In a region of extreme poverty and underdevelopment, religious occasions such as Ramadan and Christmas are usually the only times that most people enjoy the joy of life rightly embedded in these festivities. Christmas and Ramadan in Sierra Leone are not only about the religious meanings of these events; they are also a social opportunity for the haves to share with the have-nots, for families to reconcile their differences, and for neighbours to entertain each other through parties an...

Some of you are not Christians, many are of other religions, some are agnostic, and others are straightforward atheist, but in the absence of religious entanglement and in the spirit of what the birthday boy calls the greatest commandment of all: love, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

We must together share what little opportunities there are to love and spread peace in this turbulent world. We may be of diverse backgrounds and beliefs, but peace and love are a universal lang...