Commentary
By Arolyn Ibrahim Koroma, Washington D.C. (USA).
Sierra Leone’s First Lady Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma made an impromptu visit to Washington D.C to attend CARE International’s 50th Anniversary Conference. Her entourage comprised of her personal physician, Jaraie Kabba-Kebbe, MD., her program coordinator Ms. Florence Katta, Personal Assistant Mrs. Musu Matturi Dao and security detail Mr. Sheka Conteh.
The conference, which started on May 9 through May 14, 2010 was focused on the national undertakings of three prominent African First Ladies, Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Ida Betty Odinga, wife of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya and Mrs. Maria Da Luz Gebuza of the Republic of Mozambique. They were special guests of honor at CARE’s 50th anniversary.
The performances of these three women on the world stage no doubt have raised the offices of First Ladies to a level to be reckoned with. These ladies, though not elected, occupy one of the most envied positions and their roles on the international stage is increasing. Their positions are so vital that the international donor agencies RAND Organization and CARE International which is celebrating its 50th anniversary needed their supportive testimonial roles to lobby the United State Congress to increase funding for women’s causes especially for reproductive health in order to meet the millennium development goals.
The First Ladies including Mrs. Sia Koroma(pictured) met over 300 Senators, Congressmen and other equally important personalities both in the funding sector and in the fight for Global Poverty Reduction.
CARE International has eleven partners in eleven countries and it is present in over seventy countries where it fights Global Poverty. The President and CEO of CARE International Dr. Helen Gayle reiterated CARE’S commitment to partner with African First Ladies in making a difference in the lives of mothers and children in some developing nations.
Many donors, including Mr. Dona Hovig who is president and CEO of MARIE STOPES International asserted their company’s continued support to the government and people of Sierra Leone in promoting Family Planning and women’s productive health issues, and global poverty reduction (GPR).
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her contribution, stressed sustained funding for micro banking, combating obesity, poverty and the issue of under-nutrition and the effectiveness of life–saving medications, including the antiretrovirals needed by people living with HIV/AIDS.
As a follow up from previous meetings in the U.S., each in their own endeavors, the First Ladies were to educate their American audience including Congress on national issues they are active in or embrace in their respective countries. The unassuming Sierra Leone First Lady Mrs. Sia N. Koroma stepped on to the political stage as a medical psychiatrist nurse with a bachelors’s degree in Bio-chemistry. She is without a doubt uniquely qualified to represent her nation in the world political arena in discussing daunting health issues.
Her public revelation of her intention to assist the marginalized women encapsulated everything the populace expected from a First Lady and hence, won the hearts and minds of the Sierra Leone public. Her commitment to women’s issues led to the birth of her Women’s Initiative for Safer Health (WISH) organization. She founded WISH to improve women’s reproductive health needs. As of May 8, 2010 Sierra Leone’s population hit 6, 705, 634 (U.N. pop fig.) . Out of this, 52% are women whom poverty, lack of information and education have prevented from participating and making well informed decisions that concern them.
The dynamic and eloquent Mrs. Sia Koroma has an extraordinary way of charming her audience and her mellow style has won her respect and brought international recognition to her nation. She succinctly clarified the burning issues that confront her nation, which captivated her audience’s attention and received the loudest and longest round of applause in both the Ronald Reagan Conference Hall and at the Congressional hearing.
Mrs. Koroma left no stone unturned in her effort to dilate on the challenges faced by women in third world countries including Sierra Leone, a nation that was once cited by international agencies as the worst in infant mortality rates.
She stressed the fact that the absence of adequate government health care assistance is responsible for continued loss of lives of both pregnant women and their babies. Her vigilance in embracing the health of both children and women had shed more light and brought the issue to the attention of the Sierra Leone government. The government has embraced the issue but without adequate international funding the it will be shelved.
As a product of a result oriented family, Mrs. Sia Koroma implemented methods to ensure that no needy woman and child will be left behind. She incorporated the participation of religious institutions, clergy men, and local government; the chiefs of respective regions; villages and towns to be watch dogs in order to expose pregnant women who through lack of knowledge try to evade the clinics. Among tactics used, she lures them by issuing packages that contain diapers, baby oil, baby clothes, milk etc to new mothers who seek delivery in hospitals. Her methodology captivated Congress’s interest and other nations’ representatives who applauded her ingenuity and promised to implement her method in their quest for a solution to curb the infant mortality rate in their respective countries.
On the world stage Mrs. Koroma has proved to be both inspirational and a pace setter. She is a woman who works right alongside her husband in moving forward President Dr. Ernest Koroma’s administration’s much needed agenda for change to a nation whose infrastructure, economy, health and social sectors were at the brink of a total collapse.
She revealed her concerns to various United States newspapers and in radio interviews. In some instances interviewers and questions from the audiences forced these ladies into admissions of corruption which sometimes slowed the international funding to improve solve problems. Our First Lady does not however shy away from admission of corruption in Sierra Leone and immediately highlighted her husband, Dr. Ernest B. Koroma’s formation of the
Anti-Corruptions Commission to combat sleaze in Sierra Leone and the strides the effort had made.
She made it known (at the Hill) to Congress and her other audiences that her husband Dr. Ernest B. Koroma’s administration has embraced the national health care issue especially for the women and children. Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad readily appreciated her unrelenting efforts to bring the nation’s health problem, which is a long neglected basic human right issue to the forefront of the nation’s development agenda.
Through the collaborative effort of the populace and some international agencies, NGO’s, UNFPA. WHO and UNERSG, the Sierra Leone government had on April 27, 2010 declared free health care (FHC) for pregnant women, lactating women and children under five. This declaration touched so many Americans as they are undergoing similar issues, that the First Lady was surprised by the multitude that followed her to her hotel suite to thank her for the strides Sierra Leone has made.
The first lady could not have chosen a better venue than the Washington DC Metropolitan for her social entertainment after a hectic week. The Diaspora treated her to a cultural and traditional show that will go into history books as supreme. The event was moderated by former APC N/A National Secretary General Mr. Abdul Bero Kamara and Washington D.C. chapter Women’s wing assistant Ms. Abibatu Daramy. The event was opened by the up and coming rising star ten year old Janet Lagah-Bona who sang the national anthem. She was followed by Voice of America Radio personality Mr. David Vandy, whose hilarious comedy set the stage for an evening to be remembered. He was followed by Sierra Leonean international Super Stars Vicky Fornah, Daddy Muss and Cameroonian Super Star Josephine Atanga.
The event’s high point came when the Washington DC Chapter recognized the hard work of some members in the APC family whose relentless labor had and continues to advance the party and the nation.
On behalf of the chapter plaques were presented to Sierra Leone’s President Dr. Ernest B. Koroma by the Chapter’s president Lt. Colonel(Rtd) Idrissa Kamara, for president Koroma’s excellent leadership and commitment to moving the country forward from being at the bottom of the ladder among nations to positive international recognition.
The First Lady was recognized for her tenacity of purpose and vision that birthed the WISH organization. a program that assures the women of our land that there is assistance around the corner and that they should not lose hope.
The former North American National Chairman now Honorable Alimamy G. Kargbo, whose tenure of office as chairman was classed as one of the best was honoured, so was former Acting Interim Chairman Mr. Leslie Edward Allen, for his exceptional leadership of the North American Branch at a time it was on periodic life-support.
The tempo of the social event was further elevated by cultural and traditional dances that could only be portrayed as the battle of the roses. It drew a crowd on to the dance floor enough to fill the parliament building. And in a second the First Lady realized that she has gotten more than she bargained for and the rest of the night became history.
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