Diplomacy Students Travel to Sierra Leone for Spring Break 2025

Over Spring Break 2025, twelve Graduate and Undergraduate students from Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations traveled to Sierra Leone in West Africa on a study abroad trip led by professor Fredline M’Cormack-Hale, Ph.D. The students spent nine days in the country on an education tour led by Visit Sierra Leone (VSL Travel) and tour guide Abdulai Sankoh.

Before their journey, the class spent six weeks in Sierra Leone Seminar: Exploring Post-War Reconstruction taught by M’Cormack-Hale, discussing the theory and practice of rebuilding institutions to strengthen societies that have undergone conflict and assessing the strengths and shortcomings of varied interventions, using Sierra Leone as a case study. Twenty years after a brutal civil war, Sierra Leone has become a model for successful post-war recovery and development using liberal peacebuilding approaches, integrating the role of international actors and rural actors in rebuilding and supporting post-conflict institutions and governance.

Arriving in the country on March 1, students spent the night at Tariq’s Resort on the Lungi Peninsula in the North-West Province. Waking up early the following day, the group visited the Center for Memory and Reparations, which facilitates remembrance and collective narratives around the Sierra Leonean Civil War, where they met Joseph Ben Kaifala, the founder of The Memory Project. Following this visit, they got a tour of Bunce Island, the largest British slave castle on the Rice Coast of West Africa before the British Parliament shut it down in 1808, and Tasso Island for lunch. After lunch, the group caught a boat into Freetown, where they were given a historical tour highlighting iconic sites: St. George’s Cathedral, Pace Monument, Maroon Church, Cotton Tree, Old Fourah Bay College (the first Western-style university in West Africa) and the Railway Museum.

At the start of the second full day, the group attended a lecture by Teddy Foday-Musa, a professor at the University of Sierra Leone Fourah Bay College, peace and conflict studies department, then had a discussion with university students about the state of Sierra Leone and if there were any lessons they could take from the United States. After a tour of the campus, the students headed to the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR) office, where they heard from four local Civil Society Organizations: Center for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), Budget Advocacy Network (BAN), IGR and the 50/50 Group. The group wrapped up their day at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, founded in 1995 by Bala Amarasekaran to enforce wildlife laws and rescue and rehabilitate critically endangered orphaned Western chimpanzees who used to be kept as pets or hunted for meat. 

On day three, the students were invited to the Embassy of Ireland in Freetown, where they met with the Ambassador of Ireland to Sierra Leone, Aidan Fitzpatrick, and had a discussion with him and his staff on the role of Irish AID in Sierra Leone. After visiting with Irish AID, they headed to Peace Corps Sierra Leone, where they got to meet multiple volunteers as well as Country Director Tim Miller and Director of Training and Programming Aleya Horn Kennedy, hearing about locally prioritized projects in the Education and Health sectors and what it takes to be a Peace Corp Volunteer. The last meeting of the day was at the Residence of the British High Commission, where the group got to hear from the High Commissioner herself, Josephine Gauld, and her staff about the British’s mission in the country and their work with the government. The group ended the day relaxing at River No. 2 beach. 

Day four consisted of the students traveling to the Kambia district, visiting the Sierra-Leone-Guniea Border before meeting with the women working with The Women’s Community Solidarity Group.

On day five, students attended the High-Level Policy Dialogue Forum in honor of International Women’s Day, organized by the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs in collaboration with the IWD National Steering Committee. Speakers at this conference included the president of the 50/50 group; our very own M’Cormack-Hale, Ph.D.; the UN Women Country Representative; the Invest Salone Team Lead; the Gender Advisor at the Office of the President; the Chairperson of the Gender and Children’s Affairs Committee in parliament; Minister of Social Welfare; Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs; and Ambassador Haja Alari Cole, a highly established diplomat. At the conference, students attended panels discussing various topics on women’s empowerment, education, rights and more. Following the conference, the students headed over to the UN House, where they met with the United Nations Development Project in Sierra Leone.

On day six, the group was invited to the Freetown City Council Mayor’s Office, where they  heard from the mayor’s staff on upcoming development projects around the city of Freetown. 

On day seven, the group headed back to the High-Level Policy Dialogue Forum, attending the closing ceremony as the various organizations and officials they met with previously in the week presented the findings of the forum and plans for the empowerment of women in Salone. 

The students spent the last night of the trip relaxing at Mozza Resort, where they had the opportunity to participate in a bonfire celebrating both American and Sierra Leonean music and culture before leaving the country on Sunday evening, returning to the United States midday on March 10. 

Categories: Nation and World