# Keys of Change in Sierra Leone



## Alexandra (Apr 3, 2012)

Sierra Leone is still on the road to recovery after a 10-year civil conflict, which left 50,000 people dead and over 2 million displaced. As memories of the past are fading and now the country’s vibrant life has been restored however, there are still many challenges on the way. Panos Karan and Keys of Change bring classical music to children and adults in Sierra Leone, as they visit schools, hospitals, slums of Freetown, amputee centres, clinics for the blind and remote villages. 









Photos: Tariq Zaidi www.tariqzaidi.com


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## Alexandra (Apr 5, 2012)

It was very hot in the morning, and we spent a long time in a taxi, getting to the centre of Freetown - 5 of us, plus the driver and the piano! Interestingly enough, we fit, although two boys who are helping us and guiding us around had to sit in the boot of the car. But then, our car with heads sticking out from everywhere did not even attract much attention amidst the chaos of the city centre full of people and traffic moving in various directions.

Panos played a recital for the AdvocAid charity, that provides legal advice, education and support for female detainees, former sex workers and their children. The group of 20-30 women were listening with breathtaking silence to Chopin, but as Panos stared playing the Greek Dances by Hadjidakis they all jumped up to dance! They loved the music, and it was really amazing to see these open smiles on their faces!

We then went for a change of scenery, and drove for about two hours through the traffic of Freetown and then out of the city to the King George V Home for the elderly, which is located in a beautiful countryside. People living there are very weak and frail, however they all came to listen to piano music. After a long recital programme, they asked Panos if he can play any African songs, and he played “Fire Fire” - a Sierra Leonean song, and they all sang to it. Then we drove back to Freetown through the mountains, avoiding the traffic and enjoying beautiful landscapes.

Sierra Leone has a very unique environment. In two days we’ve seen many different parts of Freetown and surrounding areas - some chaotic, some peaceful, some noisy, some dusty, but everywhere there are people who smile so openly and genuinely, that it is impossible not to smile back at them.


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## nickel (Apr 5, 2012)

Alexandra said:


> After a long recital programme, they asked Panos if he can play any African songs, and he played “Fire Fire” - a Sierra Leonean song, and they all sang to it.


Παρακαλούμε πάρα πάρα πολύ: αυτό το θέλουμε σε βιντεάκι.


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## Alexandra (Apr 5, 2012)

Το ψάχνω ακόμα. Μέχρι να ακούσω το ζωντανό βίντεο για να βεβαιωθώ, έχω βρει μερικά στο YouTube, αλλά δεν είμαι σίγουρη.


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## Alexandra (Apr 7, 2012)

Yesterday we went to the Teachers College near Grafton, outside of Freetown to play a recital for students there, and in the evening we came to Lagoonda complex - a cinema centre, with a stage and proper seats for the audience. Tariq made a presentation to show members of the public pictures taken so far during this trip, and then Panos played another recital. Family members of the Iranian Ambassador to Sierra Leone came to listen, and we got to talk to them a bit after the concert. As we started quite late we didn’t get back to the hotel until midnight, we were really looking forward to catching up on sleep. In the morning we got a call from the receptionist, who asked us to come pick up a present - apparently the Iranian family, having heard that Panos likes doogh (iranian drink), has sent a whole jar of it to the hotel! It added a sense of cool breeze and freshness on Good Friday morning! 

Luckily we had some rest, because today’s visit to Mabella community demanded a lot of energy from us. First of all, Mabella is one of the most deprived areas of Freetown. Have you seen the Slumdog Millionaire? Well, that looked like 5-star environment compared to what we’ve seen today. Second, have you seen Oxford Street during Christmas sales? The number of people on the local market made it look like a quiet alley. It was practically impossible to move by car through crowds and crowds of people, who were literally everywhere. It is weird they could actually get anywhere in such a chaotic crowd! But eventually we got to our destination - a football field, where a game between local girls’ teams had just finished. It was good timing, as many people were already there. At the end we were surrounded by some 200 kids, who were not just listening, but also clapping and dancing, and Nutcracker’s Trepak and the (Hadjidakis) Greek Dances were a real hit! All kids came to us afterwards, touching and pulling us in different directions, and it took a bit of crowd-control from the members of Africa Youth Circle to allow us to leave.

Tomorrow we will be leaving Freetown to explore other parts of the country, starting from Bonthe. 











Photos: Tariq Zaidi www.tariqzaidi.com


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## Alexandra (Apr 19, 2012)

Ο Πάνος έγραψε σήμερα στο Facebook:

I came to Sierra Leone expecting to find stories of war, suffering and survival, yet these stories of the past that unite the people in this African country are not the ones that define them in the present. 

