Joy Doreen Biira

19/11/2025

MEET THE PRODUCTION CREW… Some of you have asked about the crew that filmed the beautiful drone shots from Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 and many other short stories … Here we present the youthful team that delivered 🤗 🥰 … Watch the amazing production on the Mastercard Foundation YouTube channel playlist.

17/11/2025

16/11/2025

15/11/2025

14/11/2025

★★★

12/11/2025

2 minutes before speaking to 13 year old Nimatu, in Sierra Leone, I could see how nervous and tense she was - sweaty palms, her little cute shoes were humming the floor… it was the cameras … we had gotten into her space, in her classroom, at her desk…

So, we flipped the script…

“What did you have for breakfast this morning?” I asked. Her eyes lit up with just a little shy side smile when she was explaining to me (Don’t recall what she said, I was focused on having her feel at ease).

“Who are your friends in class?” (Again I don’t recall what she said)

Then a 3rd random question, “what’s your favorite subject in class?” Her eyes lit up, only this time, more confidently as she replied, “Mathematics because I’m able to use technology…”, she went on excitedly.

She was ready for the interview 😍.
How did she do? 🥰

Full conversation on EdTech Mondays Africa November edition now on the Mastercard Foundation YouTube channel https://youtu.be/s58ZUkCfW-Y?si=su7EhwXq4JwZUnm-

04/11/2025

Watu wa uso kitabu… yani Facebook …how are you doing? Anyway this is how humble one can look when visiting a school’s premise that has the no trespassing sign every where 😁

📸: Augustine Kargbo

03/11/2025

03/11/2025

Greetings from Sierra Leone… Follow the conversation across all platforms including YouTube…https://youtu.be/s58ZUkCfW-Y?si=FmbHMrinCcbeaXy-

03/11/2025

Ministers generally have immensely time consuming and highly demanding schedules. Sierra Leone’s education leaders made time for us - Hon. , Minister of Basic & Senior Secondary Education and Hon. Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie, Minister of Technical & Higher Education in an exclusive interview share about the country’s education policies and investment in resilient technology-enabled learning.

We spoke extensively about how Sierra Leone has taken lessons from a turbulent past riddled with two pandemics (Ebola and COVID-19) and climatic catastrophes that affected learning in the country - how they have taken these challenges and turned them into tangible lessons, informing investment in resilient, young people centered, and inclusive education systems for its learning population.

The country’s experience mirrors a continental truth: Africa’s strength lies in its ability to learn, adapt, and co-create. When governments, innovators, and youth work together, education becomes inclusive and transformative.

PS: The school we had this conversation was about an hours drive from their next scheduled cabinet meeting. They made time.

Follow the conversation on Africa

📅: Monday, November 3, 2025
🕛: 12pm GMT | 1pm WAT | 2pm SAST | 3pm EAT
🤳🏽: Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works page
📺: CNBC Africa (DStv 410)

03/11/2025

What a beautiful country! We got here and after listening to all the tales of a country determined to rebuild its economy by investing in educating its young people, we thought…, why not get some filming done here while at it 😇

The only country with dozens of billboards with the President and First Lady running a campaign “say no to child marriage”, the only country that has got “education for gender empowerment” printed on every denomination of its currency.

Catch what we filmed on a television and streaming link near you.