2 The Hampton Roads Messenger


Volume 11 Number 6


March 2017


Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars celebrate the power of music


Theatre’s Premier Performance Series welcomes


and inspiration. The band’s


Hampton, VA – The American Sierra


Leone’s Refugee


All Stars for a dynamic evening of music


uplifting songs of hope, faith and joy captivate fans from around the world, as they offer a potent example of the redeeming power of music and the ability of the human spirit to persevere through


unimaginable hardship and


emerge with optimism intact. Band co-founders Ruben Koroma


and his wife Grace fled war-torn left Sierra Leone in 1997 and found themselves in the Kalia refugee camp near the border. When it became clear they would not be heading back to their homeland anytime soon, they joined up with guitarist Francis John Langba


(aka Franco), bassist Idrissa Bangura (aka Mallam), and other musicians in the camp whom they had known before the war, to entertain fellow refugees. After a Canadian relief agency donated two beat up electric guitars, a single microphone and a meager sound system, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars were born.


“It’s been a long struggle out of


the war, out of miserable conditions,” noted Koroma, “We try to bring out sensitive issues that are affecting the world. It is all of our responsibility that the masses are suffering. We bring our positive messages into the world so we can expect a positive change in the world. And, most importantly, bring about peace.”


ALL STARS PAGE 4


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