Outreach at Magbema School in Rokupr

DJ Base of UN Radio, L.E.G.A.C.Y., and DJ Blacka of Culture Radio

God’s House International is a grassroots organization that was founded in 2000 by Reverend Yvonne Washington-Turay, Family Nurse Practitioner. The mission of God’s House is to bridge medical, social, cultural, and economical gaps in Sierra Leone and abroad. God’s House returned to Freetown this past week.  Despite travel delays due to weather conditions and lost baggage, Mrs. Turay and her daughter Nusaiba, also known as, L.E.G.A.C.Y., managed to arrive in Freetown and begin their annual outreach on time. Nusaiba is the Executive Assistant of God’s House.

The opening event was held on February 7, 2009 at Club Porsch on the East End and was Co-Sponsored by The Swissosa Association of Forah Bay College.  The event was a “Miss Sir Winston” Beauty contest coupled with a lively music performance of L.E.G.A.C.Y.’s new single “WE FREE” amongst other songs. L.E.G.A.CY is an internationally known “Wholistic Soul Artist” living in New York City, U.S., and Gullah by heritage and culture. The music performance was followed by and HIV/AIDS sensitization and condom demonstration by Reverend Turay.  There was also a condom demonstration using male and female condoms.  Audience participation was solicited and the attendees were quite helpful with relaying the information to their comrades.  Gift packs were given to active participants and those who wanted to receive condoms.

For the next event, the staff of God’s House and a few local volunteers, traveled to Kambia to provide HIV/Sensitization to two schools in the village of Rokupr on February 11th.  Ahmadiyyah Muslim School and Magbema Secondary School are not strangers to this group.  For the past three years they have openly welcomed the God’s House program.  An additional event was the school to school educational exchange.  School supplies were given to the top 15 students at each school as well as those participants who were active in asking question during the HIV/AIDS portion of the event.

This year, Heaven’s Gate Ministries which was founded by Reverend Delwin Kanu and his wife Sister Blessing was the site of this years’ Women’s Empowerment session on February 13th.  This year, an added feature included scriptural references for dealing with HIV/AIDS.  Reverend Turay informed the attendees about the prevalence of HIV in Sierra Leone amongst the general population, antenatal segment of society as well as biblical perspectives on maintaining abstinence from sexual immorality, marrying in Christ and encouraging the women to be proactive in caring for their sexual health.  There were also many men in attendance and the seminar was well received.  After the lecture/presentation, all of the women in attendance were given care packs as gifts and everyone in attendance had a full meal with drinks.  Reverend Kanu and Mrs. Turay share the thought that the church must involve itself with educating the congregation about HIV not only as a means of prevention but also to facilitate an open ended relation between the pastor, congregation and person who may be HIV positive and attending the church.

The last two events are radio interviews by L.E.G.A.CY with DJ Base of UN Radio on February 17th and with DJ Blacka of Culture Radio on February 18th.  Thus far all of the events have been dubbed a success with Brand New collaborations with the Swissosa Association and Heaven’s Gate Ministries of Upper Marjaytown.

With more than 27 million people in Africa effected with HIV/AIDS and approximately 250,000 infected within Sierra Leone, it is imperative that greater strides be taken to involve Government and Non Governmental organizations in all programs involving of HIV/AIDS Prevention.  God’s House International is committed to continuing the fight against this malady.  L.E.G.A.C.Y. is also committed to utilizing her talents to draw young people into HIV/AIDS awareness, social consciousness and increased community activism to improve the conditions in Sierra Leone and in the Afrikan Diaspora.


To view a full set of pictures from the outreach Click Here
To listen to L.E.G.A.C.Y.'s interview on United Nations Radio Click Here
To view God's House video footage Click Here

View Album Get your own