Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with two of Sierra Leone’s most celebrated storytellers; award-winning playwright and founder of Freetong Players Charlie Haffner, and Emmy, BAFTA, and Peabody-winning journalist Sorious Samura. Show Notes Listen to Doniie Major’s Freetown City: https://bit.ly/3PaVtHB Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House Boutique To make Sierra Leone better for women and girls in Salone better support the Asmaa James...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with actress, producer, and founder of Lema’s Diary Production Company. The film producer uses her craft to make social commentary about issues affecting Sierra Leone’s women. Her latest film “Profit Point” set in the slums of Freetown is about the struggles of women trapped by poverty and sexual exploitation. Profit Point had its London Premiere at the Young Sierra Leonean Kip Kompin Cinema. Show Notes Listen to Kaley Bag’s Di Sai Wae Ar Komot:...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Sierra Leonean poet, playwright, and author Oumar Farouk Sesay, Oumar talks and shares insights from his four-decade-long career as a writer and creative. His latest play “The Throne” challenges audiences to question their beliefs on identity, homosexuality, and tradition. Show Notes Listen to Daddy Saj’s Che Che: https://bit.ly/3Bc2xQY Follow the Mane Chronicles: https://bit.ly/3Rq6AyV Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Tarah Majeek, Entrepreneur and founder of self-care and wellness brand “Mane Chronicles''. They discuss branding, startups, and tips to transform a hobby into an enterprise. Show Notes Listen to TMA’s No Sense: https://spoti.fi/3c94S4t Follow the Mane Chronicles: https://bit.ly/3Rq6AyV Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House Boutique To make Sierra Leone better

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Alhaji Siraj Bah, a multiple award-winning green entrepreneur who makes cooking briquettes out of coconuts. Siraj shares his journey from homelessness in Freetown to becoming one of Sierra Leone’s most successful young founders and job creators. Show Notes Listen to Drizilik’s Di Mammi Ihn Moni Fo Comot: https://bit.ly/3NLiPCU j Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House Boutique To make Sierra Leone...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Namina Forna author of the New York Times bestsellers “The Gilded Ones” and the “Merciless Ones”. They discuss representation in fantasy books, girls' rites of passage, books as escapism, and growing up in Sierra Leone. Show Notes Listen to Zainab Sheriff’s Mammie Na Power: https://bit.ly/2Z6Vyrj To buy Namina Forna’s Book: https://naminaforna.com/ Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Screenwriter and Director Mohamed ’Spartar’ Lansana. Mohamed talks about the growth of Sierra Leonean films, the importance of passing legislation to protect and support the industry, and emerging producers and filmmakers from Sierra Leone everyone should know. Show Notes Listen to Famous’s Brighter Future: https://bit.ly/39upgMH Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House Boutique To make Sierra Leone...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Renata Kamara, chef, musician, and author. Renata talks about taking Sierra Leonean food to the world stage, and the power of social media content in getting customers and she shares Sierra Leone-inspired vegan and Afro-fusion recipes. Show Notes Listen to Mattodo’s Fearless: https://spoti.fi/3mpu8p3 Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House Boutique To make Sierra Leone better for women and girls in...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Hawa Jane, Lawyer, Artist, and founder of The Barray Arts Collective. Hawa talks about founding a community for artists in Freetown, opportunities for African art with NFTs, and emerging artists from Sierra Leone that everyone should know. Show Notes Listen to Bai Kamara Jr Lady Boss: https://spoti.fi/3NMrd5s Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House Boutique To make Sierra Leone better for women and...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Abu Yillah, poet, filmmaker, and co-founder of the Sierra Leone Arts and Culture Festival (SLACFEST). Abu uses poetry, film, and social media to build community and hold space for Sierra Leoneans in the UK both with online and in-person events. Show Notes Listen to Emmerson's Borbor Pain: https://spoti.fi/3LRlz0Q Watch Run “Short Film”: https://bit.ly/38jfH2E Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Haja Myers, founder of Estu’s Delight. Her wellness brand makes fresh smoothies, organic honey, and fonio. Haja talks about her entrepreneurial journey, branding, and overcoming supply chain challenges with local farmers. She also shares tips and resources for navigating Sierra Leone’s agribusiness ecosystem. Show Notes Listen to Drizilik’s Popular: https://bit.ly/3sDb0re Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with award winning Sierra Leonean hip hop and afrobeats artist Drizilik, also known as Benjamin M. George. Drizilik shares how he convinced his conservative Krio family to accept his career, language as a tool for authenticity and plans for his upcoming album Ashobi. Show Notes Listen to Drizilik’s Popular Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House Boutique To make Sierra Leone better for women and girls in...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Makeda Cole, co-founder of the Sierra Leone Arts and Culture Festival.  The British Sierra Leonean curator shares how she came to embrace her Sierra Leonean identity and how she created a platform to connect Sierra Leoneans in the UK through arts, and culture. Show Notes Listen to Kaygee ADN Royalty: https://spoti.fi/3LO74M4 Watch the last edition of SLACFest: Beyond Borders; https://bit.ly/39nLcbN Follow Makeda L. Cole on Instagram:...

