{"id":32170,"date":"2011-11-13T20:41:37","date_gmt":"2011-11-13T20:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierraexpressmedia.com\/?p=32170"},"modified":"2011-11-13T20:41:37","modified_gmt":"2011-11-13T20:41:37","slug":"wvu-grad-helps-rebuild-an-african-school-with-return-to-bumpe-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/?p=32170","title":{"rendered":"WVU grad helps rebuild an African school with \u2018Return to Bumpe\u2019 event"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Morgantown community showed their support by coming out to the “Return to Bumpe” event at the Metropolitan Theatre Wednesday night.\u00a0 \u00a0(Photo: Pamela Donohoo performs at \u2018Return to Bumpe\u2019 Wednesday night at the Metropolitan Theatre.<\/em> )<\/span><\/p>\n

West Virginia University graduate and Morgantown native Sarah Culberson hosted the event in an effort to rebuild a high school in Sierra Leone, West Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Culberson was adopted as an infant, and in 2004 she discovered her biological father was a tribal leader of the Mende tribe in Bumpe, Sierra Leone \u2013 making her the princess of the tribe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bumpe High School is a boarding school that provided an education to more than 600 students and was destroyed by the Revolutionary United Front army during a civil war in the region, which lasted from 1991 to 2002.<\/span><\/p>\n

A year after the discovery of her father, Culberson founded the Kposowa Foundation in hopes of rebuilding the school.<\/span><\/p>\n

“All I wanted to do was to meet my real father,” Culberson said. “However, things turn out to be so much bigger than ourselves and sets us on a journey that we’ll never forget.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Culberson’s adoptive father, Jim Culberson, is a neurobiology professor at WVU and spoke about his experiences with the foundation and the connections he’s made with the people of Sierra Leone.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s a different world in Sierra Leone,” Jim said. “Over there, our efforts are about the children, the education and their future.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Culberson gave a detailed account of her journey to Bumpe and the efforts that have come out of her foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said the Morgantown community played an instrumental part in the efforts to reconstruct the boarding school.<\/span><\/p>\n

“There are no words to describe seeing the community you grew up in being so devoted to your cause,” Culberson said. “It chokes me up when I reflect on the support I have received from all of you here today.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Culberson said even though the reconstruction so far has been more than she ever imagined possible, there are still more strides to be made.<\/span><\/p>\n

She hopes to have a transportation system and plumbing system installed in the near future, and that one day the school will run on solar energy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, the school is without power and students who study at night use candlelight.<\/span><\/p>\n

A library was recently built onto the school and was given by the Lemonade fund, a non-profit organization that runs through Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Fund.<\/span><\/p>\n

WVU Theatre & Dance, local backwoods music band Stewed Mulligan and the WVU African Music and Dance Ensemble performed at the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Culberson’s close friend, Pamela Donohoo, a Los Angeles-based aerialist, also performed.<\/span><\/p>\n

“This is what you’ve all contributed to and supported. You are a part of this journey. Every one here tonight is making a difference in this world,” Culberson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on the Kposowa Foundation, visit <\/span>www.bumpenya.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

by Mallory Bracken\/The Daily Athenaeum <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Morgantown community showed their support by coming out to the “Return to Bumpe” event at the Metropolitan Theatre Wednesday night.\u00a0 \u00a0(Photo: Pamela Donohoo performs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[745,1],"tags":[10724,10725,10726,4386],"class_list":["post-32170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-and-entertainment","category-uncategorized","tag-jim-culberson","tag-kposowa-foundation","tag-return-to-bumpe","tag-sarah-culberson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}