AdAmi Summer News 2025

As schools and training centres prepare to break for the holidays, the rainy season sets in across Sierra Leone. For the young mothers in our project, it marks the end of another rewarding but demanding year.

Many of the girls who join AdAmi face challenging circumstances. But their strength, courage, and determination have shone through over the past academic year. In this newsletter, we share just a few stories and updates that capture the spirit and achievements of our project, as well as the people behind it. Thank you for being part of it.

Doris (left) with Tiangay (right), a former participant of our project and now a leader of the network

Planting Seeds for a Stronger Future

Doris has been a trusted member of our team since we launched our project in 2018. Employed by our local partner, MEANS, she leads our work in Baoma, where the Community Girls Network continues to thrive.

A natural leader with a passion for agriculture, Doris helped secure land from local leaders to support the group’s farming work. In the past two years, the young women have grown groundnuts, cassava, and potatoes. Last year’s harvest raised enough income to pay the workers, provide nutritious food for their families and fund the school fees for 10 girls.

‘It’s not just about food,’ Doris tells us. ‘It’s about solidarity, sisterhood, and sustainability.’

Agriculture is a vital part of life in rural Sierra Leone. As we expand our work in these areas, we’re exploring how more young mothers can benefit from similar initiatives. Watch this space.

A shop with purpose

In Bo, our social enterprise shop is buzzing with activity. Over the past few months, the young mothers at the enterprise have taken part in new hands-on training sessions, learning how to make notebooks, bags, and doormats using locally available materials. But these are more than just craft items. The young mothers have also been learning business fundamentals, such as how to cost, price, and market their products.

Hawa is one of the newly qualified tailors now working at the shop, where she works full-time to help design new products and sew clothes. Her income supports her two children, and she speaks proudly about what the shop means to her and others:

‘We earn, we learn, and we support each other. I love it.’

The enterprise continues to grow as a space where young mothers can build skills, earn income, and regain a sense of purpose. With every new product made and customer served, they are proving what’s possible when young women are given the tools, and trust, to lead.

Supporting young mothers return to school

In addition to the many scholarships we awarded to young mothers for vocational training in 2024/2025, nearly 50 were also supported to return to formal secondary education. One of these young mothers is 16 year-old Hana, a single mother from Bo.

At just 14, Hana became pregnant and was forced to leave school. ‘My mother drove me from the house,’ she recalls. To survive, she sold hot pap, a local porridge, on the street. ‘Life was hard. People were gossiping about me. I felt ashamed.’

A local nurse referred Hana to the AdAmi Project in early 2024. By then, she had begun rebuilding her relationship with her mother, but life remained difficult. With support from the project, Hana returned to school in September and is now in JSS2. ‘I am doing better,’ she says. ‘I’ve learnt a lot from the life skills sessions.’

Her mother also received a small business grant and now sells goods in the market, helping to support the family. Though challenges remain, Hana is hopeful.

‘When I finish school, I want to go to college. I want to be a nurse.’

*Bintu with a client at her hairdressing salon*

After Graduation: Putting Skills into Practice

We’re always proud when young mothers graduate from the programme, but even more so when we see how they use their skills beyond it.

Over the past year, many graduates have launched small businesses, started saving, and built stronger lives for themselves and their children.

One of them is Bintu. At 22, she graduated from her hairdressing course with a start-up grant and a basic hairdressing kit. She started by making and selling hair caps, saving enough to rent her own small salon.

Her business now supports her and her daughter. She reinvests most of her income and recently used her savings to buy a small plot of land in her home village.

‘It’s going well for me,’ she says. ‘I’ve done something for myself.’

*Mariatu, our Country Manager, welcoming parents and caregivers to a family gathering*

Looking Ahead

Save the date: AdAmi Pub Quiz! Join us on Wednesday 8th October in central London for a fun and meaningful evening to raise funds for the project. More details coming soon - please mark your calendar!

Women & Girls Match Fund - The quiz coincides with Big Give Week (8–15 October). During this week, all donations to the AdAmi Project will be doubled. We will be sending further information in the weeks running up to the campaign. We hope you will help us reach our £10,000 target!

New cohort enrolling - Our team in Sierra Leone is preparing to welcome a new group of young mothers in September. We’re excited to share their stories with you in the months ahead.

Thank You!

Your support helps make stories like Hana’s, Hawa’s, and Bintu’s possible. If you’re able, please consider donating this summer — every bit really does make a difference.
👉 www.adamiproject.org/donate

Thank you for being part of this journey.