leaders, and youth. I want to do this because I want the message to go far and wide within my community and even beyond and for people to follow the prescribed measures: wearing face masks, washing of hands with soap and water or using hand sanitizer, maintaining social distance, avoiding public gathering, and calling the COVID-19 hotline if symptoms arises. I have seen the impact on to the pupils after I visited the schools where I distributed the face masks and the handouts about COVID-19. 

What inspired me the most is that the country I find myself in is Sierra Leone, which is a very poor country with poor medical facilities. Looking at coronavirus, a deadly disease, made me to step in and help to prevent people from contracting it. If I sit back without going out there with what I know, with all that I am capable of doing while this disease illness befalls my community, I don't think I would be able to live to tell the story. So that was why I had to do what I could for my community to be safe.