MONROVIA, Montserrado – Saye-Maye Cole, a Liberian educator, is one of the top eight nominees for the Hermann Gmeiner Award 2020, organized by SOS’s Village International, an organization that assists orphans and vulnerable families.
The award is meant to recognize “alumni who, despite facing difficulties in life, have gone on to become role models, are outstanding in their field (whether social, cultural, athletic or professional) and have given back to society by contributing to the well-being of others and the greater good of their community,” the organization says on its website.
Over 200 others were nominated alongside Cole. With two categories, male and female, the top eight nominees are Alfred Muharremi of Albania; Gebre-egziabher Gebre, Ethiopia; Lucian Mustata, Romania and Saye-Maye Cole, Liberia in the male category and Aliya Rayeva of Kazakhstan; Kristina Ivanuš, Croatia; Rhoda Namtende, Kenya; and Shteriyana Danova, Bulgaria in the female category.
Cole, who grew up in an SOS Children’s Village in Monrovia, happens to be the only Liberian among the top eight nominees and he is positive that Liberians can pull through to vote for him to emerge as this year’s winner.
Cole says the organization “gave him a warm home, a caring home, and the opportunity to grow up as a child.” This background is what has influenced most of his life’s work and passion. Benefiting from quality education and an SOS mother who taught him discipline, hard work, ethics, and respect for others, Cole says his time at the village influenced a lot of his volunteer work and the urge to give back to the community, especially under SOS.
It is from this humble background that Cole became interested in education and he was “blessed with an opportunity to study in the U.S. and Norway.” With this came many opportunities and “the compulsion to help others get the same opportunities especially in the field of education.”
“I am the national coordinator for United World College Liberia. What I do is to recruit academic gifted students from high schools in Liberia and seek international scholarships for them in other countries around the world,” he told The Bush Chicken. This way, he sees to it that he helps many Liberian children acquire an education and that in the future, they will be helpful to the country and the entire world.
“Winning the award will impact our work in that it will give us a bigger platform for fundraising and more opportunities to get our children into other universities around the world,” he said, noting that the visibility would enable the United World College Liberia to obtain more scholarships for Liberian children.
When not working with the United World College, Cole spends most of his time mentoring students in and outside the country, preparing them for travel, and supporting and guiding them while they are in other countries.
To vote for Cole before the July 23 deadline, you can click here.
Featured photo courtesy of Saye-maye Cole