Music and dance

We use visual and performing arts to educate, entertain, and to empower other young people to overcome their war trauma, learn new skills and lead independent, productive lives.

Why Music and Dance?

The performing art is critical to non-violent conflict resolution and reconciliation. This is because the positive use of creative interactive artcan act as a powerful galvanizing tool in healing the wounds of once homogenous but now fractured societies such as Sierra Leone.

Music plays a pivotal role in the daily lives of Africans in general and Sierra Leoneans in particular. In joy or in sorrow, in rain or in sun-shine, we Africans always sing and dance. From the cradle to the grave, the sound of music acts as an indispensable umbilical cord connecting us to every facet of our daily lives. It is the key to unlocking and hence to understanding the African resilience even in the face of adversity as large parts of the continent undergoes difficult times.

Since the end of the war, Sierra Leone finds itself in the throes of rapid socio-economic and political changes. Some of the high expectations that accompanied the end of the war has not materialized quick enough. These challenges now requires the concerted efforts of everyone using both conventional and non-conventional means in a multi-track approach aimed at solidifying the hard-gained peace. It is in this vein that peace music plays an especially important role in galvanizing communities.

Music (and its allure) is one of the few concepts that have remained largely intact in the face of breath-taking, but largely negative changes in the country. If anything, it is now a powerful weapon that can be used to wage peace. The lyrics of peace songs can embellish the fears and the hopes, the joys and the sorrows and the need for renouncing violence and promoting reconciliation and peaceful co-existence. It offers an ideal opportunity for young people to express themselves in a very positive way and hence rise above the political bickering that has come to characerize post-conflict Sierra Leone. Also and perhaps most importantly, in the face of government censorship, music offers a way out of the prejudice and stigma sometimes associated with the spoken word. It is therefore a requisite tool in reaching out to a wider audience and hence promoting a culture of non-violence.