Isatu Harrison on Building Creative Spaces in Sierra Leone

Creative Hub Africa is a space in Freetown where creatives learn and connect with each other and explore potential markets for their creative businesses. The founder says their goal is to unlock the creative potential and build an entrepreneurial mindset in Sierra Leone's growing youthful population, which is almost 80% of the country's population. The hub also hosts creative events like open mic nights, which bring together poets and writers. Poda-Poda Stories Fellow Josephine Kamara interviewed the founder and CEO, Isatu Harrison, about the importance of creating such a space in Sierra Leone and how it all started.

Isatu Harrison: I was invited to a creative space in the UK. I was so inspired by it as it was such a bold space and I imagined having something like that in Sierra Leone. When I moved back home, I started off with the Izelia factory, a fashion company, and the impact we had on young people was huge. More young people kept approaching me and my team to come to the factory to work. So, we started working with creatives in the Izelia factory and that was because we have a little bit of space that we could play with. And that's how the Creative Hub started.

Josephine Kamara: What gap in the creative ecosystem were you aiming to address?

Harrison: I thought it was important to have a space sharing and creating opportunities for people that want to pursue creative careers. This is a hub for ceatives with ideas who are looking for a space where they can go and flourish and flesh out their ideas out work on them. And this is the gap the Creative Hub is trying to fill – providing a home for all of them.

Kamara: You mentioned something about infrastructure, when you stated that systems for creative people work in the UK and in Sierra Leone, it's almost non-existent or even if it's there, we're not well-structured. Please comment on the creative infrastructure in Sierra Leone.

Harrison: Because most of the population are young people in this country, there is dire need for nurturing ecosystem for them to birth their dreams. When I came back home, the only space that I found was Ballanta Academy. Ballanta has been around for 24 years, so I won’t say nothing exists, but the infrastructure is small. For the Creative Hub, we got a grant from the World Bank and the Government of Sierra Leone. We had a $50,000 grant and I matched that with personal funds. I have no regret in doing it because every day people go into that space to dream, to do creative work, to share their work. I don't have the words to explain how it makes me feel.

Kamara: As you emphasise the importance of providing infrastructure for growth, could you elaborate on the specific resources and support that the hub offers to young creatives in Sierra Leone?

Harrison: So when you go into the space, we have what we call the design space, and that design space is really the space for creatives to get their work done. So we have all the graphic design software loaded on computers so you can do, you know, practice your graphic design. Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur or just at the ideation stage, we have expert advisors that work with you to develop that idea and turn it into an actual business. 

Kamara: We always say that as Sierra Leoneans, we need to tell our stories more. I've attended some of your events, and I've seen great storytellers and poets there. Can you comment more on specific support for young people who use this art form to express themselves.

Harrison: What we want to do next is connect is connect young writers to writers’ programs and workshops. We have a few people interested in working with writers, and we're planning our first MasterClass. On that note, we have some visitors coming this month. I don't know if you've heard of Fela, the play? They have Broadway shows in New York, and the writers have some connection to Sierra Leone. They are really interested in meeting young writers, poets, young people in that sector. They're having a master class possibly on the 21st or 22nd of December. I feel like we have a lot of wealth in terms of writers and directors in the diaspora, and if we connect them with local talent, it could be amazing.

Creative Hub Africa offers a space for young people in the creative sector to network and learn.

Kamara: Oh, that sounds exciting! Are there more initiatives like this within the hub to mentor and give visibility to the creatives that makes use of the Hub?

Harrison: Every last Friday of the month we organise an open mic nigh and we select three people from each performance night. We then connect them to mentors at Ballanta Academy. We also want to get more people involved in the process. Starting this month, people in the audience can vote, and we'll select our top three. Once we have those three people, we're making contacts in Nigeria with CC Hub in Nigeria. CC Hub stands for Co-Creation Hub. It's a creative hub based in Nigeria and present in Kenya. They've been in the space for over 10 years and understand how the creative space operates. They have many opportunities that we don't have access to here. The creative sector is still very young in Sierra Leone, and it's at a stage where we all need to come together to establish it. So, we are collaborating with organisations like CC Hub to help us nurture creatives from Sierra Leone, starting with those from the open mic sessions.

