RPCV Gary A. Walker fell in love with Sierra Leone and is now working in Freetown as an adviser to the government for post-war reconstruction and development.
STUDENTS GIVE THE GIFT OF SON
Band donates proceeds from CD to charity
By Sarah Hoye
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
Strings, percussion and turntables mingle to create the young melodic sound that seeps from a garage loft on Lackawanna Road.
The garage is the practice room for six Lexington high school students hoping to make a difference, globally, through their music.
The Natural, a band made up of students from Lafayette High School along with friends from Dunbar and Henry Clay high schools, came up with an idea to make a CD and donate all the proceeds to charity.
Their album, Tried, described by the musicians as "funk tribal fusion," debuted on Dec. 1 and has since raised $1,170. The CDs are sold for $5.
Band members include Michael Vettraino, 15, Zach Selby, 17, Wes Holbrook, 18, Abu Kargbo, 18, Lindsay Marshall, 16, and frequent guest Michael Wise, 18. They started making music about four months ago.
Guitarist Vettraino, a sophomore at Lafayette, originally suggested giving the profits to the homeless.
"I've always wanted to give something back because we are all so well off in the band," Vettraino said. "Nobody really takes the time to think about anything else going on, and I thought this was a way to be more humble."
Kargbo, a junior at Lafayette who plays the djembˇ (African drum) and lends his vocals, suggested the Fund for African Relief and Education (FARE) become the charity of choice, and the group later agreed on it.
A native of Sierra Leone, Kargbo, whose parents and younger sister were killed during the bloody 10-year civil war that began ravaging his country in 1991, wanted to help other Sierra Leonean refugees by donating to FARE.
"From where I came from to where I am is like being in heaven," Kargbo said. "You can't imagine the relief I now have."
Founded in 1995, FARE has raised more than $600,000 and seeks to help Africans by providing shelter, life skills and an exit from dependency.
Such money helped the orphaned Kargbo receive medical attention in Senegal and the United States for the debilitating affects of polio, a dislocated hip after a beating from rebels, and open wounds left by shrapnel from a grenade.
"I never thought I'd be able to walk right again. Now I can, and I don't have any more pain," Kargbo exclaimed, pulling up his pant leg to expose the brace around the lower portion of his left leg. "Naturally, giving to FARE means a lot to me."
It was Gary A. Walker, president of FARE, who found a battered 15-year-old Abu Kargbo on the streets of Freetown. He brought him to Senegal in September 2000 to receive better medical attention. Kargbo arrived in the United States in October 2001 for surgery at Lexington's Shriners Hospital for Children, where his medical services were provided for free.
Walker, a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone during the 1960s, fell in love with the country and thought he could help after the civil war. He is now working in Freetown as an adviser to the government for post-war reconstruction and development.
"I am very proud of Abu," Walker said in an e-mail message from West Africa. "He is a special person who has suffered horrific physical and psychological wounds but has had the strength to survive and now -- thanks to the good people of Kentucky -- flourish."
Band members are pleased with the success of the album. They practice every Monday and Thursday, with an occasional "Funky Friday."
In honor of the group's mission, students, teachers and businesses have helped get the project going. They have volunteered or discounted services, including designing and printing the CD.
"It's just been really nice. Everyone just helped out," Vettraino said. "I thought no one was going to buy it. But it's always nice to be surprised."
Holbrook, a senior at Dunbar who plays the bass, said giving the profits to FARE is "helping get support from people at school and in the community that wouldn't have known."
"It's really good to have Abu talk about what we don't see every day," he added. "There's all this stuff going on out there that we don't know about."
Hearing Kargbo's story was a wake-up call for several band members.
"It was humbling," said Marshall, the Lafayette sophomore on the turntables or djembˇ. "I'm this little white kid from suburbia, and here's Abu, who's been through war and famine."
Reach Sarah Hoye at (859) 231-1317 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 1317, or shoye@herald-leader. com.
