AJ 23 Foundation Supports Over 300 Primary School Pupils With Learning Materials

AJ 23 Foundation has on Friday, 23 December 2022 provided learning materials to over 300 pupils of REC Primary School, Mama Beach.

The donations were part of the official launching ceremony of the foundation. Over 300 pupils were provided with bags, pens, pencils and other school supplies.

According to Abdul Conteh, the donations and lunching of the foundation are the ideas and vision of his 8 years old son, Abdul Rahman Conteh Jr aka AJ.

He said his son conceived the idea few years ago, in regards to extending helping hands to poor and less privilege children in Sierra Leone.

He noted that one of the goals of the foundation is to improve and promote childhood education, adding that they will be providing lunch and the other support for the children.

“We bought 300 bags which include school supplies like; pens, pencils, sharpeners, etc. We bought some chairs and school furniture as well. We are also going to renovate the school, outside and inside,” he noted.

Conteh noted that over $5,000 has been spent in the project from of his own pocket, adding that anyone out there who want to donate should do so on their website.

“I have a website named 4LC which is a task I created for the people that are living in the United States, and we have a GoFundMe account as well,” he said.

He went on to call on everybody to support him and his son so that they can achieve their goal for the school and the community.

“It’s a all hands on deck thing. My son may have the idea, but I will need everybody to be behind him and support him to make sure that the goal for this community is accomplished,” Conteh stated.

He disclosed that they are going have a scholarship fund in which every year they are going to identify kids they will sponsor from elementary to university level.

Conteh said he has a health and transportation company in the U.S called Humbe Home Health and Humble Transportation, noting that they are funding the organization, but they are looking for other parties to come in.

“I leave the door wide open for everybody. This is all hands on deck. It’s not only going to be Mama Beach, but it is going to be across the board to help out with school lunch and education commission as well.

Abdul Rahman Conteh Jr. aka AJ said he conceived the idea of giving back to poor and less privileged children in Sierra Leone following a discussion he had with his father.

“I got the motivation to do this because my dad told me that in Sierra Leone there are lot of kids who don’t have the opportunity to do the same stuff as me,” he said.

Aminata Nabie Conteh, (AJ’s mother), said they are from Virginia, Washington, D.C., adding that her role there was to support his son and his dream and ideas.

“We want to support A.J as much as possible with any ideas he has, and he has some bright ideas. This is just the beginning,” she said.

She said they are building a home in the community and the school is in close proximity to their home, adding that they don’t only want to be members in the community, but be development partners as well.

Eileen Teckham (AJ’s aunty), said the foundation is trying to promote education by tackling the challenges that the education system is faced with in different communities in the country.

She said that they are going to provide lunches in school, school supplies and help with other tools and resources that the children may need to access quality education.

Septimus A. Thompson, the Head Man of the Mama Beach Community thanked the AJ Foundation for the support, adding that they are advocating for education so that there children will benefit from it in the long run.

He said it’s not every one that is fortunate to send their children to a private school, but if a support like this is given to a government school the difference will not be great between private schools and government schools.

“We are asking other people with the means and financial capacity to come on board and help us. We should not only depend on the government to develop our schools,” Thompson said.

One of the beneficiaries, Ramatu Koroma, a class 3 pupil expressed thanks and appreciation to the AJ Foundation for the donations.

“I am very happy to receive these donations. This will inspire me to focus more on my studies,” she said.

As part of the lunching ceremony, a football match was played between Mama Stars Vs Young Stars. The match ended 3-3 in regular time, with Young Stars went on to win 3-2 on penalties. Trophies handing over ceremony climaxed the event.