Kushe' Magazine Volume II December 2013 | Page 45

Changing the Past, Rewriting the Future teer network works to unite people, illuminating possibilities, and creating opportunities where there was once little hope. AYM seeks to uplift the status of marginalized youths by ensuring their inclusion in national development and social transformation in a country once riddled by suffering and stagnation brought about by years of civil war. For over ten years, the organization has improved the lives of hundreds of people in Sierra Leone focusing on one major war trigger, youth unemployment. shape their future.” Abu-Hassan ‘Askia’ Koroma Founder and President of AYM. AYM has re-educated and encouraged youths towards becoming socio-economically productive. With an unemployment rate averaged at 60 percent, one of the largest in the world, too many Sierra Leonean youths ages 14 - 35 live below the poverty line at $2 a day. They resort to drug abuse or illegal diamond smuggling. If not averted, the unemployment crisis could potentially hinder the nation’s stability, widen illiteracy, and marginalize the w