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Carol Benson, Ph.D was a primary teacher trainer with Peace Corps in Masiaka (Mile 47) from 1980 to 1982. She was a recruiter in San Francisco from 1983 to 1985, and later trained volunteers in the Dominican Republic, Guinea-Bissau, and Cape Verde. After being based for many years at Stockholm University, she is currently an Associate Professor in the International and Comparative Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York. Carol continues doing research, teaching and consulting in mother tongue-based multilingual education in low-income countries, most recently in Cambodia. [Jan. 2017]

John Birchall John Birchall worked as a VSO in the Ports Authority and other posts from 1971 to 1973. Since then he has regularly visited Sierra Leone and has worked on various education projects. He regularly lectures on Sierra Leone at The School of Oriental and African Studies, London and at other universities, where he specialises in Geo-Politics - he also works with diplomats and others wanting to know more about Sierra Leone. He is an Affiliate of The Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge and has Tutored at The Institute of Advanced Studies.He edits The Journal of Sierra Leone Studies (http://thejournalofsierraleonestudies.com/) and is creating the first centre of Sierra Leone Studies at the University of Makeni (http://unimak.edu.sl/wordpress/centre-of-sierra-leone-studies ). He specialises in writing Expert Witness Reports for Africans facing deportation from the United Kingdom. [Jan. 2017] 

Richard "Ric" Bond was a VSO volunteer at the agriculture station in Torma Bum from 1971 to 1972, then in the Planning and Development Unit (ODA) of MANR to 1975 on Tower Hill Freetown. He is married to Catherine (nee McAnulty) ex-VSO of Lunsar Mission Hospital and Serabu Mission Hospital 1973 to 1975. They have three daughters. He is a Research Fellow at Manchester University and does freelance consultancy in Rural Development. [Apr. 2017]

Sr. Lois Anne Bordowitz, an F.C.J. Sister, worked at the Pastoral Centre in Kenema from 1984 to 1994. She now lives in Toronto, Canada and works with refugees. [Feb. 2017]

Patty Floch Bruzek was a Peace Corps Volunteer (Primary Education Bo District) and lived in Baiima from 1978 to 1980. She currently lives in Lombard, Illinois, U.S.A., where she taught school for over 20 years. Now retired, she has one son and a husband.. She has served on the Board of Directors for Friends of Sierra Leone since 2006, presently serving as secretary. [Jan. 2017]

Rebecca Busselle and her husband, Sam Busselle, served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Bo from 1972 to 1975, and lived on Gerihun Road with their three children. Sam was area architect for the Southern Province, Ministry of Works, while Rebecca organized the Bo Workshop, for the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Their son Wynne attended Christ the King College, while Max and Katrina attended nursery and primary schools in Bo. Sam now consults for not-for-profits in Poughkeepsie, NY, and Rebecca is a writer doing work in New York City. Wynne works in New York and lives with his wife and children in Westchester County. Max and his family are in Los Angeles, California, while Katrina, her husband and their twins can be found in Brooklyn. [Mar. 2017]

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Dave Carmean was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bumbuna, Tonkolili District, from 1980 to 1982, teaching Science and Agriculture at St. Matthews Secondary School. He trained as an evolutionary entomologist (U.C. Davis) and now develops online databases for Biology and the Faculty of Science at Simon Fraser University. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with Mary Berbee. His son Brian is training to be a commercial pilot. [Jan. 2017]

Hubert Charles was born in Freetown and attended the Methodist Boys' High School from Form 1 to Upper 6th, where he was Head Boy and Chairman of the Debating Society during his final year. He received his BA from Fourah Bay College, a Diploma in Social Work from Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation (Zambia), a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Administration and an MA (ECON) in Economics and Management in Rural Development from the University of Manchester. He has served as the Country Director for CAUSE Canada Sierra Leone Programme, Country Director for ChildFund Ethiopia, and Country Director for CARE Liberia. He is now Country Director for World Vision Ghana. Hubert has excellent conceptual knowledge of social development and emergency humanitarian themes and significant experience in the implementation and management of social development and emergency programmes with emphasis on strategic planning, capacity building and institutional development, and post- war recovery. He is a member of a number of a number of professional bodies, including the Commonwealth Association for the Education and Training of Adults (CAETA) and the Sierra Leone Adult Education Association (SLADEA). He is a past President of the Methodist Boys' High School Old Boys' Association. [Jan. 2017]

Jeff Cochrane was a rice extension agent with the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, based near Bo, from 1980 to 1982, and then served with the Peace Corps in the Central African Republic from 1983 to 1984. He later did research in Freetown markets in 1991 for his doctorate in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, followed by a Fulbright Fellowship at Fourah Bay College from 1994 to 1995. He has worked with USAID in various capacities, predominantly in Africa, since 1995, including five years as the Chief of the Trade and Investment Office for USAID/West Africa in Accra, Ghana. He then served two years in Iraq before transferring to Washington, DC, retiring from USAID in December 2016. [Aug. 2016]

David Cohen served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kamakwie from 1979-81. He returned in 2004 to serve for 3 years as the Chief Of Legal Operations, Prosecutor's Office, with the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He currently practices law in New York City, where he is also the Liaison Officer for the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone. [Jan. 2017]

Dr. Rowland J.V. Cole is employed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is assigned to the Ministry of Justice and Judiciary of South Sudan as Chief Technical Advisor. Dr. Cole attended the Prince of Wales school and Albert Academy school in Freetown. He holds an LLB(Hons) obtained from Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone, a BL from the Sierra Leone Law School, an LLM from the University of South Africa and an LLD from the Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is a former private legal practitioner, judicial officer, and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Law, University of Botswana where he was appointed head of department. He has conducted research and published several scholarly articles in leading peered review journals. [Jan. 2017]

