Miss Sierra Leone USA at KDU NE Heritage Weekend

Hello world!!!

This past weekend, I had my first official appearance as Miss Sierra Leone USA at the Krio Descendant Union Northeast's Heritage Weekend in New Jersey. As I mentioned in a previous post, KDU Global was my sponsor at the Miss Sierra Leone USA pageant, and I was very excited to meet the many members of this dynamic organization. The members were very excited to have me, and I was treated nothing less than a queen. I am grateful. The theme of the weekend was: Krio Heritage - Fostering a Culture of Education.

Heritage weekend program

It was a long trip to New Jersey, so after getting checked in and settled in my hotel room, I was ready for a nap. This nap lasted for 3 hours, and well-needed. The banquet started at 8pm, and I felt special that I was given the opportunity to have a grand entrance, I was escorted into the hall by co-MC of the night, Mr. Rudolph Jackson. Upon meeting the many fantastic members of KDU NE, I was very excited to meet Mr. Melbourne Garber, president of KDU NE. I am very thankful for all his help throughout my journey to the 2012 MSLUSA Pageant and after. I was just as excited to meet him as he was to meet me. I admire that he's a structural engineer, and we swapped stories about our engineering paths.

Miss Sierra Leone USA with Mr. Melbourne Garber, President of KDU NE

With Mr. Rudolph Jackson, co-MC of the night

I was introduced to many phenomenal people, and got to network for a bit. The food was very delicious and healthy! Besides the royal treatment that I was given, one thing that brought my attention to my title was that so many people wanted to take pictures with me. I was very happy to take pictures with them all. One thing that I took notice of is that many people referred to me as their Miss Sierra Leone USA when meeting me for the first time or introducing me to others; I was humbled by it and felt the love and support. This makes my job so much more rewarding and reminds me of my duty to serve and represent all Sierra Leoneans.  

The mission of Saturday's banquet/fundraiser was to raise money for the Children's Department in the Sierra Leone Library Board in Freetown. This project is headed by Ms. Iris Max-Macarthy and Ms. Gloria Allen. My personal platform (SHERO) as Miss Sierra Leone USA, E for education, involves advocating for the education of all native Sierra Leoneans and the Sierra Leonean diaspora. Education is very vital for any nation's development, and I believe that by educating these children and providing them with the necessary tools to achieve this, they will make dynamic leaders and professionals in the near future. This project hopes to benefit the Children's Library with more modern furniture, computers/IT materials, books/games for the physically impaired, relevant supplementary reading materials, educational/cartoon movies, etc.

Mr. Melbourne Garber giving his opening speech

Miss Sierra Leone USA with Mrs. Cassandra Garber, President of 
Krio Disendants Yunion (KDY) in Sierra Leone. She is a former principal of 
the Freetown Secondary School for Girls (FSSG)

Miss Sierra Leone USA with some members of KDU NE 
at Saturday's banquet

Some guests doing the electric slide

Fun Fact: The son of the co-MC took lots of interest in me since the moment we met. We sat on the same table and offered to assist me throughout the night. He was such a gentleman (well more like gentleboy), and some people even thought he was my little brother. He asked me out on a date, and I thought he was a very brave 9-year-old to do such a brave thing to a 21-year-old. I enjoyed his company throughout the night, and he offered to be my wonderful photographer of the night.

Miss Sierra Leone USA and her buddy of the night, Jonathan Roberts

On Sunday, there was a thanksgiving service in the morning. The guest preacher was Reverend Alaba Max-Jones. He spoke on the history of the Krios, the importance of raising children in Christ, and the importance of culture and respect for our history as Sierra Leoneans. Overall, it was a great sermon and thanksgiving service. Also, I loved that there were krio translations for all hymns and passages. "Tel am tenki" was one of the songs, and I found it really awesome seeing Sierra Leoneans and non-Sierra Leoneans singing in my native language. That was a proud moment for me. A reception was done after the service and we had lots of delicious foods to eat such as aborbor (beans), oleleh, couscous, jollof rice, ginger beer, akara, fried plantains, etc.

Sunday's reception after Church

To show my appreciation for their support, I presented my thank-you letter to KDU NE during my speech at the beginning of Saturday's banquet. I hope it sincerely expressed my gratitude to their continuous support! I smiled and laughed throughout the weekend, and it helped a lot that the festivities were entertaining as well as educational. 

Please let me know if you are interested in getting involved with the Sierra Leone Library Board Children's Department Project. You can contribute as little or much as you can. Every donation counts!

Ruby B. Johnson

Your Miss Sierra Leone USA

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