Joseph A.B. Bangura, a creative artist and craftsman with disability, has on Thursday June 18, 2020, told Premier News that involving in Creative Arts could transform the life of any human being.
He made this statement while he was being interviewed at his J. Mata Creative Arts Studio which is about a hundred meter away from Aberdeen Bridge, opposite the perimeter Fence of the Sierra Leone Grammar School on Sir Samuel Lewis Road.
Bangura could walk but only with the use of a pair of crouches, because of this his ability to move about is greatly limited. However, his mind is sharp and he has deployed the sharpness of his mind to maximize the use of his limited ability to move about and has given meaning to the saying: “Disability is not Inability”.
Joseph explained that, as a boy he lost the use of his limbs in a road crash when he accompanied her mother, a businesswoman, to Koidu in eastern Sierra Leone where she was going to purchase goods for sale.
He said that on their way to Koidu the vehicle was involved in an accident and both of his feet were badly injured. “It was medically proven that I will no longer be able to stand and walk on my feet,” he said.
With his family unable to fund his education, the Young Joseph, having been shunned by some family members, was fortunate to be awarded a scholarship by the Roman Catholic Mission in Lungi, where he hails from, which was to be crucial for his future career as a creative artist. He added that he stopped attending school because of the rebel war in Sierra Leone causing him to attain only junior secondary education (JSS3).
He narrated that because of his inability to walk family members let him out of their house because they saw him as a worthless child that did not have a future.
He further narrated that because of the aforementioned, his youngest Aunt asked him to stay with her in Freetown during the 1990s, adding that her aunt always advised him to be strong and to hope for a better future.
“As a young boy coming up I was filled with the desire to draw. My youngest aunt used to provide me with drawing utensils. As the days went by my drawing skills improved,” he said.
Joseph said that after he had realized his potential to do beautiful drawings, he started doing paintings and displaying them for sales at a small kiosk at his current spot in Aberdeen Freetown on a plot of land which belongs to the Sierra Leone Grammar School. He said that as his business picked up, he occupied a bigger space, and now with the help of a team of able-bodied friends who were inspired by him, he has incorporated the making of decorative cement blocks which they display for sale on the side of the road.
He mentioned that in spite of his inability to walk, he feels like a complete human being because of his skills to do drawings and carvings, adding that “these skills have transformed my life.”
Bangura said that he has trained many young people to do Arts and Crafts and now the trade is helping them to survive. He said that at times he gives aid to other people who are physically challenged, and also provide positive counsel to them on how they could give dignity to their lives by acquiring training in any form of trade which they could do rather than to be on the streets begging.
He revealed that while on the street selling on a faithful day at Lumley Aberdeen Beach and due to his artistic skills, a Norwegian lady became romantically interested in him and they later fell in love.
Bangura admonished his people with disabilities to learn trade so that they will be successful.
By George M.O. Williams
24/6/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7852