Malcolm S. E. Coomber lives in Freetown, where he worked as Logistics Manager at the Sierra Leone Bottling Co. Ltd., formerly Freetown Cold Storage Co. Ltd. He retired from Sierra Leone Bottling Company Ltd in 2013. He is now working for Dignity Association of Sierra Leone (a local NGO) as Senior Finance Manager.He attended Sierra Leone Grammar School.  [Jan. 2017]

Walter G. Coppenrath, Jr. taught African History and African Geography at Schlenker Secondary School in Port Loko from 1968 to 1970 as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He was a trial attorney specializing in complex business and maritime litigation in Los Angeles (UCLA Law School) until his retirement in 2013. He and his wife are now full time residents in Italy in the Tuscan village of Montisi. He was a Visiting Lecturer at the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) in Rome, Italy from 1988 to 2009 on various occasions. He was a member of the Board of Advisers for PROLAW, a Loyola University Chicago a LLM program in Rome, Italy until 2013. PROLAW is a Master's Program in Rule of Law for Development which trains attorneys to promote and improve the rule of law in developing countries, countries in economic transition and countries recovering from violent conflict. Walter has remained involved with Africa. He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with his son Walter III in 1997 and toured Mali extensively in January 2006 with his daughter Kellie. He taught a course on Mediation and Arbitration to the judges of Swaziland in 2004 for IDLO. He was in Kenya for IDLO in 2009 working with the governmental commission that successfully drafted the new Kenyan constitution. He has also visited Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique and South Africa. Walter and his wife Suzanne are actively involved in fund raising for a medical clinic in the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Walter and Suzanne have two children. Their son, Walter III, is a physician. He graduated from UCLA Medical School and is a Family Medicine specialist for Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles where continues his long-time involvement in health care for the homeless.Their daughter, Kellie, graduated of Occidental College in Los Angeles with a degree in International Relations and holds a MBA from the University of Geneva in NGO management. Kellie worked in India at the village level promoting microfinance projects for two years. She then worked for The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) in Geneva, Switzerland for two years. In 2012 she joined the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also in Geneva. In February 2015 she transferred to the UNHCR's new offices in Copenhagen, Denmark. [Jan. 2017]

Louise Schullery Cox was a Peace Corps Volunteer (1967 to 1969), serving her first year in Kayima and then in Jaiama Nimikoro, Kono District, her second year. Louise taught primary school, was a school librarian, and worked with teacher training. After teaching for two years, she helped in one of the early in-country programs for new volunteers. Louise returned to graduate school at University of Illinois, receiving her M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education. Her closest friends were International students. She especially enjoyed taking a group of Sierra Leonian students to ice hockey games on campus on a regular basis. Louise's daughter is married to a Cote d' Ivorian and has two gorgeous granddaughters! Currently, Louise teaches ESOL to immigrants and refugees in the greater Hartford, CT area, where she is partial to those from West Africa. Recently, one of her students from Togo received a Habitat for Humanity House. Louise is an active member in the CT RPCV group which, through fundraisers, is able to donate money to PCV projects in the field or wortwhile projects locally. [Jan. 2017]

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Myles Dannhausen was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Freetown from 1964 to 1966. During his first year he was a teacher at the Albert Academy. During his second year he worked at the Sierra Leone Central Statistics Office (now Statistics Sierra Leone), and wrote a History of Education in Sierra Leone for later Peace Corps Volunteers. Myles returned to the United States and earned a Masters Degree in Urban Studies at Loyola University in Chicago. After a few years as an executive with the City of Chicago Mayor's office, Myles left city life to start a tourism career in Wisconsin. Myles currently operates the Bay Point Inn in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, where Groundnut Stew is often one of the dinner specials. Myles and his wife Mary have a one acre garden and sell naturally grown produce at local farmer's markets. Myles is President and of the Egg Harbor Historical Society, an organization devoted to rediscovering Egg Harbor's community heritage. [Jan. 2017]

Joseph A. Dougall was engaged in sponsoring tobacco growing in various countries in the sub region with his team of Sierra Leone experts, where they have made a name for themselves and for the company, Duiker International Corporation, out of Sierra Leone, during the time of turmoil in their homeland. This was brought to an end in the year 2000 but continues to make cigars in his home island, Malta, a family tradition now in its seventh generation since its inception. He was made Honorary P.C. Pa Almamy Dougal Bangura in Sella Limba Chiefdom in December 1993. He currently resides in Malta, where he has served as Honorary Consul for Sierra Leone since 1995. [Feb. 2015]

Dr. Clay Drees served in the Peace Corps as a high school economics, English, history and math teacher at Yengema Secondary School in Kono District from 1977-79. He also coached basketball and track at YSS, and secured a Peace Corps grant to build and operate a chicken coop on the YSS campus. Clay began his career as a professor in 1992 at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, where he has been teaching courses in medieval and early modern European, African and Islamic history for the past 25 years. He has won two distinguished teaching awards at VWC, and also served six years as dean of the social science school between 2005-11. Clay's three published books include Authority and Dissent in the English Church (1997), The Late Medieval Age of Crisis and Renewal (2001) and Bishop Richard Fox of Winchester: Architect of the Tudor Age (2014). He and his wife Valerie have been married for 28 years. [Feb. 2017]