Host Vickie Remoe continues the conversation with Usifu Jalloh; the Sierra Leonean storyteller who took a quarter-century to accept his gifts. In the second half of this conversation, the topic is cultural reclamation for national development. How can culture help Sierra Leoneans solve local problems? Show Notes Watch Usifu Jalloh’s The Tortoise and the Princess: https://bit.ly/36SdtGK Ship to Sierra Leone from the USA with Dot Bleu Find your next outfit at The Doll House Boutique To...

Host Vickie Remoe is in conversation with Sierra Leone’s master storyteller and award-winning educator Usifu Jalloh. Usifu rejected storytelling as his life’s calling for 25 years until a turning point brought him self-acceptance. He spent decades afraid to accept cultural creativity as his profession because his post-colonial education indoctrination told him there all things African had little value. Show Notes Watch Usifu Jalloh’s full performance at the Jazz Cafe in London:...

Bunce Island is Sierra Leone’s World Heritage site that served as a major slave trading post for 300 years. Today it's restored ruins hold the story of Sierra Leone-American cultural heritage and connection. Join this conversation with Isatu Smith, former head of Sierra Leone’s Monument & Relics Commission as she shares the fascinating history of Bunce Island and the preservationists working to restore it. Show Notes For More on Sierra Leone and Slavery Check out The Gilder Lehrman Center...

Join me for Part II of a conversation with one of my favorite writers and cultural historians, Ade Daramy. We’re talking about Ade’s life and work, building community for and with Sierra Leoneans in the UK diaspora. I first talked to Ade on our October 29th episode about April 27 1961, and the early years after Independence when under the leadership of Sir Milton Margai, Sierra Leoneans believed excellence and greatness was within reach. This time we talk about corruption and state decay in...

In conversation with Akindele Decker co-author of "20 Icons of Sierra Leone Who Shaped History". Vickie kicks off this conversation with  Akindele’s home leaving story and quest to maintain a Sierra Leonean identity in the diaspora.  They duo also share their experiences tracing their families’ genealogy from West Africa to the New World, and immortalizing Sierra Leoneans in books to remind younger generations of their heritage. Get the book 20 Icons of Sierra Leoneans Who Shaped History by...

In conversation with Hindolo Pokawa founder of Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy as he prepares to walk 315 miles from Kailahun to Freetown in solidarity with victims of sexual violence. Hindolo shares his childhood memories growing up in a house with defined gender roles, domestic violence, and toxic masculinity. We discuss the burden of womanhood in Sierra Leone, lost indigenous values that once revered women, and how men can unlearn toxic masculinity. For the Sierra Leonean man...

In conversation Joseph Ben-Kaifala founder of the Center for Memory and Reparations Sierra Leone. Remoe and Kaifala explore the origins of the war, the way people forget and remember, and the lessons from the Truth & Reconciliation Commission that Sierra Leone has yet to put into practice to consolidate peace and national healing. Kaifala’s survivor story starts when as a boy, he and his father are imprisoned for being on the wrong side of Liberia’s and Sierra Leone’s wars. For more on...

In conversation with Journalist, and Historian Ade Daramy we discuss his life’s work documenting Sierra Leone’s history and excellence from Pre-Independence to Post. Born five years before Sierra Leone gained Independence, Daramy shares his childhood memories going back to a time when Sierra Leoneans believed they could do anything under the leadership of the First Prime Minister Sir Milton Margai. It was Sir Milton who one day asked his cabinet why there were no stamps that one did not have...

Fambul Tok for Girls - A special Make Sierra Leone Famous community radio program in partnership with Save The Children to mark International Day of the Girl 2020 in Sierra Leone. The average pass rate for National Primary School Exams in the Southern Province is 65% but in Save The Children's Accelerated Education Program in Pujehun 91% of students pass. In this community radio program in Pujehun, Vickie Remoe is in conversatin with the parents of the three girls who scored highest in NPSE...

Vickie Remoe travels to the village of Magbele--her maternal homeland-- for a conversation with Bai Suba Bolt III, a chief from the Kabia ruling family of Lower Marampa in Port Loko District, Northern Sierra Leone. Listen for stories that explore how Port Loko got its name, the beliefs and secret societies of old that continue to this day, and how families in line for the chief's throne wait for their turn to rule.