Bockari Stevens meets with Bunce Island Coalition USA members
Washington: Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the United States of America, H.E. Bockari K. Stevens, today Monday 9th August 2010 met with members of the Bunce Island Coalition (USA), accompanied by a group of professional restoration engineers. The meeting centered on implementing the project for the preservation of the Bunce Island slave castle (in photo) and how to transform that important historic site into a well interpreted historical park that will be a source of education for both Sierra Leoneans and visitors from abroad. The meeting was held in the conference room of the Sierra Leone Embassy in Washington DC.
Ambassador Stevens welcomed members of the Bunce Island Coalition and the team of restoration engineers who will be leaving shortly for Sierra Leone and informed them about his excitement for seeing the realization of this project which will boost the tourist potential of Sierra Leone.
He noted that the government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Tourism has approved this project because of the expected impact it will have not only on our tourism experience but also on our bilateral relations. Because of their expertise in rich cultivation, many of the slaves from Bunce Island found themselves destined for the rice fields of Carolina.
The Ambassador further disclosed plans underway, as part of Sierra Leone’s 50TH Independence Anniversary celebrations, to organize a weekend trip for Sierra Leoneans in the USA to the Gullah community in Charleston, South Carolina.
Present at the meeting included: former United States Ambassador to Sierra Leone Ambassador Thomas N. Hull (Chairman Bunce Island Coalition (USA)), Professor Joe Opala, the brains behind the project and, Messrs. Melbourne Garber and Amadu Massally. Mr. Gary Chatelain, a Professor of Arts & Design at the James Mason University briefed the meeting about the work he is doing on reproducing a life size computer model of the Bunce Island slave castle.
The Bunce Isalnd Coalituion (USA) has obtained pledges from Donors in the USA and UK to the initial tune of five million Dollars in the first instance for the restoration work. Bunce Island is one of over 40 large commercial slaving forts built on West Coast of Africa during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Elizabeth M. S. Foray, Information Attaché, Embassy of Sierra Leone to The United States
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