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Glenn Elert was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kamakwie from 1987 to 1990, where he taught physics and mathematics. [Feb. 2017]

Sybella (Davies) Ellong is from Wilberforce and has lived in the U.S. since 1976. She currently works for the IBM Corporation in Bethesda, Maryland. She attended the Cathedral School for Girls and the Methodist Girls' High School in Freetown. [Jan. 2017]

Janice England was a Lay Mission Helper in Makeni from 1989 to 1993. She currently is the Program Officer of the Lay Mission-Helpers Association in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. [Feb. 2015]

Thomas Eric-Williams is from Freetown and attended Kenema Secondary School, Bo School, and Georgetown University. He is retired from the United States Army Intelligence Command and lives in Lanham, Maryland, U.S.A. [Jan. 2017]

Kenneth A. Evans served as a Peace Corps Volunteer primary school teacher from 1969 to 1971 in Jimmi Bagbo. He also helped organize and conduct educational workshops with Sierra Leonean teachers and other PCVs. He is a graduate of Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, with a BA degree. He resides in northeastern Connecticut and is retired. [Jan. 2017]

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Aiah Fanday was born in Koidu Town, Kono District on June 30, 1968. He grew up in Kissy, Freetown, and attended Prince of Wales Secondary School from 1980/81 to 1985. After graduation in 1985 he left for England, lived there for a year, then traveled to the U.S. in 1986. He is currently own and managed his owe company DISTINCTIVE EVENTS RENTAL located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He is the past president of the Kono Union USA (KONUSA) and currently serving on the Friends of Sierra Leone (FOSL) as Vice President. He graduated from the University of Maryland in 1999, with a B.Sc. in Business Management, and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the same university in 2005. [Nov. 2013]

Dave Figi was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Moyamba, and taught at Harford School for Girls and Moyamba Boys' School from 1965 to 1967. He now lives in Janesville, Wisconsin, U.S.A. He retired from teaching in 2004 and participated in Operation Classroom in Makeni in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.  [Jan. 2017]

Judy (Lamm) Figi was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Moyamba, and taught at Harford School for Girls from 1964 to 1966. She now lives with her husband, Dave Figi, in Janesville, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Their daughter Alison served in the Peace Corps Volunteer in Micronesia. She retired from teaching in 2004 and participated in Operation Classroom in Makeni in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and the FOSL-SFS teacher training programme in Bo in 2009 and 2010. [Feb. 2017]

Chad and Susan Finer were Peace Corps Volunteers from 1968-70 and were secondary and teacher's training college teachers at HRSS in Kenema, and at the Kenema Teacher's Training College 1968-70. After a long career in public education in New Hampshire and a 23 year stint as a middle school principal Susan retired in June of 2007. She returned briefly as an interim assistant middle school principal in New York City. She has currently taken a position at Dartmouth College department of education helping to get teachers certified. Chad retired as an ER physician in February 2011 after 35 years. Since then he has been working to complete a ten year (2006 to 2016) historical photographic documentation project in his home town. This project consists of portraits and videoed interviews of his fellow town citizens and has included gardeners, farmers, aging in place members, artists, veterans, mainstreeters, as well as any other folks interested in taking part. Their four children are teachers in New York and in Washington DC (a Spanish teacher; a 4th grade teacher), an artist in Brooklyn, New York, and a son who worked in the State Department under Secretary John Kerry. [Jan. 2017]

Shirley M. Fretz lived in Sierra Leone from April 1967 to August 1985. From 1967 to 1970 she was Boarding Home Superintendent at Minnie Mull Memorial School for Girls in Bonthe, Sherbro. From 1971 to 1981 she worked in the office at Mattru UBC Hospital in Mattru Jong, and from 1981-1985 worked in Christian Education in connection with Bumpe Primary School and Bumpe High School, in Bumpe, via Bo. She currently lives in Crystal Beach, Ontario, Canada. [Jan. 2017]

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Jeff Hall was a Peace Corps Volunteer (Agriculture) from 1987 to 1989 in Jokibu, near Bunumbu, in Kailahun District. He now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. Jeff partnered closely with his village as they rebuilt after the war. In 2004-2009, funds raised in the U.S. purchased 400 new metal roofs, 6 new clean water wells, various medical and educational supplies, a new school addition, and over 400 educational scholarships each year. Jeff annually has taken 15 - 20 Americans to live in the villages for a week, as they build a strong relationship that enriches both countries. What began as an informal partnership has grown into a formal non-profit organization named OneVillage Partners (www.OneVillagePartners.org). The goal of OneVillage Partners (OVP) is to work in partnership with those in extreme poverty; to develop community-led projects whereby local leaders assess, prioritize, plan, implement and evaluate their own projects in health, education and livelihoods, leading towards self-sufficiency. When projects are led by local leaders, they develop the critical organizational and critical-thinking skills required for sustainable resiliency. OneVillage Partners' first three villages are thriving, so OVP has slowly moved on from those villages as they continue to monitor their self-sufficient progress. OVP has moved into 12 new villages in the past two years, and now works with over 15,000 people. OVP has developed a picture-based curriculum that has been very successful in helping illiterate women learn financial skills so that they can establish and accomplish financial goals. The OVP Community Projects program continues to provide leadership training to villagers so that communities can plan and implement their own improvements to their health, education and income development. [Jan. 2017]

Jim Higbie was a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1969 to 1973 in Daru and Kenema, working on a primary school teacher training project. Since then he has worked on education projects in Thailand, Laos, and North and South Sudan, and he returned to Sierra Leone from 2006 to 2013 to work on a large-scale education project in Kono District. He has written books on the Thai and Lao languages and is currently publishing a book on the Sierra Leone Civil War. [Feb. 2017]

