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Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars – Beyond the Music |
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Written by Oyiza Adaba
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Sunday, 05 November 2006 |
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Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars – Beyond the Music
By Oyiza Adaba Six
men who have faced unspeakable violence and injustice visited upon
themselves and their families decided to rise out of the ashes singing.
Their songs and lyrics are not of hate, strife or revenge, rather of
hope that there is a tomorrow and the sun will shine again.
The
reggae-style band was formed in Sembakounya Refugee Camp in neighboring
Guinea following their displacements from their homes during Sierra
Leone’s vicious civil war in the 1990s. They toured other camps, and
with assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), and later recorded an album that will resonate with the rest
of the world.
Improvisation - A rather big word, but one that
works in most parts of the continent. This was how the music started in
the camps. There were no luxuries of musical instruments, or recordings
in fancy studios. In fact, the band mates had never seen the insides of
a recording studio. Whatever it took to make the music, they did;
flattening old cans and putting bottle tops around them, filling cans
with sand to make shakers and cutting up old barrels to serve as the
drums.
During
those dark days, they held on to the tiniest shred of hope they could
find, to the little reminders of how life was before the killing and
maiming. Through their music - a blend of West African highlife and
reggae - they infected each camp they visited with dancing, smiles and
hope. They preached resettlement and encouraged other refugees that it
was ok to go back home after the war.
Filmmakers Zach Niles and
Banker White, who initially set out to make a film about West African
music, followed the lives of the band mates in the camp and came out
with the widely acclaimed documentary ’Refugee All Stars’
Band members include Abdul Rahim Kamara, Reuben Koroma, Francis John Langba and the glue that held them togethe
r Efua Grace Ampomah.
This
band – The Refugee All Stars did not set out looking for fame or
wealth. Doing what it did was simply a selfless effort. It will do for
Sierra Leone what the film Hotel Rwanda did for Rwanda – that is
keeping the facts about the story alive and in the limelight.
Sounds
of Brazil (SOBs) in New York City recently played host with a film
screening and concert. The band and film are currently touring major
cities in the U.S. For more information and tour dates, visit www.refugeeallstars.org
Article & Pictures by Oyiza Adaba - a U.S-based International Correspondent and a contributor to this service
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Last Updated (
Thursday, 24 April 2008 ) |
Authors 
Posted by Robot| 12.11.2006 10:17