What's Better Than The Fact That I Now Have a Bed? Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars @FairfieldU

Fairfield University, Save the Children, Standard Oil, The Foundation for West Africa, and Dr. Jeffrey D. Small, M.D., collaborated with the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars to host a special performance and panel discussion on campus yesterday. The Jesuit University Humanitarian Action Network asked if I would mind bringing members of Ubuntu Academy back to campus for the event and not only did they come, but so did many of the new arriving youth from Congo, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe.

The result was a wonderful musical experience with Reuben Koroma, Ashade Pearce, Joseph Paye, and Christopher Davies.

The band formed in the 1990s during Sierra Leone's eleven year war, playing music in refugee camps. In the words of the band's founder, Reuben Koroma, "To be a refugee is a sad situation. We wanted people to be uplifted and to dance, to help in our own way to reform people's lives." After the war ended, the band's music continued to to make an impact, even taking on new meaning and depth for a generation of Sierra Leoneans coping with trauma. When Directors Banker White and Zach Niles filmed the band's efforts in 2005, they catapulted Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars to the world stage through their award-winning documentary, "The Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars." Suddenly, the members of the band found themselves sharing the vibrancy of Sierra Leonean culture, through their message of courage and hope around the world." 

By the time the band completed their world tour n August of 2014, Ebola intervened. So, once again, they are waiting to return home, hoping again to uplift themselves and their nation in this new time of uncertainty.

A highlight for me was when John, Peter, and Abonga decided they would dance and show of their talents during the show. My week has been a whirlwind of moving and resettling (trust me, I'm not even close), but taking the day off in support of the Ubuntu kids was worth every second.

Last night, too, I finally put the bed together. Tonight, I sleep above the ground in preparation of seeing my sister, mom, and niece in New Jersey. Never a dull moment in Crandall's corner of the world.