Country: Liberia

About: Ahmed is a social entrepreneur that is passionate about education reform, youth development and governance. He is a co-founder and Director of Strategic Communication and fundraising at SMART Liberia, an education and youth development social venture. Ahmed is a graduate of African Leadership College in Mauritius, a Goalkeeper at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a generationNow leader at Mo Ibrahim Foundation, and 2021 One Young World Peace Ambassador 

Recipe for Change: 

Few things are more difficult than leading social change. Communities are often skeptical of change because they don’t know what lies at the end of the process. Resources are scarce. It is almost impossible to assemble a qualified team to implement and drive the desired change. However, once one gets a handle on all these challenges, change can become inevitable.  

Here are five steps to leading a social change project and launching a social venture:

1. Work to understand the issue you care about and want to address.  Ask questions such as: What is the problem and why is it important to you? Given your skills-set and unique abilities, can you solve this problem? What other attempts have been made to address this problem and what was the result? How different is your solution from those of others?
2. Propose your solution to all relevant key stakeholders after analyzing and understanding enough about the problem you want to address and what their interest may be in the issue, so as to gain their support.  
3. Look for a co-founder(s) that compliments your weaknesses and form a skilled team that is just as committed and passionate about the problem you want to address as you.  
4. Develop your theory of change, beginning with the mission and vision statements. Ask questions like; How will your solution be designed to bring about change? What values will not be compromised as you strive to bring about change? What is your desired vision if your project succeeds?
5. Develop a solid social business plan that will help you structure how you will meet your goals and launch the initiative/social venture.

Recipe: Liberian chicken and gravy

Liberian chicken and gravy is a dish made for special occasions. This dish has complex flavors especially with chicken and seafood. Spicy and delicious, it is often served with check rice and fried plantains. 

INGREDIENTS:

• ¼ -1/2 cup cooking oil vegetable, canola, corn
• 2- 3 pounds chicken cut up
• 1 ½-2 pound fried fish steaks any firm fish
• 1 pound large shrimp cleaned and deveined
• 2 -3 large red bell peppers
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1-2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 -3 fresh tomatoes
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 5 garlic cloves
• ½ teaspoon ginger chopped
• 1 or more scotch bonnet or habanero pepper
• ¼ cup basil and parsley
• 1 Tablespoon chicken bouillon optional
• 1/2- teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put the chicken in a large pot and cover with water

2. Boil the chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, chicken bouillon and some chopped onions:

3. Cook until tender. (times vary depending on chicken pieces)

4. Remove the chicken and Reserve the stock

5. In a blender or food processor, blend together the tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic, herbs and pepper.

6. In a heavy duty pan, add 1/2 cup oil in the blended mixture then the tomato paste.

7. Sauté for about 10-15 minutes, to blend all the flavors and reduce acidity of the tomato sauce. Stir the pot frequently, as the sauce simmers.

8. Add in the cooked chicken and about 2 cups of the reserved stock, let simmer for another 10 minutes.

9. Add in shrimp if using any – cook for another 3-5 minutes

10.  Adjust the seasonings, add in more stock if necessary and chicken bouillon

11.  Serve with check rice or white rice and enjoy!