After speaking with the guys at WeOwnTV and putting them in touch with Barmmy Boy, they met up in Freetown and decided to enrol Barmmy on the film making course to be ran later in the year in Freetown.

The following clip was produced by WeOwnTV staff during their recent January scouting trip. They interviewed each of the participants as a part of their application process. This is what Barmmy Boy had to say :-

We have been chatting these last few weeks with Banker who is part of the WeOwnTV team currently in Freetown recruiting young people for their 6 week film making programme latrer this year. 

We wish them luck and invite you to take a look at their exciting project.

WeOwnTV is a collaborative media project that promotes self-expression as a way to explore our shared humanity and bridge cultural divides. Our first program uses community based media workshops to teach filmmaking techniques to a group of young Sierra Leonean ex-combatants and survivors of their country’s civil war. WeOwnTV will provide the technical support, encouragement and training that will allow these young adults to creatively produce their own media and share their experiences and ideas with the world.

Films made in Freetown :: Sierra Leone with young people & Cafesociety.org as part of the Digital Citizens project in collaboration with Creative Partnerships – Hull.

Following visits to Sierra Leone during 2006/7, Cafesociety.org have developed strong links with young people in the capital city Freetown. These young people have helped us to produce a large number of short films, articles and other resources focussing on the harsh and also inspiring reality of life in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone’s reggae diva Khady Black performs Mr. Government. Filmed on location in Kingston Upon Hull – UK.

Back to work… been a busy summer though…

Our good friend Barmmy Boy returned to Freetown on August 10 so he could be back in time to vote in the elections. Barmmy had a great time here in the UK, worked really hard, made loads of friends, learned a lot. He now intends to work closely with the British Council to help Cafesociety.org develop school partnerships and media training work in Freetown.

Another Salonian friend of ours, Tony Gblah, also returned to Freetown recently after spending a year in Hull as a volunteer with various church social projects. Tony’s having a bit of a tough time at the moment – no money, no job, no fixed abode – we’ll be trying to help him get back on his feet.

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The Mayor of Freetown, Winstanley R. Bankole Johnson payed a short visit to Hull on the 29th August 2007. After a civic lunch with the Lord Mayor of Kingston Upon Hull, Cllr Brenda Petch he had a meeting with Jon Robson and Richard Skog of the Freetown Society, during which he signed the petition supporting the Fight For Freedom Campaign.

Mayor Johnson then launched the opening of Greetings! Wilberforce Women, a photographic project between women in Freetown and women in Hull, a Wilberforce 2007 project.

Please click here to listen to the BBC Radio Humberside interview

Article appears in The Hull Daily Mail – 21/07/07

The Hull Daily Mail’s website has been inundated with messages of praise from teenagers for a rapping star from Sierra Leone.

Earlier this week, the Mail ran a story about 19-year-old Lansana Mansaray, known as Barmmy Boy, who has been visiting schools in the city.

As well as teaching youngsters how to rap, he has also been sharing his experiences of growing up in the war-torn country.

Over two months, he will work with children from St Mary’s College in west Hull, Winifred Holtby in Bransholme and Wilberforce College in east Hull.

Among the issues Barmmy Boy raps about are growing up in the country’s capital Freetown, HIV/Aids and the aftermath of the civil war that ravaged the country for a decade.

When the story appeared on the Mail’s website on Wednesday, it initially attracted criticism from one reader calling himself Barmmy Man, claiming rappers encourage young people to join gangs and use guns.

That drew a huge response from teenagers who defended Barmmy Boy and praised his work to educate Hull youngsters about life in Sierra Leone.

A web user called Gerry, from St Mary’s College in north Hull, was among more than 40 youngsters who posted a comment on www.thisishull.co.uk

He said: “I think you lot are talking about him in the wrong way. He isn’t into the shooting and that lot, I know because I have met him.

“His rapping is about peace and stuff like HIV, which is a bad disease in his country. He is not like a kind of gangster rapper, he is great.”

Jordan, from east Hull, said: “He’s ace and shouldn’t be taken as if he’s a gangster shooting people, because his raps are about peace.”

The rapper was brought to the UK by Hull organisation Cafe Society and funded by the British Council and Government arts scheme Creative Partnerships.

