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Vickie Remoe is a television producer, host of the "Vickie Remoe Show" on AYV TV Channel 33, and a strategic communications and marketing consultant. She has just started a free masterclass for interested learners to develop digital skills. Her online news platform (SwitSalone.com) pays young people to submit local content stories.

Joan Adama Kainessie is a local designer and entrepreneur.  "As a girl, whenever my Dad would buy me (fabric), I'd take a pencil and draw what I wanted (the tailor) to sew. Later, when my step mum set up a shop, I was excited about having my clothes made right in front of me. So, I sat and watched her.  "When my mum closed the shop, I would (make clothes) and sell them to my friends at college. Eventually, my drawing book became my treasure. People were hiring me to do their designs and before I knew it, I started realizing a huge amount of money. Now, I encourage young people to grow so that they could hit the road to empowerment as I did years back."  Joan is teaching everything she has learned to six apprentices, who take home up to 300,000 Leones a month. They work on all kinds of designs in the workshop as they train to be dressmakers and tailors. Customers pay anything from 15,000 Leones for fabric and accessories to over 80,000 Leo...

Williette James is head of the Mass Communications department at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. Recently, she introduced the Women's Leadership Initiative. The group fights to nurture women and university students like me, Inyilla Conteh of Young Life in Freetown , in diverse ways. "The initiative is to help strengthen the minds of young women, who feel their views and opinions are never important in the gatherings they attend," she said. "We are going to ensure that we expose them to media and other opportunities by enabling them to master the art of public speaking. Most women are shy to speak in public; even the educated ones, and we aim to bridge that gap because bold women always stand a chance of blunting the sharp ends to possibilities,” she said.  Seven years ago, James was the coordinator of the U.N.-backed Gender Media Club in Sierra Leone, She told VOA that "it’s imperative that the press give more coverage to women's...

Sierra Leone’s government has signed a  deal for new buses, a news report said recently. According to the papers, the Xiamen Golden Dragon Bus Company in China is expected to supply 200 buses. The agreement was sealed at the China-Africa Summit, where President Maada Bio led a 15-man delegation. For now, just three minibusses serve hundreds of students at Fourah Bay College, which sits at the top of Mount Aureol in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. When it's home time, students who live off campus spend hours in long queues.  Typically, only the strongest make it into the jampacked trucks and minibusses. Minus the minibusses, a few taxis ply the route from downtown to the hilly campus. But even getting into those is a struggle. Past 5:00 pm, the taxis hardly come by. "The other day, I nearly broke my wrist trying to gain into a taxi, “ complained Haja Kadiatu Kamara, one of the students waiting in line. “It was so scary the way fellow students pushed to...

Benita Urey, the daughter of rich Liberian politician Benoni Urey, is channeling her energy towards a cause in Careysburg, which she is proud to call home. “I remember being in Careysburg after the war with my father, playing with kids in my community and having the time of my life. I hold Careysburg close to my heart," she said.  Benita has used sport to build trust within communities on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia's capital. She has organized team building football games to bring young people together. "Now I have a bigger dream," she says. Beach erosion has become a severe problem in Liberia, and poor people are suffering the most. "The sea is eating away at our country and leaving hundreds of people homeless," Benita says. We must come together as a country to not only draw attention to the ongoing threat but also help the victims of erosion." Benita is building an awareness campaign and helping provide shelter for tho...

Tuzee Mariama Toure is passionate about sustainable peace and a better Liberia for all. Recently, this amazing young woman and her friends came together to set up a new program at a children's park. The Chevron Monrovia Central Park, situated at Vai Town, was officially opened by Liberia's former president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in 2014. During the opening ceremony , Sirleaf said the park will go a long way in allowing the Liberian child to play once again.  Every Saturday, Tuzee and her friends read to children and help them with their homework.--Written By Kamal Anisiobi.

Two days back I was home in bed, and a friend called me, (she was heading to work), and she said, “Kamal if you don’t have anything important to do in town today just stay indoors because the flood at your junction is terrible!" It’s been quite some rainfall we’ve experienced in Monrovia these past few days. Everyone enjoys cool weather no doubt, but unfortunately, not everyone will be pleased about the rains, most especially me who is a resident of the old road community in Sinkor, as well as the residents who live around the Freeport town area in Monrovia. There's massive flooding on major junctions and roads in our areas. Cars can’t pass because the water has risen to the point of even entering the cars. Pedestrians must walk through the water just to cross the roads. Its been catastrophic, and all this is largely due to the lack of drainage systems that we have in Liberia. -- Story by Kamal Anisiobi