By Jonathan Hindolo Kurabu, D Catalyst
Opinion Leaders drawn from Yawei, Peje Bongre, Peje West and Njaluahun Chiefdoms in Kailahun District, in the eastern Sierra Leone, have recently participated in a day’s orientation on the role of opinion leaders and their involvements in the concept of Gender Model Family (GMF).
The engagement, an offshoot of the 12 (Twelve) months Promoting Livelihood Agriculture, Nutrition and Natural Resources Management (PLANN PROJECT) targeting 1,200 beneficiaries from 4 (four) Chiefdoms in Kailahun District, is implemented by Movement Towards Peace and Development Agency-Sierra Leone (MoPADA-SL) a local Non – Governmental Organization in Sierra Leone; aimed poverty alleviation, rural development, gender mainstreaming, women’s empowerment in four chiefdoms in Kailahun district, funded by the Irish Embassy in Sierra Leone.
Amos Bob Patrick, Programme Manager for the PLANN Project said the Gender Model Family GMF is geared towards addressing the inequalities and marginalization faced by women in the hands of their husbands, noting that a handful of rural women and children are often subjected to inhumane treatments and often than not, suffer in silence. GMF, he said will break the barriers of oppression and silence attributable to wife battery, domestic violence and child neglect.
Amos Bob Patrick reiterated the important role women play amid onerous domestic chores and admonished the male participants present to encourage their women and children to eat more of what they grow unlike selling them thereby promoting the concept of Livelihood Agriculture, Nutrition and Natural Resources Management in Kailahun district.
DPC Sub-Inspector Mathew Sowa, Line Manager, Family Support Unit (FSU) attached at the Segbwema Police Station in Njaluahun Chiefdom Kailahun district, disclosed that increased cases of family neglect and appealed to stakeholders present to always cater to the needs of their families rather than neglecting them. “Parents have an obligation to take care of their children,” he opined.
Two of the participants interviewed, Ezekiel Saffa and Bockarie Murray expressed profound delight over the engagement and also stated that their women and children will now form a key component in all decision making. They expressed profound thanks to Irish Embassy and MOPADA SL for educating and empowering their rural women. He urged them to replicate the same objectives to the remaining chiefdoms in Kailahun district.
The PLANN Project seeks to achieve diversified food production, yielding improved nutritional status and livelihood for targeted communities, improved knowledge on nutrition, mother and childcare as well as hygiene and basic sanitation practices, breakdown of gender – specific barriers among plethora of others.
