By Sulaiman Jalloh
22-year-old Mariam Bah is an entrepreneur in cake baking and event management. The final-year student at the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) – University of Sierra Leone, is the chief executive officer and founder of Maria’s Cake Youth Empowerment – Sierra Leone.
In an exclusive interview with Expo Times, she said that she established the empowerment facility in August 2022 and has since graduated almost seven hundred Sierra Leoneans, including youths and elderly people.
According to her, the initiative was inspired by the teachings of Islam which encourage people with good knowledge to pass such to others, adding that she wants to be rewarded by Allah as those she empowered will become self-reliant instead of depending on others or the government.
The young Sierra Leonean entrepreneur offers a certificate program in cake baking and events which runs for six to seven weeks with the focus on mainly practical training.
She noted that she is a bit constrained in finance to support the day-to-day running activities of Maria’s Cake Youth Empowerment, pointing out that she uses the fees collected from students to cater for all the activities, something she said is challenging.
Speaking on the success stories, she said, as a young person, it makes her feel proud to see her students making a positive in Sierra Leone and elsewhere, citing that ten of her former students have already established their own schools and are now teaching on cake baking and events. She said Haja Mariama Kabba Foundation, Olivia’s Cake, Josephine’s Cake, and Alima’s Cake in Kono, are some of the empowerment establishments owned by her ex-students.
Mariam Bah used the occasion to call on the government and organizations to help her train more people by assisting her with funds as fees collected from students is not enough, adding that it is good for graduates to be given a start-up kit upon graduation but noted that she cannot afford such for now.
She encouraged young people, especially women, to learn a trade to be self-reliant and productive.
Ruth BintuNgegba is a student of Maria’s Cake at the Waterloo branch who enrolled in the school in November 2022, according to her has learned a lot within two months she can now bake different cakes ranging from birthday cakes, and wedding cakes, traditional cakes among others including event destination. According to her, Maria’s Cake is the best school for cake baking because even the disabled can be enrolled in the school and learn something different and better their lives.
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Sunday, January 7th, 2023 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)