Confidence is not just about boldness or fearlessness. It’s also about the inner voice that speaks to us. To be grounded on what I believe in. It is believing that I can do this, I will do it, I will make it.”
Emmanuella Atselo, Mentor and Youth Advocate, Sierra Leone
I chose to become a youth advocate because I see a lot of young people with potential in my community. They face a lot of challenges and their voices are not heard. I listen and find out ways to support them.
Girls and young women face a tough time, miss out on school and lose confidence in themselves. Teenage pregnancies are common in my community. There is lots of peer pressure among young people and many turn to drug abuse. Unemployment is a major challenge - because when you're unemployed, poverty follows.
As a mentor of the youth club, I taught girls and young women life skills and knowledge - about their bodies, health and hygiene, building confidence, and understanding gender-based violence and safeguarding.
I have been a youth advocate for four months now. I sit with community members, listen calmly to their challenges, and discuss with my supervisor to figure out ways to support them. For sensitive cases such as child protection or abuse, we take necessary precautions, refer them to relevant support services.
I want to achieve so many things. I have dreams. I would like to be doing this more because people's voices should be heard and their challenges addressed. I want to explore not just nationally, but internationally, to help people, because people are suffering a lot globally. We might think it's only Sierra Leone, but it's not.
Photo: Morshed Bhuiyan, Sierra Leone, 2026
I want every girl and woman in my community to believe in themselves - to have that confidence and inner voice that says you can do this. I see so much potential every day. I want to do my best to lift them up. Get them dreaming bigger.
23-year-old Emmanuella is one of more than 5,500 young women and men who were trained as mentors to support young people in their communities across Africa. Together, they have supported more than 260,000 girls and young women by running more than 2,800 youth clubs in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Club sessions focus on confidence and interpersonal skills, emotional wellbeing and healthy relationships, financial literacy and digital skills, disaster preparedness, puberty, menstruation, and reproductive health.
Learn more about BRAC’s work with young people.
