Vitabu Books

Bakar Mansaray is a versatile author with a range of literary works including short stories in "A Suitcase Full of Dried Fish" and other stories, a memoir titled "My Afro Canadian Chronicle," a historical non-fiction book exploring the history of minority faith communities called "Muslims in Canada: A Microcosm," as well as novels like "The Ebola War (Angel and Mercy)" Volume One and Two. Following the translation of his debut book "A Suitcase Full of Dried Fish and Other Stories" into Kiswahili, Bakar has been dedicated to developing the Mandingo Scrolls , a platform where he blogs about various topics. These include insights on students at Tampa University in the USA writing comparative or thematic essays on stories from his book 'A Suitcase Full of Dried Fish,' as well as sharing tidbits from the Sahel, discussions on African political volatility, human rights abuses, superstitions, and excerpts from his upcoming book "A

Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capitals undertake to promote books and reading for all ages and population groups, within and across national borders, and to organize a program of activities for the year. After Guadalajara (Mexico) in 2022, the city of Accra in Ghana was selected for its strong focus on young people and their potential to contribute to the culture and wealth of Ghana. The year of celebrations will start on 23 April 2023, World Book and Copyright Day. As the twenty-third city to bear the title since 2001, Accra follows Guadalajara (2022) and Tbilisi (2021). Past capitals include Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Anvers (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Erevan (2012), Bangkok (2013), Port Harcourt (2014), Incheon (2015), Wroclaw (2016), Conakry (2017), Athens (2018), Sharjah, (2019) and Kuala Lumpur (2020). Accra’s proposed program seeks to use the power

W omen who fight for economic justice in Sierra Leone are often vilified and go unrecognized. But in the social media age, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr has earned significant props as she's gained notoriety among Sierra Leonean men who seize every opportunity to berate and oppress women and girls. Aki-Sawyerr has been the Mayor of Freetown since taking office in May 2018, after winning 309,000 votes representing 59.92% of the votes in the mayoral election. She's a member of the All People's Congress (APC) political party—one of the two major political parties, alongside the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP),  Aki-Sawyerr was recognized with an Ebola Gold Medal by the then-president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, in 2015. Queen Elizabeth II made her an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2016. Aki-Sawyerr was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women (BBC), announced in November 2020. In February 2021, Time Magazine named her one of Time's "100 Next&quo

This year, I found UNESCO's message on World Book and Copyright Day particularly poignant. In March 2015 , the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John’s University in Queens, New York, announced that it was creating digital records of more than 22,000 rare and historically significant documents from a library in Mali, Timbuktu. The family library of Mamma Haidara has one of the largest manuscript collections in Timbuktu, and some of its documents date back to the 13th century. Two years earlier, Hill Museum & Manuscript Library said that it set up a two-camera studio in Mali's capital city of Bamako. In collaboration with a Mali-based nongovernmental organization, local workers were trained and began creating digital copies of manuscripts from Timbuktu's private libraries. The studio expanded recently, adding two more cameras. “Our team in Bamako has made remarkable progress. After a full year of work, the team digitized over 250,000 images from the Abubakr Ben

Florence Lasayo’s newly released “The Child with No Identity” is an engaging look into the author’s life in Sierra Leone and beyond.   “This is a story about a little girl who has no idea where she came from," Lasayo shares. "She just found herself in the arms of a beautiful old woman who treated her with so much love, compassion, and care.” Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Florence Lasayo’s new book will pull at the heartstrings and have readers rooting for the little girl who desperately seeks a place of safety and understanding. Lasayo shares a compelling story full of personal reflections and heartfelt faith. Consumers can purchase “The Child with No Identity” at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about “The Child with No Identity,” contact Christian Faith Publishing . 

Oumar Farouk Sesay is a leading Sierra Leonean poet. His first volume of poems, "Salute to the Remains of a Peasant" was published in 2007. His second collection of poems, "The Edge of a Cry" was published in 2015 by the Sierra Leonean Writers Series (SLWS). Farouk is a graduate of Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. BECAUSE WE ARE POOR (For those who use poverty  as an excuse for our failings as a people) So, because we are poor, we must quarry  the mountains, gouge the boulders, let them roll  downhill. So, when it rains, the entire mountain  will peel off and cascade down the slope to end  our life of misery. Because we are poor, therefore, we must fell the  hundred years old trees, deplete the biodiversity  and haul the trees to China for nickels and dime like a man selling his kidney to buy whisky. Because we are poor, we must cut down trees  at the Guma valley reserve to starve the dam of water, then we demolish reservoirs and obstruct the pipe net