Build a community center with Mohamed

Former NFL wide receiver Mohamed “Mo” Sanu is giving back to his native Sierra Leone and calling it one of his "biggest responsibilities."

With his mother, Aminata Koroma, and Develop Africa, a 501c3 non-profit charity organization working to establish meaningful and sustainable development in Africa, Mo is building a multi-purpose community center in Freetown, where he spent four years of his childhood. The center will provide the local community with vocational and educational opportunities and other resources when complete.

Construction of the center began last year and is expected to be completed by early next year. In the meantime, Mo and his team are raising funds to help complete the project at a critical juncture in the country’s future of education.

The devastating Sierra Leone Civil War from 1991 to 2002 took the nation’s education system as an early casualty. More than two decades later, education in Sierra Leone is still recovering from the destruction caused by the conflict. Almost one-third of the education workforce is unqualified. There is also a shortage of textbooks, and it is not uncommon for students to share a book. The average high school graduate has never had access to a computer or computer training. The literacy rate among 15 to 24-year-olds is below 60 percent, and the total adult literacy rate is even lower, at about 43 percent.

When complete, the community center’s first floor will include individual workspaces, allowing locals to have a place to run their businesses. The second floor will feature a large hall for community events such as school graduations, banquets, weddings, and various Develop Africa educational and leadership events. The third floor is the most important space in the center, highlighted by a state-of-the-art computer training center that will provide computer and leadership training for thousands of children, kids, and adults.

In addition, the team is exploring opportunities and seeking additional partnerships to use the community center to serve the underserved in other ways – such as providing free assistance and goods periodically.