Our solution

We realised that with the support of an adult they can trust, teenage mothers in Sierra Leone could have a healthy pregnancy, a safe birth and thrive as parents

The pilot project – Mentoring in Kuntorloh, Freetown

In 2017 Lucy November and Mangenda Kamara started 2YoungLives as a pilot in the community at Kuntorloh, training local women to mentor pregnant teens. Since then, 2YoungLives has grown, spreading out across the country. Not one of the 343 teenagers we have mentored has died, and we have lots of good news to share in our 2020 Project Report

The Teen: Kadiatu from Smartwork Films on Vimeo.

What does mentoring involve?

Our mentors are trained to help each pregnant teen:

  • prepare for motherhood
  • deal with day-to-day issues they face
  • access antenatal care
  • find a safe place to live
  • develop small businesses
  • where possible, restore family relationships
  • Encourage and support to return to school
Meet the mentors

What’s next for 2YoungLives?

We have lots of supporters who are fundraising to help us train and fund more mentors in more communities.

New partnerships and funding are currently being sought to further develop this project’s reach and impact.

From September 2021 we have been part of a new NIHR Global Health Research Group, CRIBS (Capacity. Research. Innovation. Building maternity Systems) in Sierra Leone led by KCL and the University of Sierra Leone.

Email lucy.november@kcl.ac.uk for more information.

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