Cafe Society organiser Jon Robson said: “Barmmy Boy is an excellent ambassador for Sierra Leone and has made a lasting impression on the young people he has met in Hull.”

Barmmy Boy said: “It’s been great working with young people here.”

08:00 – 18 July 2007 – Hull Dail Mail

A Young rapper from Sierra Leone has been inspiring children across Hull to exchange stories about their lives through music.

Nineteen-year-old Lansana Mansaray, known as Barmmy Boy, is in Hull as part of a project to connect schools here and in Hull’s twin townFreetown, the capital of the west African country.

Over two months, he will work with children from St Mary’s College in west Hull, Winifred Holtby in Bransholme and Wilberforce College in east Hull.

He said: “It’s my first time out of Freetown and it’s really different.

“Everything is more organised, and the schools are all provided by the Government.

“It’s strange, but I am enjoying it.”

Among the issues Barmmy Boy raps about are growing up in Freetown, HIV/Aids and the aftermath of the civil war that ravaged the country for a decade.

He was brought to the UK by Hull-based organisation Cafe Society and funded by the British Council and Government arts programme Creative Partnerships.

Cafe Society organiser Jon Robson said: “We met Barmmy Boy when we went to Sierra Leone.

“He had so much energy and creativity, we thought he’d be fantastic with children here and they could really learn from each other. We got him some funding to buy him a laptop so he could start producing music and videos in Freetown and he could learn the skills to pass on to other youngsters there.”

Yesterday, Barmmy Boy took part in a performance at St Mary’s College, Cranbrook Avenue, with teenagers participating in a special week to coincide with Hull’s Wilberforce year.

This year is the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, which followed a campaign against slavery led by Hull MP William Wilberforce.

Barmmy Boy said: “It’s been great working with people here.

“They have made up their own lyrics about the issues that affect them, and we’ve been editing videos to accompany them.

“I want to take the skills I’ve learned here back to Sierra Leone.

“Many teenagers in Freetown are disillusioned. They move out of Sierra Leone and never bring the skills they have learned back to their country. I believe there is a lot more to do in Freetown. It doesn’t help the country when the youth leave and never come back.”

Barbara Veloso, 13, of Massey Close, west Hull, who has been working with Barmmy Boy, described the experience as “amazing”.

She said: “I’ve never rapped before, but I have been this week.

“Some of the stories Barmmy Boy told us about through his music are surprising.

“I had no idea many of the soldiers in Sierra Leone during the war were children.”

Andy Rendell, 14, of Malpas Close, in north Hull, said: “I was really shy about singing and it’s been great doing it as a group.

“All of us who took part have discovered hidden talents.”

A collaborative, creative learning programme developed in partnership between Cafesociety.org, Creative Partnerships – Hull & iEARN – Sierra Leone.

On May 5, film-makers Jon Robson and Murray Clark, together with writer Matt Stephenson, will be visiting Freetown to work in schools on a major digital media project, developing children’s skills and helping them to tell their stories; building real, lasting links between a remote city in the east of England and another in the west of Africa.

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Jon Robson
Hull based film-maker Jon Robson has been involved in many projects working with young people in Hull and East Yorkshire, The Seychelles, Ethiopia and The Navajo & Hopi reservations in the US, using film and new media to develop ICT and communication skills.

Matt Stephenson
Writer and journalist Matt Stephenson has many years of experience as a feature writer, columnist, editor and publisher and has also performed readings of his own creative work at Hull, Huddersfield and Ilkley literature festivals.

Murray Clark
Media / film specialist Murray Clarke has had 18 years involvement in media education and the arts. He has a wide range of skills and experience in the research, development and production of audio & visual projects.

PROJECT CONTEXT

Pupil voice :

At the core of this programme is the commitment to support pupils to articulate their voice and to develop their own stance, creative expression and personal identities through cross-cultural learning opportunities.

International links :

This learning programme is geared to forge informative, enriching and sustainable links between Hull and Freetown schools, building on the 25 year old twinning relationship between the two cities. It links closely in with the 2007 William Wilberforce Bicentennial of the abolition of slavery.

