Ambassador June Carter Perry visited the Freedom Schooner Amistad on Thursday, December 13th.  Her visit to Government Wharf in Freetown was an opportunity to chat with Sierra Leoneans waiting to see the Freedom Schooner and the exhibit presenting the National Hero of Sierra Leone - Sengbe Pieh - the leader of the Amistad Captives' Revolt of 1839.

Madame Ambassador listened with interest to the story of the Amistad Peace Pole. This simple piece of wood is inscribed with message of Peace to The World in several languages, including sign language and Braille alphabet.  Interestingly, the Peace Pole started its journey through the world in 2003 in Chicago - the hometown of Ambassador Perry. 

Ambassador Perry said the Amistad incident is still relevant in today's world, where human rights violations continue to occur. "Human rights remain under threat in many places of the world," she said. "People still toil away at menial jobs for less than the living wage, and men, women and children are still forcefully trafficked for exploitative purposes all over the world." 

At Amistad's official  welcoming ceremony by the President Of The Republic Of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, at Sierra Leone's State House, Ambassador Perry surprised and challenged the representatives from New Haven, which is Freetown's 'twin' city in the U.S., with a daring proposal to bring engineers from New Haven to Freetown to help re-building roads. The quote was readily picked up by the local press.

Amistad America's team in Freetown is receiving a lot of help from the Embassy of the United States of America in Sierra Leone.  Several groups of the students from various schools watched Steven Spielberg's movie Amistad and participated in a follow up discussion. 

United States Ambassador to The Republic of Sierra Leone - June Carter Perry at the helm of the Freedom Schooner Amistad. 

Comments (0)