Poda-Poda Stories Fellow Josephine Kamara(L) and Founder of Creative Hub Africa Isatu Harrison at her home.

Kamara: Why is it important for a Hub like this to exist in a country?

Harrison: The trend happening globally is that the creative sector is the fastest-growing economically. In Sierra Leone, either due to lack of awareness or conscious decisions, we haven't prioritised or focused on developing the creative sector. There's so much that can be gained from it, and the space we're creating has a fundamental purpose. It's not just about creating a safe space for creativity but also about formalising it. There's tremendous potential in the creative sector, and we are working and hoping to collaborate with the government and partners to make them realise the significant impact it can have on our country.

Creative Hub Africa offers a space for young people in the creative sector to network and learn.

Kamara: Everything sounds so peachy, but I’m sure challenges exist. Do you want to share some for the people who are interested in learning more about what it takes to build this creative infrastructure in Sierra Leone?

Harrison: I’ll start with the most recent event. So, for Christmas, what we decided to do was bring female entrepreneurs to showcase their products. So, I thought, why not bring these women together and try a digital market where we only accept cashless transactions.

This way, we can introduce them to different technologies available that they can use in running their day-to-day business. We also brought the idea of reducing single-use plastics. Instead of using plastic bags, we encouraged them to use fabric bags. We even created cost-effective fabric bags for them to use for their customers. It's an eco-friendly approach and encourages the use of reusable bags.

Yesterday was the launch of that market (referring to 7th Dec.), and it wasn't without challenges because people aren't used to going anywhere without cash. The shift to mobile money or card payments was very challenging. I think it's the first market of its kind here, that was completely cashless and plastic free.

It was so challenging. People were complaining that the mobile money was not working, but by 6:00 PM, most people were making payments by mobile. I realised what we need in Sierra Leone is to guide people through change. Internet connectivity is another thing we as creatives are gravely challenged with in Sierra Leone.

Kamara: Looking ahead, what are your dreams and aspirations for the creative hub?

Harrison: If we make this a priority, within the next two years we would see so many changes within the creative ecosystem and we would see a lot of creative careers thriving in Sierra Leone.

Josephine Kamara is a Poda Poda Fellow, Feminist Activist and Storyteller who writes to know and share her well-rounded human experience. She is currently a MA candidate at the Institute of Development Studies – University of Sussex, UK.

Mohamed Sheriff on Children's Literature in Sierra Leone

Mohamed Sheriff is a Sierra Leonean children’s story writer, playwright, producer and dramatist. He is the author of several beloved children’s books and novellas from Sierra Leone, including Maryama Must Go and Secret Fear. Mohamed Sheriff has been a trainer, coach and publisher of mainly children books. As a children’s books, writer he has a dozen titles to his name, some of them anthologies; as a publisher he has published twice that number of books by other children’s books writers; and as a trainer and coach, he has worked in a number of book development projects that have seen the publication of up to forty books including anthologies for children. He also owns a communications and media company Pampana Communications Publishing and Media Consultancy.

In this interview, he talks to Poda-Poda Stories about his love for children’s literature, why it is important for Sierra Leonean children to see themselves in stories, and the future of publishing for children’s literature.

Poda- Poda: Thank you Mohamed Sherriff, for joining the poda poda. Please tell us about yourself and your work. 

Mohamed Sheriff: I write children books, short stories, novellas, and screen, radio and stage plays. I’ve published several books in all of these categories and won a handful of national and international awards for my writings.

Poda-Poda: So how did you get into writing? Have you always been writing or was it something you branched into?

