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Colonial Era
In the early 20th century, Freetown served as the residence of the British governor who also ruled the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and the Gambia settlements. Sierra Leone also served as the educational centre of British West Africa. Fourah Bay College, established in 1827, rapidly became a magnet for English-speaking Africans on the West Coast. For more than a century, it was the only European-style University in western Sub-Saharan Africa.
During Sierra Leone's colonial history, indigenous people of 1898. Its first leader was Bai Bureh, a Temne chief who refused to recognize the British-imposed tax on "huts" (dwellings). The tax was generally regarded by the native chiefs as an attack on their sovereignty. After the British issued a warrant to arrest Bai Bureh alleging that he had refused to pay taxes, he brought fighters from several Temne villages under his command, and from Limba, Loko, Soso, Kissi, and Mandinka villages. mounted several unsuccessful revolts against British rule and Krio domination. The most notable was the Hut Tax War
Bureh's fighters had the advantage over the vastly more powerful British for several months of the war. Hundreds of British troops and hundreds of Bureh's fighters were killed. Bai Bureh was finally captured on November 11, 1898 and sent into exile in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), while 96 of his comrades were hanged by the British.
Site Editor: Abu Kamara
For many years Sierra Leone was ravaged by a senseless and brutal civil war that has crippled and impoverished our nation.
As in any war the ones that are affected most are the children, and Sierra Leone is no different. Our children have been devastated and displaced. Kidnapped and raped. Turned into drug addicts to commit acts of brutality. Some of them are physically and psychologically traumatized. Such a catastrophe has left them scared for life without the basic tools to make anything of their lives. Due to the effects of the war, poverty has created a situation where children have resorted to soliciting their bodies to feed themselves and their family, or to pay for their school fees.
This catastrophe has made us realize that we the youth of Sierra Leone cannot sit back and witness our children to continue to suffer. This is why we have established our association. The Sierra Leone Progressive Youth Association of British Columbia
Some Members of the Sierra Leone Progressive Youth attended a fund-raising party intended to buy a tractor for a Village in Sierra Leone. Abu Kamara, Chairman of the Association gave an awesome speech at the party called ,Blind Optimism.
