Lamin expressed his gratitude to Foothill during the Renaissance Rally by presenting a banner to the school.

During fifth period, a few sophomore classes gathered in the I-pod for a question and answer session with Lamin. The students learned about Lamin’s life, beliefs, and accomplishments.

The students in the audience were in awe of Lamin’s story.

“I think it’s inspiring that he started from such a small amount of things to work with and built it up to a point that he now helps other people,” said sophomore Cassandra McCambridge.

“It’s amazing. He gave up everything. He left his family to go back and help his country,” said Christina Costa.

Lamin was born into a very large family in Sierra Leone, a country that suffered through violent civil war from 1991 to 2002.

His father had four wives and thirty children. Lamin was his mother’s oldest child and he was pushed to be successful and obtain a education. He attributes much of his success to her encouragement.

“Without education, you are not knowledgeable,” he said. “Without education, you are blind.”

Lamin believes that education is absolutely vital, especially for the children of Sierra Leone.

Lamin currently works to identify poor and rural communities in need of schools or school repairs. The communities put a high priority on education; they see it as a way to break the cycle of poverty. Schools for Salone has built 13 school since 2004.

“Once upon a time, I had nothing. Once upon a time, I knew nothing. Now I have been to different parts of the world. I put lives together for children,” he said.