Dave Holland was a CUSO volunteer from 1971 to 1974 at Sumbuya Secondary School in Sumbuya, Southern Province, where he was head of the Geography Department. In December 1973, Dave met Terry Beattie and two days later, they became engaged - they celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on 31 August 2014. Dave returned to university to get a degree in computer mapping and returned to Sierra Leone in 1975 with Terry to work on a mapping project as part of a UNDP/FAO project. Dave and Terry are now retired and currently live in Kingsville, Ontario. [Feb. 2017]

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Bashir Ibrahim Jalloh is from Fanima Wunde in Bo District and currently lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He attended the Ahmadiyya Secondary School in Bo and Jimmy Boys' Secondary School. He later studied at the College of Medicine in Freetown, The University of Toronto and The University of Saskatchewan. He is the former President of NUSS. He is currently working in the Nuclear Medicine Department at the Regina Hospital, Regina. [Jan. 2017]

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Alimamy Kamara PhD was born in Port Loko, northern Sierra Leone, but grew up in Freetown. He holds a PhD in economics from North Carolina State University. He attended Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School in Freetown and the Sierra Leone Grammar School. After obtaining his GCE O and A levels, he proceeded to Fourah Bay College for an undergraduate degree in economics and graduated with a Second Class First Division in the honors class. Upon graduation with a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in economics, this brilliant man taught economics, mathematics and statistics at Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School between 1993 and 1994. In April of 1994, he left the teaching field to serve his country in the area of finance and statistics development. Dr. Kamara joined the civil service as an Economic Statistician and Computer Programmer in March 1994. After serving the government of Sierra Leone for six months, Alimamy was awarded an AERC scholarship to pursue a master's degree in economic policy. He excelled in all economic disciplines and graduated with an MSc (Econ) from Addis Ababa University in July 1996. Dr. Kamara returned to his post in July 1996 and contributed immensely towards the development of statistics in Sierra Leone and West Africa. He was responsible for the compilation of national accounts for Sierra Leone between 1996 and 2001. Aside from his regular assignment, Dr. Kamara was also an active and enthusiastic Lecturer at Fourah Bay College and the then Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM). He taught quantitative economics, business mathematics, microeconomics, statistics and macroeconomics and supervised undergraduate dissertations for over six years. Alimamy took an active part in the MICS II survey, Public Expenditure Tracking survey and the preparation of the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy document for Sierra Leone. He has conducted extensive research on food security and poverty. Dr. Kamara is a prolific writer and has written over 20 research articles on cointegration and error-correction models, food security, poverty reduction and exchange rates. He holds an MA degree in International Development Policy and a graduate certificate in Project Appraisal and Risk Management from the prestigious Duke University in the United States. Because of his outstanding performance at Duke University, Dr. Kamara was appointed as a Lecturer at the Duke Center for International Development in September 2009. At the center, Dr. Kamara teaches microeconomics and Tax Analytics. Dr. Kamara currently lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the United States of America. He is married to Isatu Kamara and the two are blessed with three children (Abu Bakarr, Abdul and Mariam), a step-daughter (Kadiatu Kamara) and three adopted children (Kadiatu Bangura, Abu Payntha (deceased) and Sheriff Kamara). [Jan. 2017]

Nadim N. Kantara, of Freetown, was managing director of Tradex S.L. Ltd., and formerly worked for Sierra Leone Bricks Factory, the International Bank for Trade and Industry, Agro Commercial Trading Company, and Palm Beach Casino Club. He currently is President and Managing Editor of the A Folha De Teresopolis Journal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is also the President of the Security Council in Rio de Janeiro. [Jan. 2017]

Kim (Kimball) Kargbo grew up in Sierra Leone as the daughter of Bible translation missionaries. She returned to work in Kamakwie as a nurse from 1990 to 1993, founding the Community Health Evangelism programme in the northern Bombali District. While there, she met and married her husband, Tim Kargbo. Kim worked for 5 years during the war with World Hope International, establishing their Sierra Leone office and initiating a rehab program for amputees. She and her husband and 3 children make their permanent home outside of Memphis, Tennessee. But she is in Sierra Leone often in her current role as President and CEO of Women of Hope International, a wholistic development program for women affected by disability in Bombali District. [Feb. 2017]

Mike Kelleher was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ngelehun Badjia from 1985 to 1988. Since 2010 he has worked at the World Bank, first as an Advisor to the U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank, later as a speechwriter for President Jim Kim, and now as Lead International Affairs Officer in the multilateral relations unit. Before that, he was Special Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Correspondence at the White House, beginning in January 2009. From 2006 to 2008 he served as Director of Outreach and Economic Development for then U.S. Senator Barack Obama. Prior to his Senate work, he was Country Director in Tbilisi, Georgia for the National Democratic Institute from 2005 to 2006. [Jan. 2017]

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Scott Lamont was a Peace Corps Volunteer (fisheries) at Bonthe, Sherbro Island from 1983 to 1986. He is now a technical writer in Massachusetts, U.S.A. [Jan. 2017]

