It was a cool night with the temperature just right: the breeze blowing gently through the night rustling the leaves and branches that adorned the clusters of trees and shrubs encircling the venue hosting First Grand Award Night for True Unsung heroes. I was dazed by the sheer number of exotic BBC Top-Gear lookalike cars pulling up at the magnificent dome where the elegant banquet was being held to drop off honorary guests. I decided to get out of the London taxi on the other side of the street in order to walk across and be part of this grand event. I glanced from time to time and I noticed that guests attending the event had decided to adhere to the dress code for the evening. The ladies were clad in flawless long evening dresses/gowns that came in all
manner of colour and shapes. The men on the other hand looked sharp in their American and European cut suits. There were some men who were brave enough to truly pull off the African attire. Of course, with such a mass gathering, it was expected to attract high security. As soon as I arrived at the Dome entrance I was thoroughly frisked (Oh Yes! Even magazine journalist are frisked nowadays). For a moment, I was part of the limelight as I entered, arguably one of the most prestigious events of the year that was being held in La Royale, an elegant banqueting suite in Tottenham, North London. I found myself in a different world! For starters, , I was struck with awe by the magnificent beautiful red carpet that had been rolled out for the day’s guests and I could see several interviews were already going on.
By the way, before you get lost in all the glam, tonight’s event was arranged by African Calabash to honour some of our many unsung heroes that are doing a tremendous job but unfortunately go unrecognized. After greeting and posing for several photos with the likes of Sierra Leonean’s High Commissioner to UK, His Excellency Eddie Turay and several other celebrities, we were ushered into the majestic hall where the ceremony was about to start with all pomp and sway. As soon as we entered the hall we were welcomed with a soothing but exciting Africa Cocktail drink, and while the drink was ebbing its way through us, we were treated to a magnificent feast of an African European three course meal served...
with red and white wine according to taste. As we ate, the Masoke Dancers were on stage thrilling us with African dances and drums. But my enjoyment of such a delicious meal was quickly cut short as duty called, and as ... complimented a African Calabash journalist, I am paid to notice things that are not so evidently noticeable, such as the fact that guests in the hall numbered approximately four hundred and they were indeed multi- national. So I reluctantly left the arraignment of delectable delicacies and extravaganzas that littered the tables and took myself off to find out who the winners were for the different categories up for grabs The first category to grab my attention was that of Most Pro-Active Ex-Pupils’ Association in the United Kingdom. Old Edwardians Ex Pupil’s Association came out tops for this award, beating • Sierra Leone Grammar School ex pupil’s Association • St Joseph’s ex pupil’s Association, and • Our Lady of Guadeloupe alumni, for this prestigious award. The second Award up for grabs was Spiritual Wellbeing which was clinched by Pastor Joseph Sesay of Christ Pentecostal Church under the noses of other nominees Archbishop Daniel DTF Browne: - Founder of Universal Church of God, and Pastor Fayah. Another category, Spiritual Wellbeing was a tricky customer, but out of an attractive sizeable crowd of well deserving individuals, Sally and Roxanne were chosen as the winners of this prestigious award. Their videos showed how these two individuals unknown to each other and hailing from different parts of London, were able to uplift people’s spiritual well-being. Sally hails from Central London where she dedicates her time to visiting the sick, the dying and those people that have lost someone in their lives. She helps them heal spiritually by taking them through the different stages of grief and showing them how to recover and form a strong spirit. Joan on the other hand hails from North London and she dedicates her spare time to helping people deal with everyday life situations. She helps people who are suffering from depression, stress; people dealing with heart breaks and spiritual faith. She helps them understand why they need to be strong for their lives to have meaning. One category which really captivated my attention was, Charitable Activities. Londoners are known to be very charitable people; they give willingly and should be highly commended for it. This particular award attracted entries from literary the length and breadth of the country.
The Grand Awards Night for the True and Unsung Heroes
From the Asian who dedicates a quarter of his supermarket chain income monthly to the homeless in his town giving free bread and milk; to the African couple that have literary turned their home into a self- running children’s home where they are educating, feeding and clothing tens of orphaned children from the proceeds of food they have cultivated on their five acre piece of land.. Faith Okrafo-Smart, founder of Melqosh Mission International was awarded best charitable activity over other nominee runners up Kadi Sillah of Disability International, Barnice Langley of Calaba Town, Morenike Collier of Moe’s Children’s Foundation; Ms. Bridget Nicol, Lily’s Kid Klub in Brixton Proprietor, and AWOL UK. Another category up for grabs was SMEs serving our communities where the Corporate world held its own too. There were more than enough “Small and Medium Enterprises” that served their various communities, ready to blow their horn or have it blown for them on grand scales. African Calabash was more concerned with companies; especially those from developing and non-developed countries that were doing their best to educate communities on health and the simple measures they can take to eradicate killer diseases such as diarrhoea , cholera and dysentery. Some SME’s have such projects incorporated in their annual budget and as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to distribute items such as sanitary towels for free and bathroom packs to girls in many schools and communities in the areas which they serve. Some SME’s won recognition awards for simply building toilets that were not considered as a vital element in many communities. Main nominees for this award were Kalliso of SAMKAL Restaurant who came out victorious over Jaffa store, Kadmos; and Mariama Dunning runners up. Calabash Awards for Young Sierra Leonean Entrepreneurs were awarded to Young Sierra Leonean Entrepreneurs who had.
Manager of the year.
Event planning is not an easy task. Many of us take it for granted to be an ordinary errand of putting together a room or a party within a jiff. However, there is much more that pertains to events planning. Did you know that even planners must go to school and that the majority are gifted or have a special talent for the art? Yes school and not just attending a simple workshop. Calabash recognised these event planners extraordinary exemplary and plenipotentiary because of their outstanding and remarkable successes and performances in planning and executing their functions and duties. Guess what; even the planner who planned the day’s event was given an award and a standing ovation for coming up with an event that can only be compared to the OSCARS. This of course, leads to another category. All the previous awards had one thing in common; they all had some form of education. Education, in its basic form is the process of learning where knowledge, skills and habits are acquired by or transferred to an individual through a variety of methods. This is why Calabash honoured those who made Notable Contribution to Education. Indeed, formal and informal education has gone a long way in creating deserving nominees for all these awards. There are people in this world that deserve more than a standing ovation; they deserve a bow and hats off. These are individuals that contribute meaningfully to education either by supplying schools with learning materials for free or simply by dedicating their time to teaching students a skill or two without asking for any funds. Some of the winners were educationists who contributed their funds, time and skill to helping the upcoming generation to be literate and do something significant with their lives. Calabash paid heed to the adage, “health is wealth” by honouring those who devoted their time, energy and money in support of Health awareness. Without health, not many of us would be alive today. The award for the extraordinary individual that went out of his or her way to help other people become aware of the status of their health and how best they can avert some serious health issues went to Iyamide Thomas of the Sickle Cell Society. Iyamide has spent most of her adult life helping many families and communities become aware of Sickle cell The last category, but by no means the least was the award in the area of Shipping & Logistics went to the C.E.O of Rokel Shipping. Shipping is no mean fete and one that cannot be handled by any Jack or Jill. Just ask the FedEx managers what kind of ungodly hours they have to put in to get your package shipped and delivered to you, intact and on time. In his vote of thanks, Rokel’s shipping C.O.E explained the intricacies of shipping and logistic in lay man’s terms. And then, it was all over. Well not really over because after the awards ceremony we joined the winners and nominees in celebrating their efforts by attending the after-awards party with champagne and more Champaign that went on till the wee-wee hours of the morning.
