By Bockarie Allieu
FREETOWN, Jan. 26 (SALONE TIMES) – The Program Manager for OlymAfrica International Yaye Ndiate Sall was in Sierra Leone over the weekend to supervise a six weeks Futbal Net Pilot festival program at the OlymAfrica Center, Goderich in Freetown.
The above program started six weeks ago with over 100 school children of both sex. The theme of the program was Respect, Tolerance and Team Work. The Children were involved in different sports and cultural activities with volunteers supervising them.
According to the Program Manager Ndiate Sall, the OlymAfrica foundation had built community Centers for different Africa Countries. She said already they have 50 centers were they organize different Futbal Net programs in collaboration with IOC and the sponsors Barcelona foundation through the NOCs in Africa. The above program is to make the children happy, take them out of the street and discourage them from taking drugs. In this case the Program Manager said she was impressed with what she has seen the children doing in Sierra Leone. She thanked and commended the National Olympic Committee in Sierra Leone for their support and collaboration with OLymAfrica. She appealed to the government to embrace the foundation as the centers they build will be for the benefit of the people. To the parents, she told them to be rest assured that their children are in good hands that can transform to be better people in the future. The Director of OlymAfrica in Sierra Leone Frank Turay said the program started six months ago with different schools divided into two shifts. The morning hours he said is for children who goes to school in the afternoon hours and in the afternoon for children who go to school in the morning hours. According to him the program helps the children to know the value of Sports, respect each other, Team work, and Love one another, discipline and tolerance. Frank Turay said they have been working with PHE teachers in the various schools to help the program go on smoothly. He also said they are working in collaboration with the parents which enable them to transform several children who were already out of control. The Secretary General of NOC Joseph Nyande assured the Program Manager that the NOCSL will continue to collaborate and give full support to the foundation. He told the children to take the sporting activities serious as it will help some in their exams and some he said will end up to take one of the sports as their career in the future. The Director of Sports Haroun Korjie thanked the Foundation and NOC for catching them young. At this stage he said they will learn fast. He told the children to take sport serious alongside their education as one day Sports will take them to different places in the World. Beside he said Sports will make them become healthy.
