Exploring the career journey of one of RI’s most tenured staff and a two-time winner of the prestigious ‘Staff of the Year Award’
At the just concluded Rainbo Initiative’s Bi-Annual Staff Workshop in Bo, Finda Lahai, one of RI’s most tenured staff members was bestowed with the coveted “Staff of the Year” award. A prestigious title every staff member at Rainbo Initiative works earnestly to earn. For Finda, this is not her first time to be recognized and appreciated for her dedication to the vision of Rainbo.
So, Why Finda?
In an interview session with a team member of RI’s Communications Unit, Aloysius Tamba Foryoh, Finda shared her career journey with Rainbo, from a psychosocial counsellor to a Centre Manager.
Finda’s story is one of resilience and hope. It is a story that reminds us that even in the darkest of times, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
She began her professional career with Rainbo Initiative in 2005 when she was employed as a psychosocial counselor and deployed at the Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Kono, one of the three centres which later evolved into the Rainbo Centres. At the time, the Referral Centres in Freetown, Kenema, and Kono were under the management of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC had built these centers as part of a project to provide immediate medical and psychosocial support to survivors of sexual assault during Sierra Leone’s 11-year civil conflict.
Finda’s tireless dedication, her burning passion, and her unyielding potential did not go unnoticed. She was soon awarded an internal scholarship for a short-term course in Psychosocial Counselling, a steppingstone in her journey of growth with the organization.
Since then, Finda’s career has soared, mirroring her personal growth. She transitioned from a psychosocial counselor to the Acting Centre manager in Kono and Bo respectively, and finally, to the Centre Manager of the Kambia Rainbo Centre, which she started leading in early 2022.
In 2022, in recognition of her dedication, passion and courage to serve, Finda was recognized and awarded the Staff of the Year Award under the ED’s Excellence Award Initiative, an initiative of RI’s Executive Director that honors Rainbo Initiative’s staff members who have gone above and beyond in their work. The award is given to staff members who have demonstrated excellence in one or more of the following areas: Dedication, Passion, Courage, Service among others.
Besides the psychosocial counselling course, Finda have also completed a certified computer literacy training, with which she has been able to enhance her work. Recognizing her increasing responsibilities as a Centre Manager, she also completed a Certificate Program in Human Resource Management at the School of Commerce and Technology.
Overwhelmed with gratitude for being recognized as RI’s staff of the year for the second time, and now being transferred to lead the Kono Rainbo Centre, Finda couldn’t hold back her tears. She expressed her joy and gratitude to the leadership of Rainbo Initiative, God, and the survivors she works with every day.
“I am grateful to God and the leadership of Rainbo Initiative for appreciating the work I do without knowing I am doing, I never expected this for the second time within a short period, nobody ever whispered to me I was going to be nominated, I feel honored that among several other colleagues, I have made it this far. From harnessing several professional training opportunities, to being recognized for the second time within a short pace, and then being entrusted with such leadership to lead one of the oldest Centres I literally contributed to building during my early years with the organization, I cannot tell it all”.
Asked by Aloysius on whether this was her first professional job in her career, Finda narrated that she had prior work experience with a number of leading emergency relief response organizations including Handicap International now Humanity and Inclusion (HI), Centre for Victim of Torture (CVT) and Enfants Réfugiés du Monde (ERM) during her refugee stay in Guinea where she had sought refuge from Sierra Leone’s civil conflict (1991-2002).
On the secret of her success and career motivation, Finda shared her own harrowing experience as a survivor of sexual assault.
“You know, as a survivor of sexual assault myself, in fact, from someone I trusted my entire life with, I see myself in every survivor, I know what it is like to be broken. But I also know that it is possible to heal. That’s why I do this work”.
Finda is driven by the desire to prevent others from experiencing such trauma and finds fulfillment in aiding those who have.
“In as much as I work tirelessly, day and night to ensure no one goes through any form of Sexual Assault, I am more willing helping those who have experienced it already. Many survivors tell me how connected they feel each time I talk to them about their experiences, and I get inspired to help more.”
Finda’s story is a testament to the human spirit’s resilience. Despite enduring sexual assault and being left to care for three children alone, she has triumphed. Today, her eldest son who was in class one when she gained employment with in 2005 serves the government of Sierra Leone as a Community Health Officer, and her other two children are preparing to enroll university.
“I didn’t only survive sexual assault, but I was left to take care of two kids and a four-month-old baby in my womb. All alone, throughout these years, I have had to take care of these three kids, from primary and now University, but I am grateful to God and my job, I see results in what I am doing. My first son is now fully employed with the government of Sierra Leone as a Community Health Officer (CHO) after graduation from Njala University two years ago. The two have just acquired university requirements, one in the arts and the other in the commercial stream. All around me right now is to get them enrolled in the university for their choice of study, I’m grappling with that at the moment, but I keep trusting God and my job that I will be able to raise funds and get them enrolled immediately. So, who wouldn’t be grateful and committed to such a job where you experience both personal and professional growth. No. I’m still here and will continue to do even more, as long as the organization deems it fit to serve.” She ended.
Finda has come a long way, from the young woman who had fled to Guinea as a refugee during the civil war in Sierra Leone, hers is a story of survival, resilience, and hope. She has overcome incredible adversity to become a champion for others. Her story inspires us all to never give up, no matter how difficult things may seem. It is a story that reminds us that even in the darkest of times, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Through her work at Rainbo Initiative, she has helped countless survivors of sexual violence to heal and rebuild their lives. She knows firsthand the pain that they have endured, and she is dedicated to providing them with the support they need to recover.
Her life journey is a call to action for all of us. We can all make a difference in the lives of survivors of sexual violence. We can support organizations like Rainbo Initiative, which provide critical services to survivors. We can also speak out against sexual violence and create a culture of consent.
We hope this story inspires you and others to make a difference in the world.
Together, we can create a world where no one has to experience the trauma of sexual violence.