Sierra Leone Independence Celebration in Vancouver

Today April 27, 2015, marks the 54th Independence anniversary of my beloved country Sierra Leone.  Happy Birthday Mama Salone! 

The Sierra Leonean Community of British Columbia Canada came together on Saturday April 25th 2015 to celebrate our country, culture and experiences. Like every Sierra Leonean event, it was a celebration that transcended political affiliations, tribal lines and religious beliefs. This was my first Salone event  since moving to BC almost three years. Boy was it fun to be around fellow Sierra Leoneans, eat delicious traditional food, and dance to good old Salone music! 

It may seem there is not much to be happy about considering  what is currently happening in the country, ( I will delve into this in another post) and all the  nation has gone through since her Independence. Nonetheless I remain hopeful that Sierra Leone will rise from the ashes. I am confident that my generation of Sierra Leoneans will bring about the change for our ascent to glory. There is a reason to celebrate because there is hope.

Check out some pictures and videos of the event below 

Getting ready and very excited  for the big event! Had to represent in my Green White and Blue.

Green white and Blue everywhere!

 Group Selfie with my Salone brothers

Posing with the gorgeous Christina

Everyone getting their cameras ready for the traditional dancers

Making my way to the stage to take pictures!

Click the link below to watch the Sierra Leone Independence Day celebration cultural young stars performance  Posted by Rachel Kay on Saturday, 25 April 2015

Yes, these young Salone girls rocked that stage 

My favorite part of the evening was the Mende Goboi performance. This bad boy came out and stole the whole show. The crowd went wild. I LOVE MY CULTURE! Check out the videos below.

Click on the link below to  watch the Cultural Dance Salone Independence Video

Posted by Rachel Kay on Sunday, 26 April 2015

Here is another YouTube video 

Goboi doing his thing

Dancing with the Goboi 

More dancing

It is wrap, yours truly is tired and sweaty after a great time!

Mourning with Kenya

 



On Tuesday April 2nd 2015, The Al Shebaab militant group  burst into Garissa University College in the Kenyan  town of Garissa and killed nearly 147 students.

Al Shebaab is a Somalian Ismlamic extremist group that is one of the most violent franchises of Al Qaeda.  With the town of Garissa is about 90 miles from the Somali border  with  high population of ethnic Somalians,making it an easy target for the group. 

Barely two years ago in 2013,   this same group held siege of one of Kenya's fanciest malls killing 63 people. They have since then killed hundreds of Kenyans on country buses, in churches and in remote coastal towns.

Yesterday's senseless attack  took the lives of  young Kenyans, who were aiming to get an education.  My heartfelt condolence and prayers to my Kenyan brothers and sisters especially   those who lost loved ones in the attack. 

The Inspire Series- Sheroes on the Ebola front Line by Hannah Foullah

Nurse Samantha Mansaray and Dr. Valrie John-Cole

                                                               

In celebration of International Women's Day/Month, today's Inspire Series  high lights and acknowledges the courage, dedication and selflessness of women on the Ebola front line in Sierra Leone. These women are   shereos in every account.
     Be inspired! 

Since the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, women have been in the front-line as healthcare workers and caregivers in their communities. This has meant that they face a greater risk of contracting the Ebola virus. The role that women have played as first responders in the fight against Ebola brings to mind the story of the Italian doctor Carlo Urbani.

International Women's Day 2015

Happy International Women's day to all the amazing women and girls out there

 As we celebrate all women around the world today, never forget you can do anything you put your mind to. You face adversity and still walk tall. You are stronger than you are credited for. You are beautiful no matter what people or  the media say. You are Phenomenal! 

The Inspire Series - HOPE IN A TIME OF EBOLA by Victor O. Forna

The Inspire series kicks off with a poem written by Victor Osman  Forna,  a young talented Sierra Leonean high school student and writer  currently residing in the country  in the mist of the Ebola out break.

Inspiration behind the poem

When Ebola came to Sierra Leone, it had a devastating effect on everybody, both home and abroad. Everybody was stressed out, no schools, a state of emergency, some people even traveled out of the country seeking safety elsewhere, but some like myself stayed. And I have seen how tensed and sad this virus made my lovely country, how horrible the news on TV were, this filled me with emotions, it made me sad, it made me fear, there was nothing I could do, the only way I could overcome these feelings was through my passion, writing. I took my pen and the words just flowed out from the bottom of my heart, I wrote "Hope in a time of Ebola." It is a piece that means a lot to me.

Enjoy and be inspired!

Watin de Apin (February 1 2015)

Hello lovely people, congratulations on making it to the second month of 2015!  I can’t believe it is February already, January practically flew by like someone or something was chasing it. I am sure a lot of you are glad February is here.

A bit of  personal update before heading diving into Watin de Apin. In my two weeks  away from the blog I was pleasantly surprised to receive emails and messages with inquires from people who were concerned and wanted to know how I was doing and why I  hadn't posted in weeks. To you all I say a heartfelt thank you, I really appreciate the love. And to answer your questions, I haven’t given up on my blogging resolution, I just had to take some time away to deal with health issues.  In my very first post I came out about my ongoing struggle with depression and anxiety and admitted to seeking help.  Though  I am handling it much better these days compared to prior to seeking help, I still experience bad days.  The past two weeks has been one of those times, during which I just want to be alone and do absolutely nothing. I can’t afford to do that right now  because I have a lot on my plate at the moment. It is my final semester of graduate school, I am juggling my course work,  writing of my (mini) thesis and my current job along with preparing for a possible relocation to Sierra Leone after graduation, job hunting and trying to stay healthy and sane. My solitude has been my space of comfort these day. I look forward to my “me time” more than anything and have I been listening to my favorite artist and girl India Arie (yup in my head we are bffs) to soothe my soul :-) This is my current jam of the week.

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Okay now that I have updated you about myself. Let’s move on to Watin de Apin. A lot has happened during my weeks of hiatus giving me numerous options for this week’s list of the good, bad and ridiculous.   

Salone Style & Story Spotlight ( with Yazmin Karim)

Salone Style & Story Spotlight (SS&SS)  features young, inspiring and driven Sierra Leoneans with a great fashion sense.  This platforms aims to show the world that there is more to Sierra Leoneans than being victims of Ebola and a civil war. 

Today's Salone Style and Story Spotlight features the gorgeous Miss Yazmin Karim, a Sierra Leonean living in the UK. She is a 23 years old God fearing, BA Human Resource Management graduate currently training to become a qualified session hairstylist.

She is also a finalist in the running for the first annual Miss Sierra Leone UK 2015 beauty pageant ( follow her pageant journey here and vote for her here). 
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Yazmin is a determined young lady with an awesome style. Check her out and be inspired!