Lois Addo is a young Ghanaian-Canadian. She is is one of the students that recently won scholarship awards from the Ghanaian Canadian Association of British Columbia (GCABC). In this interview she tells us a bit about herself and her plans. Gibril Koroma: Please tell us a bit about yourself. Lois Addo: My name is Lois and I am 19 years old. I am a first-generation Canadian and was born and raised in British Columbia. Currently, I attend the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver (...)

By Our Correspondent A Toronto-based Sierra Leonean activist, Abdulai Bayraytay, Thursday, February 24th, 2011 called on humanity to respect diversity if only the vestiges of racism and intolerance were to be eliminated in the public discourse. Bayraytay made this statement speaking on diversity in his contribution to a discussion celebrating “Black History Month” organized by the Catholic Children’s Aid society (CCAS and held at the Society’s Conference Hall on (...)

Whether affected by poverty, disability, discrimination or conflict, a child’s life can be transformed through sport. As Canadians, simple gifts like play are often taken for granted, but watching children in Liberia overcome the effects of war has shown Right To Play delegates Keifala Kromah and Helena Massaquoi the true value of play. They will be in Vancouver on March 1 with Olympian Adam Kreek, for a free event to increase awareness about Right To Play and to share their powerful (...)

Commentary By Abu Bakarr Kamara (Biggie Smalls), Winnipeg, Canada. At an end-of-year social organized by the Sierra Leone Nationals Association of Manitoba a large number of Sierra Leoneans came together in a spirit of love and unity, to bid farewell to 2010 and to welcome 2011 on Friday, December 31st, 2010. The event took place at the City Oasis in the city of Winnipeg. The occasion which was organized in grand style, is a tradition for Sierra Leoneans in Manitoba to come together as (...)

Kevan Cameron is one of the most popular spoken word performers in British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Scruffmouth, Kevan describes himself as a scribe and a dub poet. I recently had an interview with Scruffmouth and he tells me who he is and what he does. Gibril Koroma: Please introduce yourself to our readers. Kevan Cameron: My name is Scruffmouth, I am a scribe and dub poet. You could say that I am a published writer and a professional spoken word artist. GK: How would you (...)

Commentary I have a confession to make: I had never heard of the new Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi, pictured, until recently when he popped up on Canadian and some international news media for being Canada’s first Muslim mayor. I am not alone. And that, in my opinion, shows just how little chance the guy had to clinch that coveted job in a city known for its cowboys and of course the Calgary Stampede. There was also talk of it being inhabited by rednecks, conservatives and other (...)

A fundraiser to help albinos in the East African country of Tanzania and other parts of Africa will be held Saturday October 23 at the Sheraton hotel in the city of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. A Canadian non-governmental organization, Under the Same Sun (UTSS) is organizing the fundraiser and it was found in 2008, by a Surrey man, Peter Ash(photo), who is himself a person with albinism, a genetic condition which, among other things,results in significantly reduced vision. UTSS, (...)

When Dr. Clement Apaak (top), a Simon Fraser University-trained archeologist, set up Direct Assistance Network, an organization to help poor and needy students in Africa earlier this year, he never knew he would be embroiled in a controversy so soon. It all began when the SFU-based One world, One Vision (iVow) decided to collaborate with Apaak’s outfit to raise funds for female students in his native Ghana on World Peace Day (September 21, 2010). iVow had planned a splendid musical (...)

For the first time in Canada, an international conference on the legendary Ghanaian leader Osagyefo (the Redeemer) Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was held at the Richmond campus of British Columbia’s Kwantlen University August 19-21. As should be expected, the conference attracted world class Pan-Africanist scholars like Professsor Molefi Kete Asante of Temple University in the United States, Dr. Hakim Adi of Middlesex University, renowned scholar and poet Dr. Atukwei Okai (see video below), of (...)

By Abu Bakarr Kamara, Winnipeg. The Sierra Leone Nationals Association of Manitoba (SALNAM) with support from Canada Hope International wishes to announce the shipment of a 40 ft. container carrying a shipment of assortments of medical equipment and supplies, as a gift from the Sierra Leonean community in Manitoba, Canada to the Connaught and the Cottage Hospitals in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The total value of the shipment which arrives at the Queen Elizabeth Quay in Freetown on September (...)