Mohamed Sherriff( MS): I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I did a lot of writing in my ‘head’ back then. I can say I had a hyperactive imagination that would weave a story at the tap of a button in my head.  Some incident or chance happening, commonplace or extraordinary, would fire up my imagination into creating a story.  I was inspired to tell stories by my mother and my step mum, who were both very good folk storytellers. In the evenings, especially during the long holidays, we - siblings, cousins, other relatives, even neighbours – mainly children, would gather in our backyard or living room and listen to their stories.  I was always enthralled by the way my mother told these stories: she would sing, sway, clap her hands, tap her feet and, most captivating to me, mimic the sound of different characters, including animals in her stories, and transport us into their strange, magical or extraordinary world. That was how my love for stories, drama, books and movies evolved.  I admired her storytelling so much that I wanted to be a storyteller like her when I grew up. When I was able to read, I discovered books that had similar stories like my mum told, the folk tales, and other kinds of stories, too - realistic fiction for children, and I loved them all.

 The more children books I read, the more I loved the idea of writing for children. And then I started reading more complex literature, like novellas, novels, short story collections and plays.  My exposure to those kinds of literature inspired me further, strengthening my resolve and nurturing my dream of becoming a writer.

The inspiration for the other important category of my writing, drama, also came from my childhood experiences.  When I was little there was a theatre group in our neighbourhood called Guinness Theatre or Drama Group. I think it was sponsored by Guinness, a beverage company.  The group conducted rehearsals in a compound on another street just round the corner from our house. Children would flock to the compound to watch the rehearsal and were allowed to stay as long as we behaved ourselves.  We got so involved in watching those rehearsals that some of us knew many parts of the plays by heart. I can still remember some of the lines of some of those plays. We had such fun watching them that again I felt I wanted to be involved in theatre when I grew up.

Poda-Poda: How did you make the decision to go into children’s book specifically?

MS: Considering my wonderful childhood experiences at those storytelling sessions, my passion for reading children books ,it was no accident that when eventually I started writing, children books were among the first and has remained an important part of my work as a writer.

My getting into the business of actual writing for children was triggered by my encounter with Macmillan Publishers. Way back in the mid 90s they were very active in Sierra Leone. They organized a workshop to encourage Sierra Leoneans to write for children. With my passion for writing for children, I saw that as a great opportunity, so I attended the workshop, at the end of which, we were encouraged to submit manuscripts. One of the stories I wrote, “Secret Fear” a novella for young readers went on to win an international award and sold thousands of copies.

Much later, I had the opportunity to meet with an organization called CODE (Canadian Organization for the Development of Education). They invited me to a children’s book development workshop in Liberia, where they were engaging local writers and illustrators to develop their own books. After that workshop, they decided to come to Sierra Leone to launch a similar programme for Sierra Leoneans with me as a co-trainer, facilitator and editor.  To date, the programme has published 29 books for children.

Besides writing for children, I have been a trainer, coach and publisher of mainly children books. As a children’s book writer I have a dozen titles of books to my name, some of them anthologies; as a publisher I have published twice that no of books by other children book writers; and as a trainer and coach, I have worked in a number of book development projects that have seen the publication of up to forty books including anthologies for children.

Poda-Poda: You’ve shared how you’ve published several children’s books. How important is it for Sierra Leonean children to have those books in schools?  

MS: It is very important for these books to be in schools, because reading is one of the most effective ways to develop a child’s mind. All other things being equal, a child who engages in reading as a hobby is likely to perform better in school overall than a child who does not. Reading helps children in some very important ways: it broadens their horizons and helps develop their critical thinking and communication skills; and all of this will help them in other subject areas too, not just in literature and English. That is why it is important to encourage children to read. And I would encourage them to start by reading Sierra Leonean books. A lot of foreign children books have been brought to Sierra Leone and distributed to libraries and other institutions. Some of these gather dust on shelves because children don’t read them. This is not to say that it’s not important to read books from other places, but first we must get them interested in reading generally.  When children read stories that they can relate to, it excites them and gets them more interested in reading in general. This is what we observed when we distributed books to school reading clubs and libraries through one of our book development and reading projects. The feedback was that children enjoyed reading Sierra Leonean readers than foreign books, because they can identify and engage with the stories and characters. So with all the challenges we are facing with education, one way to help our children from scratch is to promote reading and encourage them to read. It’s one way they can develop their minds against all odds. Reading is one way we can help to improve standards of education in Sierra Leone.

