Our people
2YoungLives is a truly global project with staff and volunteers working from both Sierra Leone and the UK
The founders
Lucy November started 2YoungLives with Mangenda Kamara in 2017. She works closely with the teams in Sierra Leone and visits whenever possible. She particularly enjoys celebrating at our graduations and training new teams of mentors.
Lucy is based at King’s College London as a researcher in adolescent motherhood.
Mangenda Kamara set up 2YoungLives with Lucy in 2017 after being her research assistant in 2016. Mangenda manages the project day-to-day in Sierra Leone.
She is also a university lecturer and is studying for an MPhil researching educational opportunities for adolescent mothers.
Kuntorloh team
Ruth, Marie and Aminata were our first three mentors when we set up the project.
Based in Kuntorloh, they have brought care, professionalism and commitment to the project, developing the mentor role throughout the pilot year.
To meet the high demand for mentoring in Kuntorloh we trained a second team of mentors in 2018. Wuyata, Sallymatu and Sallamatu joined 2YoungLives and have adopted the same level of dedication and care for their mentees.
Augusta Jaba is our coordinator in Kuntorloh. She keeps things running smoothly, supporting the mentors, organising our big monthly meeting and meal together, and collecting vital data.
Port Loko team
In March 2019 we started a team in Port Loko, Bo District. The team is coordinated by Isatu and has three great mentors – Mariatu, Mamie and Nanneh. Together they have introduced the project into Port Loko with energy and dedication.
Bumpe team
In November 2019 we travelled to Bumpe, a small town in Bo District to train a whole new team of mentors. Here’s our new team, mentors Susan Lansana, Esther Ngandor and Mamie Mattia and their coordinator Theresa Yambasu.
UK volunteer team
Rebecca Coles has supported Lucy and the team for several years, promoting the work of 2YoungLives to supporters and other organisations. She has travelled to Freetown to see the project in action.
The mums
So far 80 young women have been part of 2YoungLives. These young women are resilient, resourceful and committed to creating a positive future for themselves and their children.
They support and encourage each other throughout the process and many of them create positive friendships that we hope will last as they move beyond their time as a mentee.
Eisha* is one of our mums. She was just 16 when she found out she was pregnant. She had to leave school, had nowhere to live and felt very alone and hopeless until 2YoungLives came into contact with her. Now she has returned to school, runs a small business and has reconciled with her family thanks to the support of her mentor.
She has grown in confidence and is helping other pregnant teenagers by sharing her own experience and using the 2YoungLives materials on safe pregnancy and birth. Eisha is proud of her achievements and we are too. She has great strength, is able to support her family and is determined to be a great mother. She is role model, a friend and peer mentor in her own right.
*name changed