Events
Rutgers hosts first democratically elected president of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has made great progress since its civil war, but still has a long road ahead of it. That was the message Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma brought to the Rutgers community last week in his first public address in the United States.
Koroma, the first democratically elected president of Sierra Leone since its civil war, spoke before a crowd of more than 500 Sierra Leoneans, legislators and administrators, and Rutgers students and faculty members on Sunday, September 21.
The address took place on the eve of Koroma’s visit to the United Nations.
“We are pleased to play host to this auspicious occasion,” President Richard L. McCormick said as he welcomed the foreign leader.
Members of the local Sierra Leonean community asked Rutgers to host the president to provide a forum for him to speak with his constituents and supporters in the area. More than 7 percent of Franklin Township’s population is from Sierra Leone, and Middlesex County is a point of destination for many immigrants.
“Rutgers gave New Jersey’s Sierra Leonean community the opportunity to meet their president and express their concerns,” said Pavi Jalloh of Franklin Township, chair of the committee that arranged the presidential visit to New Jersey. “We need to see ourselves as major players who can help rebuild our country. We appreciate the support of the State of New Jersey, and especially Rutgers University, for their continued support of Sierra Leone's development goals.”
Located on the west coast of Africa, Sierra Leone suffered years of civil war, leaving the country impoverished and isolated. Koroma took office one year ago.
In his address, he spoke of his nation’s foreward movement, but also emphasized how much remains to be accomplished, particularly in the fields of health care and education.
“There are fewer than 100 doctors in the whole country. The infant mortality rate is the highest in the world. More than 40 percent of the teachers in schools are not trained,” he said.
David M. Hughes, director of the Center for African Studies and associate professor of anthropology and human ecology in New Brunswick, said he welcomed the opportunity to work with the Sierra Leonean community. “I am open to any and all suggestions for future activities,” he said.
Richard A. Schroeder, associate director of the Center for African Studies and associate professor in the department of geography at the School of Arts and Sciences, charmed the audience by speaking in Krio, an English-based Creole understood by the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans. Schroeder was a Peace Corps worker more than 30 years ago in Sierra Leone. He said he wanted to welcome the audience and to show his students the value of an international education.
“I wanted them to see the kind of bond two years spent in a foreign country can forge, one that can move people to laughter and tears 30 years later,” Schroeder said.
As a result of relationships formed during the preparation for President Koroma’s visit, Jalloh and local Sierra Leonean media want to work together with Rutgers on an upcoming University event with Ismael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.
Anthony Kamara Jr., U.S. bureau chief of the Patriot Vanguard news portal, said that he wants to tell a story that “not only puts the spotlight on Rutgers, but one that creates an awareness within the African community to see Rutgers as their own.”
The program was arranged by Rutgers’ Center for African Studies, the School of Arts and Sciences’ Office of International Programs, the Office of the President, the Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the local community.