Poda-Poda: How can we support more writers to get into children’s literature?

MS: That is what I have been doing for the past twelve years. My organisation Pampana Communications Publishing, PEN Sierra Leone and our international partners have organized workshops to train writers to write for children. Each of these workshops end in developing manuscripts to be published. But then, because resources are limited, we can only publish what available funds allow us to publish. If the government can support these efforts, it will generate a lot of books.

Everyone one has a part to play in promoting reading. It is the responsibility of our ministry of education to put reading top of their agenda to promote quality education. School authorities should show more interest in promoting reading in their schools. They can include reading in their timetables and have a kind of library hour or reading time to encourage children to read on a regular basis. Parents too have an obligation to encourage their children to read. As parents, we should also be reading to our children and introducing them to stories. Even if it is folk stories, like the ones we used to enjoy listening to as children. That would make children interested in stories either oral or written. The demand for books will encourage more people to write.

Poda-Poda: Let us talk about your other work as a playwright. How did you start that and how has that journey been for you?  

MS: When I was writing my dissertation in university, among the option of topics we had was, Recent Trends in Sierra Leonean Theatre. I chose that topic without hesitation. With it I saw an opportunity to watch plays, read play scripts and meet with actors, stage crew and directors during the course of my research. By the time I completed my research and wrote my dissertation, I was absolutely certain I was going to be a playwright.  Fast forward to where we are now, I have written well over thirty plays for stage, radio and screen and for the purpose of both entertainment and social change.  And I have published, staged and screened a number of these plays and won some national and international awards for playwriting in the process.

It’s been quite an interesting but challenging journey. One of the biggest challenges of particularly theatre in the 80s and 90s was an acute lack of venues for theatrical performances. Up until the mid 80s we had the City Hall as the main venue for theatre. The British council auditorium had always been there, but not accessible to everyone. So the City Hall became a hugely popular venue for plays attracting huge crowds from mid week to the end of the week. Unfortunately in the mid 80’s the then  Committee of Management in charge of the Freetown City Council  placed a ban on performing plays at the City Hall.

The author, Mohamed Sheriff.

Poda-Poda: Why was there a ban?

MS: All I knew was that the head of the committee said that the hall was not for theatre but other important civic functions. That action seriously affected a lot of groups that relied mainly on that hall for their performances. Many groups simply stopped operating.

 A few including my company, Pampana, tried to overcome the challenge by switching focus from producing theatre as art entertainment to  producing theatre for social change or development  on demand from various organisations that paid for our services. Unlike theatre for art entertainment requiring a built up stage with sometimes elaborate sets in a specified venue, theatre for development can be done anywhere there is space – street corners, market places, village centres,  town halls and  open community fields

 So the ban gave those who were resilient and resourceful an opportunity to create and stage plays for community theatre or theatre for development. But for a number of the groups it was either the end of the road or the beginning of a long period of dormancy. 

Poda-Poda: What an interesting journey! It is really unfortunate how theatre declined in Sierra Leone. How can we revive this in Sierra Leone?