Miki Lang taught at St. Joseph's Secondary School for Girls in Moyamba from 1972 to 1973, and the second year worked in Freetown, at the PC craft shop, as well as at the Cape Sierra, for the Ministry of Tourism. She was seconded to CARE to supervise a family planning project and eventually was hired full-time, working first on road construction and then its feeding programs. She stayed in Africa -- Mali, Chad and Cameroon -- until 1988, when she returned to San Francisco. First she went into socially responsible financial planning and then became a real estate broker. Her aging mother's ill health, brought her to Dunedin, Florida, where she is semi-retired. She loves fostering dogs and taking them for long walks. She is the proud mother of the World Cup Champion in paintballing, Oliver Lang. [Jan. 2017]

Tanniemola Bunting Liverpool lived in the 70's at Mount Aureol in Freetown. He is a theoretical physicist and previously worked at the Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung (Polymer Research) in Mainz, Germany and the Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielle in Paris, France and at the Imperial College in London and the University of Leeds, U.K. Currently he is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at Bristol University. [Jan. 2017]

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Dr. Leo H. Madden served as a teacher of Economics and English at Wesley Secondary School, Segbwema, from 1977 to 1980 as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He is currently Associate Professor of Theology at Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A. In the past ten years he has survived three different kinds of cancer (prostate, kidney, and leukemia). [Jan. 2017]

Gerard V. "Gerry" Magbity hails from Serabu and Bandasahn in the Bumpe Chiefdom. He attended Catholic Model School and Christ the King College, Bo. He's a Water and Waste Engineer from Kharkov Institute of Civil Engineering, Kharkov, Ukraine and Institute of Hydraulics and Environmental Engineering, Delft, Netherlands. Gerry has had several years of experience in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. He has worked DRC where he was as a Country Logistics Coordinator with Oxfam GB. Prior to that he had worked in Mozambique, Malawi, Guinea, Nigeria, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC with Doctors without Borders (MSF) and International Rescue Committee (IRC). He worked as Logistics Specialist for UNICEF based in Copenhagen, Denmark from 2007 till 2010. Worked as Regional Logistics Officer for West and Central Africa based in Dakar, Senegal with Save the Children-UK. He moved from Khartoum, Sudan, where he worked with UNICEF as Chief of Supply and Logistics to UNICEF Somalia. Gerry speaks English, French, Russian, and Portuguese and has families in Rwanda and Burundi. [Jan. 2017]

Jim and Kathy Malcolm served under the Kingsley Plan as teachers at the Taiama Secondary School, UMC, in Taiama from 1969 to 1971, and 1973 to 1974. Jim taught Mathematics and Kathy taught Domestic Science. They reside in Mankato, Minnesota, U.S.A., where they are enjoying their retirement. [Jan. 2017]

Joe Manning taught at Sumbuya Secondary School from 1972 to 1974. He is currently involved in the Sierra Leone Ireland Partnership, a group of mainly Irish people who worked in Sierra Leone. The group has been successful in getting the Irish Government involved in Sierra Leone. The Irish Government now has a full embassy in Freetown and Sierra Leone is one of Ireland's nine Programme Countries. This has committed Ireland to long term involvement in Sierra Leone. Joe is the Sierra Leone Hon. Consul General in Ireland. He is also working with the Irish Government and the Ministry of Education in Freetown in looking at ways of providing in service training for primary school teachers. Joe is working with the Sierra Leone Ireland Partnership in an effort to build long term support for Sierra Leonean migrants in Ireland. [Jan. 2017]

Bakar Mansaray is a Canadian author of Sierra Leonean descent, currently residing in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He graduated from Fourah Bay College in 1985 and from Athabasca University in 2006. He has contributed articles and short stories on a variety of topics, from African and Caribbean writing and publishing to mountain running, folk wrestling, and multiculturalism. Bakar is a member of the Writers' Guild of Alberta, The Edmonton Multicultural Coalition, Sierra Leonean Writers Series, and founder of the Mandingo Scrolls Series. His professional interests are Human Resources, Finance and Administration. Visit his blog at http://mandingoscrolls.blogspot.ca. [Jan. 2017]

Abdul Mansaray is from Kissy Mess Mess, and attended Hastings Elementary and Methodist Boys' High School. He was a Founding Member of the Stadium Stars Track Club and an athletic assistant at the Sports Organizers Office of the National Sports Council, Siaka Stevens Stadium. An elite sprinter, Abdul represented Sierra Leone in national and international track and field competitions, including the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, earning a nomination as "Athlete of the Century" by the prestigious Progress newspaper. Abdul is also mentioned in the BBC's 2002 Commonwealth Games website as a "National Sports Hero." He currently resides in Temecula, Southern California. Abdul is married to Martha-Marie Foray of Kissy Dockyard and Annie Walsh Memorial School. [Jan. 2017]

Lindsay Matterson lives in Lismore, NSW, Australia and in 1979 worked as a UNESCO Education Consultant at Bunumbu Teachers College as part of the UNDP-funded project there. He lived on campus with his wife Ruth and their two children: Wendy, then aged 16 years, and Paul, aged 14 years. Paul attended the local secondary school. [Mar. 2017]

Barry F. Mitsch served in the Peace Corps from 1978 to 1980 as an instructor at the National School of Hygiene in Freetown. Currently he lives in Cary, North Carolina, U.S.A. with his wife (DJ) and has two adult children (Jessica and Hank). [Jan. 2016]

Edward L. Monaghan Ed.D.was a Peace Corps lecturer at Makeni Teachers College from 1979 to 1982. He currently lives in the Washington, DC area, and serves as a Program Evaluator at the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education. His major areas of research include strategies for closing the achievement gap and the use of continuous improvement principles in public education.Ed also serves as a board member of Sierra Leone Village Partnerships (http://slvp.org), and is married to Jennifer (Tsosie) Monaghan. They have three grown children - Adrian, Krista, and Tierra, and two grandchildren - Aiyana and Leilani. [Jan. 2017]

