About The Author
Alieu Badara Sheriff was born in Gbongboma, a village in Sierra Leone’s Eastern Province, at a time when diamond mining was reshaping everything around him — including who stayed in school and who didn’t. He stayed. That decision, made over and over through boarding school, a student movement, and a civil war, is the foundation of IN THE SHADOW OF SERENDIPITY.
Where He Comes From: Alieu grew up on his family's farm, working alongside his father — one of the village's most successful farmers and diamond traders, and the man who built Gbongboma's first primary school. Long before Alieu understood what education could do for a person, he watched his father give it to an entire community.
What He Carries Forward: As diamond mining emptied out classrooms across the Eastern Province, Alieu kept showing up to his. That same instinct — to choose the harder, longer path — led him to boarding school, to the stage, to writing, and eventually to co-founding the Black House Family, a student movement built on fairness and mentorship.