In June 2006, I visited a school in Lunsar, Sierra Leone. It was my first trip upcountry having arrived at the beginning of the month and we were there to do some inspections of schools where children had received grants for uniforms. I would later find out more about the importance of school uniforms within Sierra Leone culture (more on that another day).

One of the stops was a Catholic school and since we were guests, it of course meant we would be treated to a song. One of the teachers, Sister Frances, asked her class of third-graders who wanted to start with the song. No hands went up. She surveyed the room, picked out the least shy student, pointed at her and exclaimed: "This one is ready to sing!"

I returned with a few photos and video, material for what turned out to be my first music project in the country. I was able to rip the audio from the video after I returned to Freetown. Using a small laptop, a copy of Cakewalk's Sonar DAW, the Atmosphere soft synth, some drum loops and an evening hunched over a pretty basic M-Audio MIDI controller, I remixed it. It's here.

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I know Sandra Lako, so I may be biased but it's tough to watch this and not come out with a great sense of respect for her commitment to the children of Sierra Leone. She left the country after having managed a children's clinic in the capital, Freetown, for four years. We need more people like this.

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