Orange Foundation SL honored the International Day of the African Child with Disable Kids around the country on Thursday, June 16, 2022.
This year’s festival has as its subject the abolition of harmful behaviors affecting children.
Children from the Milton Margai School for the Blind, the National School for the Deaf, the Albinism family, teachers from these many institutions, and their parents attended the ceremony at Orange Sierra Leone Headquarters.
Orange Foundation SL was founded early last year with the goal of supporting free quality education in the country, establishing the country’s first digital center for women and girls, and donating menstrual hygiene pads to girls, to mention a few initiatives.
Desmond Spaine, speaking on behalf of the foundation, provided a brief background of why June 16 is observed each year.
He stated that in 1976, white men slaughtered children in Soweto, South Africa and that throughout the process, every chance and facility was taken away from the black people, adding that owing to the all-out conflict in South Africa, it was impossible for the children at the time to receive a proper education.
In his explanation, he went on to say that because the children were denied a good education, they decided to protest by calling on the white government to listen to their cries, but they were denied, and that during the process, South African police opened live fire on the children, leading to their deaths.
“This is why all around the world June 16 is celebrated and called the day of the African Child, this day is important to us all as we are not only mourning the death of our brothers and sisters that died in South Africa in 1976 but also we are celebrating the need to learn” he stated
