For more than 25 years, Christian Kamara has worked to empower young people and strengthen communities across Sierra Leone. As Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA of Sierra Leone and a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Freetown, Christian has been with his organization through civil war, Ebola, and COVID-19, and kept building through all of it. He visited the Rotary Club of Barrie recently as a guest speaker, and the Club was better for it.
The centrepiece of Christian’s visit was an update on a vocational training centre currently under construction approximately four hours from Freetown. The centre will provide young people with practical training in solar energy, electrical installation, construction, and entrepreneurship, and is expected to serve 50 to 60 students at a time. Young people from the surrounding community have already participated directly in the construction itself, carrying water, assisting with labour, and helping bring the project to life. The goal is to complete construction and equipment installation by December so classes can begin in the new year.
The YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka has partnered with the YMCA of Sierra Leone for more than 20 years, contributing approximately $100,000 annually to support operations, school expansion, and emergency relief work. Christian described himself simply as a “Rotarian for life,” and around his organization, difficult questions are sometimes answered with a simple phrase: “What would Christian do?”. President Jeff presented Christian with a Rotary Club of Barrie banner. Jim Williams introduced the presentation.