Giving Voice to Hope: Music of Liberian Refugees

Giving Voice to Hope: Music of Liberian Refugees (CD cover)

Buduburam CD project website at University of Alberta International

Overview

The University of Alberta has a long and rich history of partnerships in Africa. Recently, a number of faculties along with University of Alberta International have been supporting initiatives in Ghana that involve the University of Ghana, a rural Ghanaian village, and Buduburam Refugee Settlement.

Buduburam is a Liberian refugee camp located west of Ghana's capital, Accra. With the first refugees arriving in 1990, the UN High Commission for Refugees has helped provide shelter for thousands of people fleeing Liberian civil wars. Once home to over 40,000 inhabitants, Buduburam is currently undergoing transition as residents attempt to re-establish their lives in Liberia.

The University of Alberta is walking with this community on their voyage of return to Liberian society.

The Music

Popular music has emerged within Buduburam Refugee Settlement, responding to musical inclinations of residents and the need to express individual and collective experiences of displacement, loss, reconciliation, and peace.

The University of Alberta, in a cooperative multi-faculty initiative involving faculty, staff, and students, is engaged in the production and distribution of a music CD, entitled Giving Voice to Hope: Music of Liberian Refugees, featuring 16 Liberian musical groups who have resided as refugees in Buduburam. The music CD is a creative initiative to further explore the social impact and realities of civil war and refugees. Musical recordings will represent life in Buduburam through several genres: traditional, gospel, hip hop, rap, R&B, and reggae.

The music represents musicians hailing from many regions of Liberia (see map).

The project is being implemented in partnership with the Centre for Youth Empowerment (CYE), a Liberian NGO founded by war-stricken Liberian youth who sought refuge in Buduburam. CYE is committed to the pursuit of peace, development, education, good health, and sanitation, and has been an instrumental leader in the ongoing rehabilitation of Liberian refugees.

Project Goals

In addition to introducing talented musicians to a North American audience, the project has several goals:

• Post Conflict Healing - encourage musicality among youth as a form of community building
• Global Education - engage U of A students in a participatory way in raising awareness about civil society and refugee-related issues, support education about Africa at the U of A, and support a successful African-based NGO (CYE) focused on developing youth leaders of tomorrow
• Fund-raising - establish a U of A endowment which will support U of A student-focused learning initiatives in Africa, and generate revenue for the Liberian musicians and CYE
• Research - document musical life of refugee camps and understand how and why music can be used as a tool to overcome realities of conflict and dislocation

CD Launch

An offical CD launch and reception will be held in September 2009 (date TBD).

Upcoming Events

Design Celebrating Hope: An Exhibition of Student Design Work for the Buduburam CD Project

Exhibition Dates: May 19 - July 4, 2009 and September 1 - 24, 2009

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 21, 2009, 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Fine Arts Building Gallery, 1-1 Fine Arts Building, University of Alberta Campus

Curators: Bonnie Sadler Takach and Aidan Rowe

This exhibition visually documents how Visual Communication Design students in the Department of Art and Design worked collaboratively with members of University of Alberta International and the Department of Music to create dozens of visual concepts for the Buduburam CD Project, Giving Voice to Hope: Music of Liberian Refugees.

This exhibition is supported in part by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. The student design research project was supported in part by the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund from the Office of the Provost.

Contact

For more information, please email us

Track samples (0:30)

1. No More War (5:50, English, Bassa) Genre: Traditional/Reggae

I can express myself best in life through music…Liberians, we are very lively people—we love being together, entertaining our elders, we need to let the world go away. It helps us to keep the memory of war away and music can teach us good behavior.

Morris Haynes came from a musical family and began to develop his talents at a young age. As a skilled guitarist strongly influenced by Nigerian Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, Morris incorporates highlife, jazz, and disco lines into his music. He has recorded an album in Liberia, performed educational songs about HIV/AIDS and polio, and written jingles for African radio stations. He hopes to one day have his own studio and radio station in Liberia.

Contact: mrhaynes101@yahoo.com

2. Power (6:00) S-Man (Samuel Taylor) (6:00, English, Vai) Genre: Traditional/Highlife

This is a song about politicians in Africa, manipulating people’s minds for their own selfish gain. This creates war in the end. The song is a warning that we shouldn’t be fooled. I sing part of the song in Vai so that my countrymen, in rural areas, can understand.