Anna Morford taught commercial courses at Harford School for Girls, Moyamba, beginning in 1965. Between that year and 1983 (with a four-year absence to Zimbabwe) she taught typing, shorthand, English, and commerce. For approximately five years, she worked at the United Methodist Church headquarters in Freetown on Lightfoot-Boston Street, helping to coordinate program personnel coming from the United States to be involved with United Methodist projects throughout Sierra Leone. After leaving Sierra Leone, she worked in the United Methodist personnel headquarters in New York as assistant treasurer working with missionary payroll and benefits. From 1994 through 2011, she was the Treasurer of the Detroit Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, located in Flint, Michigan. After one year in Odenton, Maryland, she and her adopted (Sierra Leonean) daughter, Virginia, moved to the Philomath, Oregon area where Anna grew up. Virginia works at the Corvallis School District Office in Corvallis, Oregon, in human resources. Anna is enjoying retirement, with just enough accounting work for the local United Methodist Church to keep life interesting! Keeping the "unofficial" address list of former Sierra Leone UMC missionaries, volunteers and friends adds zest to the memories and helps maintain current contacts. [Jan. 2017]

Peggy Murrah was a Peace Corps Volunteer (Primary Education Moyamba District) and lived in Taiama from 1978 to 1980. She currently lives in Social Circle, Georgia where she taught school for over 30 years. Now retired, she has two daughters, Laurie and Hadley. She has served on the Board of Directors for Friends of Sierra Leone since 2002 and president since 2004. [Mar. 2015]

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Alberta Pratt-Sensie attended the Harford School for Girls in Moyamba and spent her freshman year in the Njala University College in 1984/1985 before migrating to Atlanta, Georgia. She now lives in Maryland. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a Masters in Nursing Informatics in 2001. She currently works as an Information Technology Specialist for a computer software contracting company in Maryland. She has a son and daughter. [Jan. 2017]

Father Rocco Puopolo is a Xaverian missionary priest and was director of the National Pastoral Centre in Kenema from 1995 to 1999. In earlier assignments in Sierra Leone he lived in Kambia (1973 to 1974), Kabala (1978 to 1980) and Freetown (1980 to 1984). He was director of the Africa Faith and Justice Network in Washington (2006 to 2011) and is now a mission and peace educator in Holliston, Massachusetts. He is a board member of the Africa Faith and Justice Network as well as a board member of Pax Christi Massachusetts. He also sits on the governing board of the Xaverian Missionaries of the US. [Dec. 2015]

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John Rabideau The Rabideau family lived in Kenema as Peace Corps Volunteers from 1971 to 1974. Ro Rabideau worked in construction for the Ministry of Works. Ita Rabideau worked at the Nongowa Clinic for Dr. Sama Banya. John and Daniel Rabideau attended Holy Trinity Secondary School. The Rabideaus were in the first group of Peace Corps volunteers to go as a family. Ro and Ita retired and settled in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Ro passed away in January 2007. John, Daniel and Jacqueline have settled in South Florida and where they raised their children, who are now adults. [Jan. 2017]

Clifford Rotimie Roberts attended CMS Grammar School and Boys Secondary School in Magburaka. He worked as a school teacher at Bishop Johnson Memorial School, Methodist Boys High School and Sierra Leone Grammar School. He retired in December 2000 from the Milton Margai College of Education, where he was Head of the Agricultural Sciences Department and Senior Lecturer; Warden of Students at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS).And the Marshal of the University of the Sierra Leone. He operates a small consultancy in Freetown called "ROBSCO." It is a grassroots consultancy designed to do training, projects (design unto evaluation), sexual and reproductive health and family planning issues, etc. Worked as a short term consultant, with Public Administration International (PAi)/DFID, in the Governance Reform Secretariat, for the Civil Service in Sierra Leone. He has done the Management and Functional Reviews of some government ministries. He also consulted with the Establishment Secretary's Office for the transformation into a Human Resource Management Office. He also served for six years as President of the Planned Parenthood Association of Sierra Leone, served also in the Executive Committee for the Africa Region of International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and was the first Chairman for the National Accountability Group (NAG), which is a contact group for Transparency International based in Berlin, Germany. NAG is a civil society movement which complements the efforts of the Anti-Corruption Commission in Sierra Leone. He is a Commissioner for Oaths and Justice of the Peace (July 2008), in the Republic of Sierra Leone. He served as a member of the Board of Directors, Rokel Commercial Bank, Sierra Leone, from April 2008 to May 2014. [Feb. 2017]

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Gary Schulze was a member of the first contingent of Peace Corps Volunteers to go to Sierra Leone in 1961. He taught Sierra Leone History at the Albert Academy and helped the late Dr. M.C.F. Easmon establish the Sierra Leone National Museum. He served as Secretary to the Sierra Leone Monuments & Relics Commission. The statue of Bai Bureh he commissioned in 1962 appears on the Le 1,000 note in 1995. He also made the model of the DeRuiter stone which is still on display in the museum. His album, "Music of the Mende of Sierra Leone" is still being sold by the Smithsonian Institution. Gary served as an International Observer at the 1996 Sierra Leone Presidential and Legislative Elections which restored democracy to Sierra Leone. He is retired from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in NYC where he was a member of the Interagency Counterterrorism Task Force. He is a Trustee of the United African Congress, and serves on the boards of the Friends of Sierra Leone, the Magic Penny (an organization devoted to improving the lives of the people in the Kagboro Chiefdom of Sierra Leone), and Queensborough Community College. Gary is also on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Sierra Leone Studies. In 2013 he was installed as Honorary Paramount Chief Pieh Gbabyior Caulker II of Kagboro Chiefdom in the Moyamba District. That same year he discovered the only known photograph to exist of the famous warrior, Bai Bureh, and presented it to the people of Sierra Leone as a gift. In 2014 he was made an Officer of the Order of the Rokel by President Ernest Bai Koroma "In recognition of his tremendous contribution to the development of Education and the History and Culture of Sierra Leone." His collection of historic postcards and artifacts can be seen on Peter Andersen's Sierra Leone Web. [Jan. 2017]

