Sierra Leone has often been sensationalized as a place of extreme violence and suffering — child soldiers, Ebola, environmental catastrophes, and alarmingly high maternal and infant mortality rates. Before Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone captures daily life in a different country, one that author Betsy Small first encountered as a Peace Corps agriculture volunteer in the country’s diamond district between 1984 and 1987 and then reconnected with decades later.

Living in Tokpombu, a remote rainforest community of forty rice-farming families, Betsy faced struggles that changed her forever as she witnessed growing tensions between the young and the old, the timeless traditions valued by the elders, and the allure of the diamond mines to the younger generation.

Before Before offers a unique portrait of everyday lives, with a particular emphasis on women and girls before the brutal conflict of 1991 tore the country apart. Betsy invites reflection on the complicated landscape in this sometimes overlooked West African nation. The story of Before Before spans three decades. Readers learn that the hunger to forge connection persists­­ — a powerful antidote to indifference, intolerance, and even violence.

Presenter Betsy Small served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone (1984-1987). For over three decades, she has worked with divided communities in the US and abroad, which inspired her to write Before Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone. Betsy holds master's degrees in cross-cultural counseling psychology and special education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and North Carolina Central University. Throughout her career, she has been an educator and counselor for families and youth in a wide ranging of settings. She has served as Executive Director of War Child, USA and more recently, Creating Friendships for Peace, collaborating with teams of peace-builders in Israel, Palestine, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland.

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