MS: That’s a very big question! It’s quite a challenge. There are people working behind the scenes to revive it. However, the biggest challenge is that you cannot do this without money. You have the talents, writers, actors, directors and producers, but to mount your play, you need an audience. To get the audience to go back to theatre, that is a big challenge. The economic situation in the country is such that, most people would have to choose between spending 40,000 -50,000 leones on theatre or using it for something more essential like food or transportation. So that’s our biggest challenge. The government or big businesses could help if they wish to. For a start if they could identify four or five reputable groups, who could perform 2-3 plays per year, and provide them with funds for the productions annually, this would allow those groups to sell tickets at affordable prices and give members of the public the opportunity to watch up to 15 plays per year. That way, drama productions could be sustained over time.

Poda-Poda: When you say “the government”, who specifically are you referring to?

MS: The Ministry of Tourism and Culture. I’ve heard in theatrical circles that the Ministry is interested in reviving theatre, and that the minister has called a number of meetings to discuss the way forward. I hope some progress has been made, and I bet one of the main challenges the ministry would also be facing is lack of funds.

 One simple way to work towards reviving theatre is to support groups to produce plays on a regular basis.

Poda-Poda: What advice would you give to writers who want to go into playwriting or children’s literature?

MS: I have met many people who see writing as a way of making money. There is nothing wrong with that. Most dream of publishing best sellers. There’s nothing wrong with that too. Nothing wrong with dreaming big. But you must love to write. You must have the passion for it. Initially the love for writing must be stronger than the desire to make money out of it. That love would let you put your heart and soul into your writing and give you your best seller.  Thinking about making money above all else could lead to frustration and disappointment in this field.

To develop excellent writing skills, you must read and keep reading and keep writing.  Read, read, read, and write, write, write. And do that with a lot of love. Somewhere along the way, your talent would flourish and be recognized.

Also with so much competition these days, it would be helpful to look at innovative ways you can market your works besides relying on the publisher alone. But first you must develop your skills as a writer.  

To buy Mohamed Sheriff’s books, contact him at 82 Sanders Street, Freetown, email him at msaydia@gmail.com or call 076612614.

Interview by Ngozi Cole 

Sierra Leone at 60: Playwright Charlie Haffner Reflects

To celebrate 60 years after gaining independence, Poda-Poda Stories , interviewed Charlie Haffner, legendary Sierra Leonean playwright, founder of Freetong Players, and creator of popular radio drama Atunda Ayenda.

Charlie Haffner talked about the use of theatre arts over the years, and what Sierra Leoneans should reflect on after 60 years of gaining Independence.

Yema Lucilda Hunter on Documenting Sierra Leonean Lives through Fiction.

Yema Lucilda Hunter is a celebrated Sierra Leonean novelist, biographer, and librarian. Her work includes Road to Freedom, Bittersweet, Her name was Aina, and a biography:  An African Treasure - in Search of Gladys Casely-Hayford. Lucilda Hunter was born and raised in Freetown, Sierra Leone. She attended the Annie Walsh Memorial School and studied in the United Kingdom, qualifying as a librarian. As a librarian, she worked for the the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone, WHO, and was made a Fellow of the British Library Association, since renamed The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. As a writer, Yema Lucilda Hunter illustrates everyday Sierra Leonean life into rich prose, through her keen eye as a documentarian.
 In this email interview with Poda-Poda Stories, Hunter shares the inspiration behind her writing.

 Poda-Poda: Thank you for joining the Poda-Poda. Tell us about your journey as a writer and librarian? Did you always want to be a writer or was it something you fell into?

 Yema Hunter (YH): I hesitate to call myself a writer as I don’t often feel compelled to put fingers to a keyboard, or pen to paper, though I always enjoyed and got good marks at school for what used to be called ‘Composition’.   However, I AM the author of six novels and a work of non-fiction.  My career as a professional librarian is what started it. While browsing the shelves of the Africana Collection at the National Library in Sierra Leone, I came across an old book in which a 19th Century visitor to Freetown mentioned a brief encounter with one of the black Nova Scotian settlers who arrived in the country in 1792. I learned some history of which I had been totally unaware and found it so fascinating that I felt other Sierra Leoneans, especially citizens of Freetown, might find it equally interesting, especially if it was conveyed in a non-scholarly manner. That was how I came to write my first novel, Road to Freedom, published in 1982. A new edition has recently been issued with the title Seeking Freedom.

