One Village at a Time

DNA testing recently brought Isaiah Washington to the realization that his roots lie in Sierra Leone among the Mende people. Sierra Leone is perhaps the poorest country on the globe; one that rates last in every rating of quality of life done by the UN. Life expectancy in Sierra Leone, for instance, stands at the forlorn figure of 39. It is in a region of Africa that was hard hit by the greed of the Western world's colony builders and their "need" for slave labour.
Washington has already stepped up to the plate for Sierra Leone with the establishment of his non-profit organization Gondobay Manga Foundation that seeks to achieve improvement in the lives of the people of Sierra Leone, "one village at a time". The foundation strives to "draw the attention of the international community to ... issues such as road building, water supply and electricity" in the devastating poverty left behind by european colonialism.
To further that awareness, Washington has just given @25,000.00 US to a computer animation project aimed at detailing the Atlantic slave trade. Bunce Island, an 18th century slave-trading castle was part of the network that sent hapless Africans to a life of slavery, and it will be the focus of this project. Joseph Opala and Gary Chatelain, both professors at James Madison University in Virginia, will be directing the animation that will show Bunce as it was in the early 1800's. Once the work is completed, it should be made required viewing at every high school in the western world. The awareness Washington seeks to raise is sadly lacking. The next generation is a great place to sow seeds for it.