Susan L. Schwartz was a Peace Corps Volunteer (Agriculture) in Juma and Nitti, Moyamba District, from 1981 to 1983. She subsequently taught English and trained English teachers in China and Indonesia. In July-August 2007, she participated in a Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad program to India and in July 2009, she spent three weeks in Turkey, visiting Cappadocia and archeological sites to create materials for her middle school world history class. Susan was one of 100 teachers in the U.S. who received an ING Unsung Heroes Award in 2010 for the educational technology projects she implemented with her students. In June 2014, Susan retired from her job as an English as a Second Language teacher at a public school in Massachusetts and moved to Tucson, Arizona. She now devotes her time to creating and selling educational products online and pursuing her interests in photography and writing. [Jan. 2017]

Malcolm Seisay was born in Bonthe Sherbro. He is an alumnus of Albert Academy (class of 66) and Hampton University, with further studies at George Washington University. He is a U.S. Army vietnam-era veteran currently residing in American Canyon, Northern California.  [Jan. 2017]

Dr. Mohamed B.D. Seisay Dr. Mohamed B.D. Seisay hails from Bonthe Town and attended the Bo Government Secondary School in Bo and Fourah Bay College in Freetown. He has Msc and PhD degrees in fish population ecology from the University of Wales, United Kingdom. His main professional interest is now in the area of promoting good governance for sustainable fisheries exploitation and management in Africa, supporting realistic and coherent fisheries policy fisheries development in African Union member states, promoting oordination and cooperation for regional fisheries management and aquaculture development in Africa, consolidating increased and coherent African voice and positions in regional and international fisheries and aquaculture forums etc. He is presently the Senior Fisheries Officer at the African Union InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), based in Nairobi, Kenya. [Feb. 2015]

Almamy Tun Razak Seray-Wurie is from Brookfields in Freetown. He was a Teacher in Sierra Leone and The Gambia after training at Milton Margai Teachers College. Also, he holds a M.S.Ed from City College of New York and is a New York State Certified Teacher. Currently works for Brooklyn Kindergarten Society and lives in Queens-NY with family. [Jan. 2017]

Muctarr Sesay was born in Freetown, and attended Albert Academy. He is a biochemist (Ph.D) and currently involved in drug discovery and development for a biopharmaceutical company in the U.S.A. He resides in Florida, U.S.A.  [Apr. 2010]

Susan Shepler was a Peace Corps Volunteer at Gbendembu Secondary School from 1987 to 1989. She is the author of Childhood Deployed: Remaking Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone (New York U. Press, 2014). She completed a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley and is an Associate Professor in the School of International Service at American University in Washington D.C. [Jan. 2017]

Jim and Betty Jo Smith were Peace Corps Volunteers in Makeni in 1982. They now live in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. [Jan. 2017]

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V.J. Temple, MSc; Ph.D.; C.Biol; M.S.B (M. I. Biol)., attended Prince of Wales Secondary School and, from 1971 to 1980, Moscow State University. He was an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone. The AFRC military coup took place one month after his arrival in Freetown to take up his appointment at the COMAHS USL, and one month after the coup he left to join his wife and children in Riga, Latvia, the name of his wife, Olga Kitty Temple. Prior to his arrival in Sierra Leone, he was an Associate Professor in Biochemistry in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Jos, in Plateau State, Nigeria. He was a Docent in the department of Medical Biochemistry in the Latvian Medical Academy in Riga Latvia. He is currently Professor of Clinical Biochemistry, Chairman of Basic Medical Sciences (BMS) and Head of Discipline of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Division of BMS, School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), Papua New Guinea (PNG). He is also the Director of the Micronutrient Research Laboratory in the SMHS UPNG. His current research areas include: Thyroid dysfunction in Infants and Mothers, improving the nutrition status of people living with HIV/AIDS, with special interest in nutrition status of infants and mothers with HIV/AIDS. He has completed several research projects and published several research papers in the area of micronutrient deficiency (Iron, Iodine, Thiamine, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Zinc). Member, American Society for Nutrition (ASN). [Jan. 2017]

Francis N. Thomas Jr. attended Bo School (Government Secondary School, Bo) and Government Secondary School, Kenema. He resides in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. and attended Northeastern University (Boston) for undergraduate and Bentley College (Boston) for graduate degrees. He currently works as Deputy Commissioner of Administration & Finance in City of Boston Commission on Affairs of the Elderly. He is a member of the National Association of Black Accountants, Inc. (past president of the Boston Chapter, and former Eastern Region vice president), chairman Board of Directors of Wanword Progressive Foundation, Inc., Board of Director of Salone Healthcare Services, Inc., and member of the Mount Ida School of Business Visiting Advisory Council. [Mar. 2017]

