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Sierra Leone’s Girls Champion, Adama Borway, Makes Top 10 in Global Student Prize 2025

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Sallu Kamuskay
By Sallu Kamuskay  - Journalist and Public Relations Expert 3 Min Read
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Sierra Leone’s Adama Borway makes Top 10 in Global Student Prize 2025
Sierra Leone’s Adama Borway makes Top 10 in Global Student Prize 2025

Adama Borway, a young Sierra Leonean student and advocate, and founder of the She-Empowerment League, has been named among the Top 10 finalists for the Global Student Prize 2025, awarded by Chegg.org.

Adama Borway
Adama Borway

She-Empowerment League has empowered 500+ girls across 14 communities with skills, education, and leadership opportunities. Adama is a child rights advocate and the first female President of Kono’s Children’s Forum Network, she has championed child marriage bans and continues to fight for gender equity.

From gracing the cover of Books To Africa Magazine as a teenager, to being featured in The Africa Report, Adama’s story has been one of resilience and determination. Now, she joins the ranks of the world’s most outstanding students.

This award, now in its fifth year, recognises the extraordinary achievements of young change-makers from around the world. The Chegg.org Global Student Prize of $100,000 will be given to one exceptional student who has made a real impact on learning, the lives of their peers and society at large. The finalists have been chosen from almost 11,000 applications from 148 countries across the globe.

Adama was once a debate champion and best science student in secondary school, but her education was forced to pause for nearly seven years. Many thought her academic journey had ended. Yet, during that break, she continued to read, save money, and give back to her community through advocacy for education and girls’ empowerment.

Speaking after the announcement, Adama described the moment as “a massive comeback in the history of education as I know it.”

Her recognition is not only about personal victory but also about her project, which is designed to support other students in Sierra Leone with realistic and scalable solutions. Through her work, she has led initiatives to inspire girls to stay in school, mentored young people, and used her voice to highlight the challenges of access to education in the country.

Adama’s journey shows that setbacks can lead to remarkable comebacks. She is now an inspiration for many young Sierra Leoneans and beyond, proving that it is never too late to rise again.

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By Sallu Kamuskay Journalist and Public Relations Expert
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Sallu Kamuskay is a Sierra Leonean communication strategist, fixer, blogger, youth organiser, event manager, spokesperson, and public relations expert. His work has been regularly referenced and published by national and international media and public policy institutions. Sallu Kamuskay was a child during the brutal war in Sierra Leone. Growing up in the midst of conflict, Sallu witnessed unimaginable abuse of children and gross violations of human rights. The horrors he witnessed during the Civil War had a terrible impact on him at a very tender age. But despite the shock of the war, Sallu never lost hope. He started on a journey of recovery, studying, and working for a better future. At age 15, Sallu entered into the world of activism and advocacy. Sallu Kamuskay was the Vice President of the Young Leaders Organisation, a member of the National Youth Council. The Young Leaders is one of the oldest youth-led organisations in West Africa. The organisation was formed by a group of young leaders, and launched by the then Head of State/President of Sierra Leone. Sallu was part of the group of young leaders who participated in and contributed to the establishment of the National Youth Council. The Commonwealth supported the training for trainers programme with line ministries and youth stakeholders in which key, representatives of youth council, student union and civil society/private sector youth platforms were engaged and empowered in the effective engagement and inclusion of youth. Sallu is co-founder and Executive Director of the Salone Messenger, a global multimedia and public relations firm based In Sierra Leone. Sallu has worked on various developmental and policy issues such as Poverty, Climate Change, Human rights, Child Rights, Education, Health, Gender Equality, Civic Engagement, Government policies, Information Communication Technology for Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and has also been contributing to various global events and advocacy campaigns. Sallu Kamuskay is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Salone Messenger, a global Multimedia and Public Relations Firm based in Sierra Leone with the latest news and information, on top stories, business, politics, entertainment, and more. Sallu is working with a leading technology company in Africa, Techfrica, that has recently developed and launched a social media, messaging Supfrica with over 150,000 downloads on the Google play store in less than 4 days. He is the Adviser and Media coordinator for the App to give people the platform to connect and communicate to help shape their future with a very fast internet that allows users that live in deprived and hard-to-reach areas with poor internet facility to be able to communicate as it allows and stronger on 2 and 3 G network reception. Sallu has over 9 years of experience in youth engagement, inclusion, and coordination both at local and global levels, giving voice to young people and engaging young people to build a better world. He has served as coordinator for the Wave Alliance which brought together youth-led organisations who attended an international training in South Africa organized by the International Organization – Waves for Change. Sallu is working with the MLT, Waves For Change, and the Government to develop safe spaces for young people, with a view to contributing to the overall development goals of young people including health, as well as to community rebuilding. Sallu is currently the Programme Director for the Wave Alliance, which is a coalition of youth-led and community-based organisations that have successfully introduced evidence-based Surf Therapy programs to young people in communities, with a focus on mental health, peace building and sustainable development. Sallu is currently the focal point and face of Africa’s Faces Social media platform which is a global Social media platform that brings together people from across the world to share their moments, connect, share videos, and interact with friends giving more preference to excluded continents like Africa. Sallu Kamuskay has devoted his time to working for or contributing to a number of national and international organizations and companies, including the Techfrica Technology Company, United Nations, ECOWAS, European Union, Commonwealth Africa Initiatives. This work has led him to travel to a number of countries to contribute to global youth platforms. Sallu is the lead Coordinator for Peace Tour programme, an initiative supported by the European Union, Africa Union, ECOWAS focusing on uniting and empowering young people and local communities. Over the years, Sallu Kamuskay has been using his Techno phone to be able to tell stories, the phone he used to tell the story of Gbessay during Ebola who was admitted at one of the Ebola treatment centers after rumors that she had Ebola when the actual sickness was ulcer, she was almost abandoned at the treatment canter with no medication provided to her. She could have died. Sallu told the story via social media and was able to secure funding from the United Sierra Leone to buy her medication and advocated for her. She was later discharged and taken home, He did the same to a patient that died and was abandoned in the street, Sallu Kamuskay used his phone and shared the message across, the corps was later taken and buried. It could have been more disaster without his voice. The story of late America Stress 3-year-old daughter. The hero’s daughter was abandon after his father's death. He shared her sad story and was able to get a sister who has taken the child as her own and is currently providing her with educational support. The article of America Stress can be read on the link below http://ayvnewspaper.com/index.php/k2-categories/item/7350-america-stress-a-hero-to-recognize. Sallu Kamuskay feels the stories of Gbessay, America stress and that of many others need to be told. The media house we have cannot better tell these stories, they are better reporters than telling human interest stories. He created the Salone Messenger platform and brought together passionate storytellers to be able to tell these compelling stories.