Curriculum relevance :

This program of work is set to draw on the power of new media technologies to capture the creative viewpoint of young people. In tandem with this, the scheme is geared to support young people, from Freetown and Hull, to engage with and respond to the themes of global citizenship issues. This is with particular reference to the ongoing issues surrounding human rights in the modern world.

Vital themes of social and moral responsibility, community involvement and political literacy are at the heart of the project. Students from both communities will continually develop their skills of (a) enquiry and communication and (b) participation and responsible action, central to citizenship programmes of study.

PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Aims – ‘Why are we doing this?’

• To give young people, from Freetown and Hull, a creative platform on which they can respond to the theme of global citizenship and human rights.

• To increase participating young people’s ability to express their thoughts and ideas through the vehicles of film and writing.

• To raise participating young people’s awareness about each other’s worlds and viewpoints.

• To engage teaching staff / parents, from Freetown and Hull, to share in the creative learning journey, with a view to developing their own skill sets.

Objectives ‘ What do we want to achieve?’

• To establish creative learning links between selected Hull and Freetown schools.

• To increase the learning engagement of young people, from Freetown and Hull, in the subjects of citizenship and literacy, through the introduction of film and writing techniques.

• To increase young people’s awareness of each other’s worlds and ideas.

• To increase young people’s confidence, within both communities, to articulate their world-view through film and writing.

• To broaden the range of skills and ability of young people, from Freetown and Hull, this is around the specific ability to author their own films and written work.

• To increase teaching staff / parents ability to support the further development of this work in both, Freetown and Hull, school settings.
PROJECT SCHEDULE – FREETOWN

Dates: 5/5/06 – 19/05/06

Initial Links :

A creative practitioner team is being supported by Creative Partnerships, Hull to make an initial visit to Freetown, during the above period.

The team’s practitioner lead, Jon Robson, has established productive links with the British Council and iLEARN organisations in Freetown – SL, which have given their support to act as brokers and facilitators during this time period.

At the start of this working period, a preview of film work coming out of Hull is to be shown to school representatives at the British Council Headquarters in Freetown.

School Networks :

In the first instance, the aim of this delivery period will be to work with Freetown schools that are already connected to Hull Schools. This will be in particular reference to St Charles and Kelvin Hall partners. In the second instance the team will be working with representatives from the British Council and IEARN to access new schools which might want to forge a link with the remaining Hull school’s participating in the programme.

Delivery Model :

The Creative team will work with young people to enable them to express themselves using film, photography and the written and spoken word through creative, biographical and documentary styles.

The delivery model is set to consist of a series of creative workshops for young people and adults with a view to embedding new skills, whist generating a collection of films, documenting their world-view.

This work will then be brought back to Hull and shown to young people to stimulate their own unique responses to their Freetown peers.
PROJECT SCHEDULE – HULL

Model of Delivery :

Post Freetown trip, contact with each of the Hull schools might take the form of a workshop day, to engage Hull pupils and teachers with the work coming out of their Freetown partner school. This would be in advance to the actual creative delivery phase expected to start from mid-June onwards. Initially, this delivery phase is likely to be limited to a few days in summer 06, across Hull partner schools.

As in Freetown, the Creative team will work with young people to enable them to express themselves using film, photography and the written and spoken word through creative, biographical and documentary styles.

As before, the delivery model is set to consist of a series of creative workshops for young people and adults with a view to embedding new skills, whist generating a collection of films, documenting their world-view.

Curriculum Relevance :

Through film and writing workshops, Hull young people will be encouraged to respond to the work of their counterparts in Freetown, comparing and contrasting their lives, looking at some of the emotional, political and economic factors which affect life in Hull and in Freetown.

The project will generate a greater understanding of each others culture by using film making workshops and new media technology as an ongoing dialogue and communication platform between students. Ultimately, the project aims to raise young people’s awareness of global development issues and equip them with the skills and knowledge to become active global citizens.

Freetown links :

The early stage of this project will provide a foundation for schools in Hull to build lasting relationships with partner schools in Freetown using the UK government Department for International Development (DfID) ‘Global School Partnership’ funding, enabling pupil and teacher exchanges between the cities which will bring Global Citizenship into many different aspects of the curriculum.