The Visão Foundation is building a reputation for the most delicious fundraisers in New York City. On November 16th, join the members of the Visão Foundation for a “Chocolate Making & Cocktails” Mixer to provide scholarships for 10 students in Sierra Leone and to support the Foundation’s free academic and enrichment [...]
Lee Raymond, the retired CEO and chairman of ExxonMobil, once said: “It is the potential for economic growth that provides the basis for the development of countries, for bringing to people essential goods and services, such as water to drink and facilities for healthcare.”
If you’re like many consumer products executives, the thought of pursuing growth in the rest of Africa seriously slows down when you consider the poverty, famine, political instability and risk–factors that would worry any business leader. But over the past decade, the continent has undergone a quiet–yet dramatic–evolution that makes it worthy of reconsideration.
Some of history’s most brutal and twisted murders took place during Sierra Leone’s lengthy civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2002. As the former president of neighboring Liberia and a proponent of civil war in Sierra Leone, Charles Taylor was convicted of crimes against humanity and of war crimes.
The Kony 2012 blitz followed by Charles Taylor’s recent war crimes conviction in the Hague brought me back to time spent in Sierra Leone. Not to build my own dated tale of warlords and child soldiers, but these news items reminded me of the importance of responsible reporting on Africa and remarkable stories of the continent’s audacity in moving forward.
Education helps the most vulnerable people transform their lives. Twenty-four year old Estelle Bangura from Sierra Leone is living proof of this. A high-school drop-out, destitute, and a single mother four years ago, Estelle was given a second chance at making a life for herself through a programme that helps out-of-school girls and young women in conflict-affected African countries to gains appropriate skills for life and work.
The Council on Foreign Relations, the esteemed 90-year old think tank and publisher, welcomed Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma and Cote D’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara.
When Jordan and I arrive Saturday night at Aces, taxis and okadas (West African term for motorbikes) begin to pull up with people streaming into the club. Like New York, when the weekend comes, people in Freetown are ready to go out.
The second part of a three-part series, Jake R. Bright writes about taking over the prime hour on a Saturday night at Aces Club in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
“E wan DJ nar yar“”—”"He wants to DJ here
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