Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars Sing to Heal Wounds of War

Rocker Tom Petty doesn’t know what it really means “to live like a refugee,” but the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars band does, and they make music to show that even refugees can excel and be joyful.

“We want to make those people who went through horrible things forget about their problems and make them smile and laugh,” band leader Ruben Koroma told Reuters news on a recent gig in Poland.

The All Stars are celebrating 10 years since the making of their first album, after the band was formed in a Guinean refugee camp during Sierra Leone’s 1991-2002 civil war.

Watch part of the documentary below, Living Like a Refugee, directed by Zach Niles and American Banker White about the remarkable story of the six Sierra Leonean musicians.

(READ the recent story from Reuters)