One example is Alusine, our guide, translator and travel companion around the country for two weeks. We met Alusine in Freetown soon after our arrival. A very energetic man in his early 20s, who if he is not smiling, it is because he is laughing. In 1998, when the end of the war reached Freetown, Alusine was living in Lakka, near Freetown, with his family, and at 11 years old he had to regularly make a 24-mile walk to find food. One afternoon, on his way back home, he was abducted by the RUF (Revolutionairy United Front, i.e. the rebels). He was beaten relentlessly, tortured, injected with cocaine, eventually given an AK47 and "recruited" as a child soldier, a fate not uncommon at the time for children his age. Before he was a teenager he knew about war and killing (aka "washing"), and when he dared ask his commander "Sir, what are we fighting for?" he was tied up to a chair and forced to look directly at the sun for a whole day. After nine months in hell, he managed to escape, together with two friends. He reached home three weeks later, after a long march through the forest, only to find the door closed for him, his family saying that only the ghost of their son had returned. He eventually made it to a hospital and recovered from his ordeal, while doctors spent two months clearing out the drugs from his system. He has remained good friends with the two boys that escaped with him on the same day--one of them now is a security guard and the other is a medical student. Alusine today is actively involved with several organisations helping children and young people in Sierra Leone. 

Everybody has a story, yet the war is almost not spoken of. The pain and devastation was felt by everyone, it touched everyone's life, and the images of extreme brutality are too vivid to forget. Yet the country needs some serious re-branding, because so much has happened in the last decade. Sierra Leone has come remarkably far on the long road to recovery, and it is only because of the amazing spirit of its people that, hardly ten years later, a visitor can almost miss the wounds of the past. What is impossible to miss however are the smiles, the laughter, the dancing, the hospitality. The place is messy, dusty, chaotic, irrational, impossible for anyone to stay clean in for more than 10 minutes, but the colours full of life, the real energy, the determination of people to smile no matter what, make it all worthwhile, inspiring, wonderful. 

Classical music, although unknown and new, inspires, it is felt by the heart, and is expressed astonishingly through dance and movement. Who would think that people listening to classical music for the first time would dance so beautifully? A group of sex workers spontaneously jumped off their seats to dance to Greek music, followed by Tchaikovsky. A thousand inmates (in a prison built for three hundred) cheered almost out of control as they moved their feet to Handel. A group of blind students danced spectacularly to Chopin, jumping around a small room, expressing this new music freely, in the most fresh and beautiful way I have ever seen, perhaps because nobody told them that they can't. One of them very delicately put my hand in theirs and touching my palm very gently whispered "Diamond fingers".

Being cheerful reminds people they are alive, not being sad, and music for Sierra Leoneans can only be part of their cheerfulness. Our guide Alusine smiled softly when he shared with us some of his scars: beatings on his chest, a bullet in his leg. "We have to make sure there is a future for young people in this country", he said still smiling. "And music will bring people closer together."

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## nickel (Apr 19, 2012)

Πολύ καλογραμμένες και λίαν ενημερωτικές οι πρώτες παράγραφοι, αλλά εμένα με συγκινούν πάντα αυτές οι σπάνιες και τόσο θετικές εμπειρίες που έχουν να κάνουν με τη συνάντηση με τη μουσική. Οι εικόνες είναι υπέροχες:

Classical music, although unknown and new, inspires, it is felt by the heart, and is expressed astonishingly through dance and movement. Who would think that people listening to classical music for the first time would dance so beautifully? A group of sex workers spontaneously jumped off their seats to dance to Greek music, followed by Tchaikovsky. A thousand inmates (in a prison built for three hundred) cheered almost out of control as they moved their feet to Handel. A group of blind students danced spectacularly to Chopin, jumping around a small room, expressing this new music freely, in the most fresh and beautiful way I have ever seen, perhaps because nobody told them that they can't. One of them very delicately put my hand in theirs and touching my palm very gently whispered "Diamond fingers".


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## Alexandra (May 23, 2012)

Ολόκληρο το άλμπουμ του Tariq Zaidi εδώ.


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## Alexandra (Jun 24, 2012)

Ετοιμάστηκε το βιβλίο της Σιέρα Λεόνε. Μόνο εμένα μου φαίνονται πανέμορφα αυτά τα πρόσωπα;
http://www.blurb.com/books/3305553


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## Alexandra (Jan 30, 2013)

O Πάνος σε λίγες μέρες φεύγει για το δεύτερο ταξίδι στη Σιέρα Λεόνε. Στην ανανεωμένη του ιστοσελίδα, έχει ένα αίτημα για μικρές δωρεές.

Would you like to receive a postcard posted to you from the heart of Africa?
Follow the link below and donate of €10 or more to Keys of Change, and Panos Karan will sign and mail back to you a postcard from Sierra Leone. Not only will you receive a living memory from this unique project, but you will be with us for part of this trip, while helping children in the Sierra Leone learn music.


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## Alexandra (Feb 13, 2013)

Επειδή ξέρω ότι δεν παρακολουθείτε όλοι το Facebook, βάζω εδώ μερικές φωτογραφίες από την πρώτη μέρα του Πάνου με τα παιδιά στη Σιέρα Λεόνε.


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## nickel (Feb 13, 2013)

Προσθέτω κι αυτήν με τα μαλλιά που δείχνει πώς μαθαίνουν να χάνουν την ώρα τους οι γυναίκες της Αφρικής...


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## SBE (Feb 13, 2013)

Αυτό το χτένισμα βρε Νίκελ το κάνεις μια φορά το χρόνο και κρατάει όλο το χρόνο, πιο οικονομικό από αποψη χρόνου απο το εβδομαδιαίο κομμωτήριο.


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## Alexandra (Feb 13, 2013)

Μερικές ακόμα φωτογραφίες:


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