S-Man, a former dancer in the traveling Liberian National Troupe, became a refugee at the age of 12 when he fled conflict in Liberia and Ivory Coast. S-Man used his musical talents to work with the international humanitarian organization, War Child, teaching Liberian refugee children traditional dance to give them a sense of direction and connect them to their culture. S-Man has trained in video editing and soap making, and hopes that when he returns to Liberia, he can help rebuild his country, empowering people by teaching them how to make soap.

Contact: samueltaylor2024@yahoo.com

3. A Zaa Me:Rpo Wedeh (4:10) Samuel Johnson (4:10, Bassa) Genre: Traditional/Gospel

Even in the pits of hell, music can help, especially the youth whose future is going down the drain. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, we must believe there is always tomorrow.

Currently the director of his church’s choir, Samuel Johnson’s earliest musical memories include listening to his dad’s recordings of Reverend Al Green, Mahalia Jackson, and Aretha Franklin. With a musician brother, he soon began to experiment with instruments and compose. Even as a child he felt that music was inside of him and that he had a responsibility to bring it out, believing his music could help console people’s hearts and minds. Samuel hopes to return to nursing school and contribute to the development of his country.

Contact: golfsam32@yahoo.com

4. Stop the Violence (4:10) Big Seen (Wesley Toh, Alvin L. Page) (4:10, English) Genre: Hip-Hop

This song is about all forms of violence. We ask God why does the world turn upside down, especially during the war, when we see brothers killing brothers. Speaking out against tribalism and respecting people’s differences is important.

Childhood friends Wesley and Alvin knew each other in Liberia, where they grew up listening to James Brown and Michael Jackson, and remember breakdancing at birthday parties. Despite many challenges, they remain passionate about music and dream of performing around the world, as well as managing up-and-coming Liberian hip-hop artists.

Contact: wesleytoh@yahoo.com

5. Take Away (4:36) Soul Whisperers (Gardiah G. Henry, Hilary L. Browne, John Goah, George Charles) Take Away (4:36, English) Genre: Gospel

Music is a binding force here connecting us all - if a song is playing and someone outside my window is dancing, or I am singing while washing, it cheers our hearts. In Africa, every child is born with music. Every child on his momma’s back hears music, feels beats when she dances.

The members of Soul Whisperers were choir directors from different churches who came together out of a love for music and the belief that music can cut across all physical and cultural barriers. This belief inspired them to give hope to their fellow refugees through their songs. “Take Away”, rooted in the experience of living in the camp for over 15 years, is about an individual who has suffered and is asking God for relief.

Contact: tonashandeal@yahoo.com; soulwhisperers@yahoo.com

6.We Are All Liberian (5:19) Calabash Unite Us All (5:19, English) Genre: Traditional

Having traveled across Africa to share their message of peace and reconciliation, this group takes its name from the village tradition of welcoming people with cold water served in a calabash, symbolizing that all people drink from the same place. Comprised of over twenty members from different tribes, Calabash performs songs and dances from many counties, reflecting their diverse makeup and the desire for unity among Liberians. They consider themselves a good example of what can be accomplished when people overcome differences to work as a family. Guided by the belief that tradition can strengthen rather than divide people, and that all tribes have something to learn from one another, Calabash hopes to start a cultural centre in Liberia where they can teach disadvantaged children traditional music, dancing, and folklore.

Contact: calibech43@yahoo.com; jsaplah2g10@yahoo.com

7. Je T'adore (5:13) Representorz (Joseph Teah Jr. Dave Nyema, Milton Farley) (5:13, English/French) Genre: Hip-Hop

Music can bring change—musicians can express the feelings of the people when they are down and depressed, it can revive the soul. For us Liberians, the more we are depressed, the more we want to dance!

Together since 2000, the Representorz have performed with UN programs, at charity functions, and on radio shows in Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. They create music that makes people want to dance but are also versatile in their vision to explore the musical world and to help liberate Africa from poverty by educating people through music. “Je T’adore” is about being in love with a girl, even though she might leave you for financial reasons.

Contact: jnyan76@yahoo.com

8. Peace Must Prevail (4:13) Shadow (Samuel Morgan)

9. Ah Mama (Africa Let's Sing) (3:59) Timothy Faya Bomah

10. About Time (4:18) Universal Vision

11. Come Together Africa (2:32) God's Family

12. Gbai Kai Yaa (4:25) Constance Exploit Bowier

13. It’s True (3:25) Interpretors

14. Shine for Jesus/Brille Pour Jesus (4:10) Helbert Collins

15. Give a Little Love to the Children (4:23) Alaric Crump

16. CYE Theme Song (1:48) Blessed Brothers

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