ABOUT US AND OUR FOUNDER
Our Founder His Excellency (Rtd.) Brigadier Dr. Julius Maada Bio is the current serving President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. President Bio has always had a passion for development and a great interest in four areas particularly: education, agriculture, history and health. With this in mind, the five project areas of the Bio Foundation were born, namely:
Together We Can
It is President Bio’s belief that the greatest investment we can make as a society is to invest in the education of our citizens. His most acclaimed and ambitious project as President, has been his Free Quality Education Program, which he has successfully launched across Sierra Leone giving over 2.5 million children access to free, quality education for the first time in Sierra Leone’s history.
The President’s passion for the agriculture sector has also been a long-standing relationship. Long before his presidency he has considered himself a farmer and worked closely with farmers to produce food items to further the agricultural sector and get food to those that need it the most. With his passion as a backdrop and rice a staple food in Sierra Leone, the BIO Rice Project (BRP) was born. Honing to the fact that we are nothing if we cannot feed ourselves, the President has taken on the venture of producing Bio Rice, to ensure that every home in Sierra Leone has access to a nutritious and affordable rice option.
The President is also known to be a history buff. His love for history and preserving it is how the Salone Civil War Museum (SCWM) initiative was started. The SCWM is an important component of the Bio Foundation because we strongly believe in preserving our history as a nation, as our founder does. At the Bio Foundation we believe that it is important for future generations to UNDERSTAND, the current generation to REMEMBER, and all generations to ENSURE (understand, remember and ensure) that the atrocities of the 11-year civil war that left our country in shambles, never happens again. President Bio played an important role in 1996 to get Sierra Leone back to a democratically elected and governed nation. This meant putting personal gains aside and making powerful enemies, but he was willing and prepared to do so. He oversaw the 1996 general elections and transferred power to the newly elected President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
The Playground and Football Field Initiative (PFFI) is also of great significance to the President. He believes that the mental and physical health and well being are promoted on the playground and during sporting activities such as football. His love for football (soccer) and love for the children of Sierra Leone greatly influenced his start of this initiative.
It is the President’s hope that long after his presidency and his lifetime, the impact of the Bio Foundation will carry on across and beyond the Sierra Leone border. Because after all, as our motto at the Bio Foundation reminds us, “ Together We Can”.