Salone Diary

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September 3rd, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

The Salone Diary is a vivid account of life in Sierra Leone written by David LaMattina, from the Brownstones Crew. It recounts the day to day life of refugee children in Freetown over the period of a two week stay for their latest documentary Brownstones, Red Dirt.

Having already filmed children from Brooklyn speaking about their lives, the second part of the story was to record the Brownstone Crew meeting and interviewing the refugee children. Done in a rich narrative style, it gives an insight into a world often hidden from mainstream view.

The meeting of these two groups of children was made possible by the RESPECT Letter Exchange Program. This program put non-refugee students in touch with refugee students, allowing them to learn about each others lives and share their experiences.

David shares his experience of the letter writing in the Salone Diary. “These kids have nothing and with each letter they get from Brooklyn,they gain another possession. It’s quite a gift and they treat it delicately, examining it with care while they try to decipher what their pen pal’s life might be like.”

Beginning with the eventful story of travelling from New York to Sierra Leone, the diary goes on to describe the moment when the children first met and focuses on the lives of the Sierra Leone children. They are children who have experienced war first hand and lost their families as a result, some witnessing brutal murders.

Despite this they are children with great humanity and hope for their futures. They dream of making the world a better place and by telling their stories they can help everyone to do just that.