Thane Thompson was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kabala and Njala from 1992 to 1994, working on agriculture projects dealing with work-oxen and animal production. He has a Master's degree in Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management from Indiana University. He currently works for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General, and dabbles in brewing, baking, woodworking and tie dye. Thane lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has two beautiful daughters (Cora and Avery) and a mostly civil ex-wife. [Jan. 2017]

Teddy Abioseh Thorpe attended Methodist Boys' High School (1961 to 1965) and Fourah Bay College (1967 to 1971) He taught Geography at the Annie Walsh and St. Helena Secondary Schools (1972 to 1975). He worked for Sierra Leone Airways (1975 to 1981), the Commonwealth Secretariat in London (1981 to 1989). He moved to Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. (1989 to 1994). He is currently in Atlanta, Georgia where he has worked as a residential real estate broker since 2004. Since May 2008 he took over administration of Sierra Therapy Services, Inc., a physical therapy company started by Queenston Thorpe and a partner in 1999. [Feb. 2012]

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Karen Ulberg was a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1972 to 1974 at St. Andrew's Secondary School in Bo. She is now in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A. [Jan. 2017]

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DarEll T. Weist lived in Bo from 1973 to 1976, where he taught theological education for the United Methodist Church. He currently is retired and lives at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, California. [Jan. 2017]

Douglas Wendland lived in Aberdeen, Freetown, but was responsibile for all WHO locations which took him to all districts of Sierra Leone for health and safety evaluations. He grew up in southern and western Minnesota, USA. He received his BA and MD degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1975 and 1978, respectively. He was trained in Family Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and then worked for the National Health Service Corps in Milwaukee until 1987. He then worked in primary care and occupational medicine in private practice. He graduated in 2002 from the Medical College of Wisconsin with a Master of Public Health Degree and was board certified in Occupational Medicine in 2003. He worked as the medical director for occupational medicine and employee health for the St. Luke's Health System in Duluth from 2004 until October 2014, when he accepted a temporary assignment with the World Health Organization as National Coordinator for Occupational Health & Safety in Sierra Leone. In May of 2015 he returned to his position at St. Luke's. He revisited Sierra Leone in February and March 2017. [Mar. 2017]

Frederica M. Williams is the President and CEO of Whittier Street Health Care Center in Boston, Massachusetts, a national model for community based health care in vulnerable communities. She attended the Freetown Secondary School for Girls, London School of Accountancy, passed the examinations of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Financial Administrators, United Kingdom (ICSA- A Professional Organization in the United Kingdom that provides education and certification in Corporate Finance) and was elected fellow of the Institute. She obtained a graduate certificate in Administration and Management from the Harvard University Extension School and a Master in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass. She passed the exams of the Institute of Administrative Management (United Kingdom) with distinction and has participated in several Executive Education programs at the Harvard University Business School. She is also a fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors. Williams has built a stellar career in service to the residents of Boston, ensuring their health care needs and access to high quality lifesaving healthcare services. She has more than 25 years of experience in health care administration, finance, strategic planning and operations management as well as a wealth of knowledge concerning community-based health care, international public health, strategic planning, revenue maximization, physician practice management and technology. [Jan. 2018]

Dr. Dennis Wilson-Cole was born and raised in Kissy, Freetown. He is an alumnus of Kissy Primary School, Prince of Wales School, the Institute of Public Administration and Management - University of Sierra Leone, Emile Woolf College of Accountancy, Middlesex and Kingston Universities. He is a chartered accountant and management consultant. He lectures graduate and research students in various financial management, company and charity law modules. His research interests include Enterprise Governance, UK & European Union Company Law, Corporate Social Reporting, Emerging Economies (BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India and China) and Financial Management in SMEs. His past employers and clients include the world-renowned London School of Economics, Pannell Kerr Forster (international firm of chartered accountants and business advisers); Her Majesty's Treasury, The Lord Chancellor's Department, Investors in People UK, The Centre for Tomorrow's Company, Diabetes UK, The Insurance Charities and the London Boroughs of Newham and Croydon. He is a non-executive director, trustee, honorary treasurer and Corporate Governance adviser to many SMEs and third sector organisations in London, northern Home Counties and the West Midlands. He is married to Marilyn Sylvia (a British child development specialist with Caribbean ancestry) and they have a daughter, Chantelle Adeyemi Denise. They are Seventh-day Adventists living in London, England. [Mar. 2017]

Paul Woods worked as an English Language lecturer at Makeni Teachers College from 1981 to 1983 then at Freetown Teachers College from 1983 to 1987 as well as managing a British Council in-service training project to improve the quality of English teaching in Sierra Leonean primary schools throughout the country. He met his Guinean wife Fatmata whilst in Makeni and they got married at King Tom Baptist Church in Freetown in December 1983. They have two children, James (26) who works in IT, and Marie (22), who teaches English in Nottingham, UK. Paul worked for the British Council on postings which took him to The Philippines, Brazil, Mozambique, Manchester, London, Nepal, Botswana, Argentina and Uruguay and retired after 37 years with the British Council in December 2014. He worked on a consultancy project to improve quality standards in English for vocational and technical education in Saudi Arabia in 2015 and currently volunteers for English conversation classes at the Unity Centre in Chester. He published "If You Have a Wife, Bring Her With You; If Not, Please Negotiate For One Quickly" in 2015 (based on his experiences as a VSO volunteer in Nigeria), and is expecting to publish "From Milo and Special Tea to Kalashnikovs and Kimpumu" (based on his experiences teaching English and training teachers in Brunei and Tanzania) in 2017. [Jan. 2017]

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