Songs and Stories of Adversity and Resilience

March 1, 2023

Songs and Stories of Adversity and Resilience

A Keynote Performance from Emmanuel Jal

Event Series: Children in a World of Challenges Workshop Series

From his start in life as a child soldier in the war-torn region of South Sudan in the early 1980s, Emmanuel Jal has come through unimaginable struggles to become a successful and acclaimed recording artist and peace ambassador. As part of a series of workshops on Children in a World of Challenges: Building Pathways to Resilience, Jal shared his songs and stories of adversity and resilience in this keynote presentation. Following Jal's performance, Gillian Huebner moderated a community conversation with Jal, Ifrah Mansour, Kyryl Myronenko, and the audience about the interplay between trauma, healing, creativity, and culture.

This event was co-sponsored by the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues; Walsh School of Foreign Service; Center for Child and Human Development; Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service; Global Human Development Program; Global Health Institute; Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics; African Studies Program; and Department of Psychology at Georgetown University. It is part of the Children in a World of Challenges Workshop series.

Participants

Emmanuel Jal

Emmanuel Jal is a former child soldier from South Sudan who was rescued by a British aid worker. Today, he is a successful recording artist, having released six award-nominated studio albums and performed with artists such as Peter Gabriel, Lauryn Hill, and Ed Sheeran. He is also a peace ambassador who speaks and performs with messages of reconciliation and peace, and has addressed the UN and U.S. Congress. Jal is the author of the memoir War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story (2009), is featured in the documentary film War Child, and has co-starred in The Good Lie, a film with Reese Witherspoon.

Ifrah Mansour

Ifrah Mansour is a Minnesota-based Somali playwright and performer, and a global fellow with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University. Her one-act play, "How to Have Fun in a Civil War," explores war from an idyllic viewpoint of a seven-year-old Somali refugee. She revisits her memories during the 1991 Somali civil war to confront violent history with humor and provide a voice for refugee stories of children. She sees art as the way we can heal the world, creating performances that build empathy and connection within Muslim and greater American communities.

Kyryl Myronenko

Kyryl Myronenko (SFS'26) is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service, one of four undergraduates affected by the war in Ukraine to have received a full scholarship to Georgetown University through the Gracias Family Sunflower Current Use Scholarship Fund. From Cherkasy, Myronenko arrived in the United States after the invasion. His family remains in Ukraine. Since coming to Washington, DC, Myronenko has been engaged in efforts to support his country, including addressing the U.S. Congress. Myronenko is also a professional hip-hop dancer and has won numerous dance competitions in Ukraine.

Gillian Huebner

Gillian Huebner (moderator) is the executive director of the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues at Georgetown University. Her work focuses on supporting programs and systems to enhance community-based and nationally-owned approaches to building young people’s resilience and supporting children at risk. She has worked with the UN, USAID, foundations, and NGOs in the United States and overseas.