 Poda-Poda: What is the inspiration for writing your novels, particularly BitterSweet and Redemption Song?

 YH: Sierra Leone, Freetown in particular, has inspired all my novels. The story line for Bittersweet occurred to me following the sudden death by road accident of a young cousin. I imagined the plight of a young wife and mother unexpectedly  widowed, and the story unfolded from there. Redemption Song came twenty-five years later and was inspired by the civil war in Sierra Leone. Though the country is never mentioned and the course of events is ahistorical,  anyone who knows Sierra Leone and experienced the war has no difficulty discovering the  story’s setting.

 Poda-Poda: In writing your novels, do you often find that you put a certain lens on, or a unique perspective? If so, what are they? What are some of the issues you want to highlight when writing?

 YH: I write novels about Sierra Leoneans for Sierra Leoneans, thought it is gratifying when non-Sierra Leoneans enjoy them as well. My main characters are usually, Krios, descendants of the Liberated Africans who were settled in the Freetown area early in the 19th century. Of course, over the years, their interactions with members of the indigenous populations has become more frequent, hence no novel is only about Krios. My intention is to write stories about  ordinary Sierra Leoneans living ordinary lives.

 Poda-Poda: What is your writing process like? Do you have a certain pattern or routine?

 YH: I am fairly disorganised . I have an idea for a story and once my first paragraph is clear in my mind, I  plunge straight in, seeking necessary information and fleshing out the main characters as I go along. Progress of the story tends to be organic as I never know exactly what is going to happen until it does. I edit chapter by chapter and do a complete revision when the work is complete.

 Poda-Poda: Poda-Poda Stories highlights authors from Sierra Leone, and it has often been difficult to discover the work of Sierra Leonean female writers pre the 21st century. You’ve also written a biography:  An African Treasure, in Search of Gladys Casely-Hayford, 1904 – 1950, about Gladys Casely-Hayford, whose work isn’t quite well known, especially in Sierra Leone. How important is it to know about Gladys, and also to discover Sierra Leonean female authors during her time?

YH: Probably, there were not many published Sierra Leonean female writers up till the mid to late 20th Century. Adelaide Casely-Hayford and her daughter, Gladys are the only two pre-independence female writers I can think of. After independence, female writers of textbooks and supplementary readers for primary schools began to appear.  Talabie Aisie Lucan and Melvine Stuart come to mind. I am not aware of any bibliography of Sierra Leonean female writers in the country, but I believe another  Sierra Leone-born librarian, Wilma Jones, has produced one. However, she lives and works  in the US and I am not aware that it has been formally published or is available in Sierra Leone. The problem is that Sierra Leone is not a nation of readers. Unless a literary work has been used as a school textbook, eg, my novel Road to Freedom, it remains largely unknown. I have the impression that most Sierra Leoneans acquainted with Road to Freedom, are not even aware that I have written other novels.

 Poda-Poda: You’ve also had quite an illustrious career as a librarian. In your work, has accessing information become easier and what is the future of digital archiving in Africa especially?

 YH: I retired more than twenty years ago, but even then, thanks to computer technology, accessing information had become far easier than it was at the start of my career. It has become easier still. Anybody can Google and search the internet in other ways.  However, the skills of librarians and other information professionals are still needed for assessing the relevance and accuracy of information obtained. Digital archiving is a boon to developing countries where document preservation and storage has often been most unsatisfactory.  I have been delighted to learn that archival digitization projects are being planned or are actually on course in Sierra Leone.

 Poda-Poda: We always ask writers this question. How has writing saved your life?

 YH: I would not say that, but it has certainly enriched my life, though sadly, not financially. I have always been an avid reader but writing my own books has forced me to widen the scope of my reading as works in progress often require considerable research.