Mohamed Okanu and Osman Kargbo

Mohamed is in his twenties and works at his uncle’s tailor shop in the Lumley Beach market. Mohamed’s parents separated when he was very young, and he was forced to live with his grandmother in Port Loko most of his earlier years. His uncle was concerned about his future and opportunities and therefore decided to take him along to Freetown when he was only 14 years old. There, his uncle taught him the art of tailoring and he has been working alongside him ever since.

In 2019 Mohamed is finishing his High School examinations, and his dream is to have a career in IT. With his calm manners and a sweet smile, he greets all possible customers that visit Lumley Beach Market as the tailoring business is helping him out to pay for his education and he is eager to be able to start further learning.

Osman is a quiet man of 37 years old. He grew up in Port Loko but moved to the diamond district of Kono as a teenager to try his luck at diamond mining.

War broke out a few years later, forcing him to flee to Freetown in 1996. Fortunately, he had a brother to tutor him in the trade of tailoring. Since 2003, Usman has worked independently as a tailor from his stall at the Lumley Beach Market. He is happily married and has  two children.

Osman dreams of expanding his business and attracting more regular customers. Towards this goal, he has worked on various projects  with our design teams.