BY IBRAHIM JOENAL SESAY
232NEWS, FREETOWN
Bill Pipke, Bruce Mann and team are currently in Sierra Leone from Canada through Commissioning A Life Style of Integrity organization. In a two-day engagement with teachers from various schools in the western area indicated that they are not dismantling corruption but building integrity.
Bill Pipke was addressing teachers at Excel Daycare, Nursery and Academy in Freetown. He indicated that they had been in Sierra Leone a number of times working with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), teachers group, business group, the military, police and different government ministries.
Bill went on to say they come from a proactive place where they are encouraging, training and motivating people to understand the long term benefit of integrity.
He described corruption as a short term and have easy benefit that come but those benefit decrease because it have to be sustain, manipulated and one have to continue to be corrupt to build on it but integrity is growing benefits.
He pointed out that they feel and believe that as people choose to live life of integrity, it can make a change in life, at homes, communities and eventually the nation.
“Integrity is the norm and corruption is the exception, we want to reverse that trend”, he said.
He further stated that they spend a lot of time working with church groups; because there is this odd statistic indicating that there is a high level of religious engagement (Christian and Muslim) but a low level of integrity.
“So why is that the case, when the church is believed to be a place of integrity, Church attendance is great but leaving a life of integrity is of more importance.
He confirmed that integrity is a slow process, but they know it will not happen overnight; beginning to change a nation is a generational approach and need generational mindset.
According to Bill, the reason why they are looking at the teachers is because they are shaping the next generation.
He disclosed that, Commissioning A Life Style of Integrity organization have built a curriculum for children which will help them to understand and create the change that will make a different in the nation.
Commissioning A Life Style of Integrity Country Representative, Desmond Johnson disclosed that couple of days they have been engaging the ACC staff on capacity building. They also thought it fit to engage teachers to help train them on integrity.
“We believe we can tackle integrity issue in this country, by giving teachers our tools, if we can get the teachers, we can get the kids in the classrooms,” he said.
He went on to say they are not only targeting the teachers, they have also engaged the Military, Police and the Media among others.
“We are targeting the whole nation. We have engaged the teachers in the west of Freetown now are the time for those in the west and later the province,” he stated.
He emphasized that integrity should be on everyone, it is not the gratification one is receiving now but the reward one will get later.
“If you be a man or a woman of integrity, there will be a reward after not the gratification you are looking for. By putting the virtue, there is a reward of integrity when you leave a life of it. Integrity always goes with a cost,” he said.
He concluded by saying they are looking for a man and a woman that will build this nation in different career.
Teachers expressed gratitude to Commissioning A Life Style of Integrity organization for the timely teaching. They described the teaching as eye-openers for them and promised to practicalized the teaching to the children in their various schools.
