Ebola A Special Report from Sierra Leone

Summer of Peace 2014 > International Peacebuilding & Global Citizenship > 11 Days of Global Unity
Broadcast on September 15, 2014
With Andrew Kromah & Foday Sajuma & Topher Hamblett

The Ebola outbreak has claimed over 2,400 lives in West Africa. Sierra Leone is in the heart of the crisis - a country which is still recovering from its bloody civil war and that it is routinely listed near the bottom of the UN Human Development Index. We will hear front-line reports from Foday Sajuma of Radio Mao in Kailahun District -- an area on the border of Guinea and Liberia. We also will talk with Andrew Kromah, one of the founders of an Independent Radio Network in Sierra Leone. Foday and Andrew are using radio to provide life-saving information to a population that has a 73% illiteracy rate. We also will hear from Topher Hamblett, a former Peace Corps Volunteer, who is supporting radio stations in Sierra Leone and Liberia through The Foundation for West Africa.   

Download audio

Andrew Kromah

Chairman of Sierra Leone's Independent Radio Network (IRN)
Andrew Kromah is Chairman of Sierra Leone's Independent Radio Network (IRN). Modeled on National Public Radio, the IRN has 28 member stations that, collectively, reach most of Sierra Leone's 6 million people. IRN broadcasts programs on governance, education, health care, and wide range of issues that impact Sierra Leoneans.   Andrew pioneered independent radio during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war by starting up 2 radio stations, one in the capital Freetown and the other in Bo, Sierra Leone's second largest city. He is a self-taught radio technician who risked his life by broadcasting programs during the war. Andrew has been a guest on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. 

Foday Sajuma

Radio Moa 105.5 FM Community-owned Radio Station in Eastern Sierra Leone
Foday Sajuma is manager of Radio Moa 105.5 FM, a community-owned radio station  in Kailhaun, eastern Sierra Leone. Prior to serving as manager, Foday worked in peacebuilding and conflict transformation for Search for Common Ground in Sierra Leone. With "Search", Foday helped to end the ten year civil and build a foundation for lasting peace in his country. He did this after participating in the civil war as a member of the Civil Defense Force, a citizen militia that formed to defend the Southeast region of the country from the Revolutionary Unitied Front. 

Topher Hamblett

President of the Foundation for West Africa, e Board of Directors of the Independent Radio Network in Sierra Leone

Topher Hamblett is president of the Foundation for West Africa, an organization that supports  community radio stations and networks in Sierra Leone and Liberia.   FWA raises funds for equipment and training, mostly for remote radio stations. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Independent Radio Network in Sierra Leone.  Topher's connection with Sierra Leone began with his Peace Corps service in Kailahun - where Radio Moa is located - from 1985 to 1987. Here in the United States, he is Director of Advocacy for the environmental group Save The Bay in Rhode Island. He has also served on the board of directors of numerous organizations, including Rhode Island Public Radio, Common Cause of Rhode Island, and the International Institute of Rhode Island.

r84xg5