The Story Tellers

Sylvia has everything going for her. She is beautiful, intelligent, kind-hearted and good-mannered, and comes from one of the most powerful and elitist families in the country. The Jusu-Tokowa family has been ruling the Kuyambana Chiefdom for over seventy years. Her father, Chief Sandi is the current Paramount Chief and the most charismatic in the country. One thing is missing in Sylvia's life; something that doesn't mean a thing to me and you, but not for Sylvia and thousands of young girls in the tiny West African country of Sierra Leone. To them, it is a mile-stone. Without it, life is unfulfilled. Every day, Sylvia dreams of this thing. She dreams of the day when she will join the Bondo society and gain admission into the elite group of women with the right to talk and make decisions. So when she graduates from Primary school, and her parents decide to join her, she was beside herself with joy. As a Sandenya, she can discuss Sande and issues affecting women freely with her grandmother who is a Sowei and the grand patroness of the society. Once inside the Bondo bush, she discovers that to become a woman is not an easy task. make-ups. It involves making sacrifices. Beauty, they say lies in the eyes of the beholder.