Black History Month: Home

Greetings Friends and colleague,
Words cannot express my gratitude for all the support provided in helping to make the memorial of Hélène Lembanaka a truly meaningful and touching occasion. George is particularly appreciative of all the effort that was put into the planning, preparation and teamwork, especially on the evening, and he also wishes to express his thanks again too, for your contributions, presence and goodwill. I leave you with a copy of my poem performed that evening, which was dedicated to Hélène's memory, and a couple of shots taken by Eric Hayman, Hélène's neighbor. Eric will shortly be circulating more photos.
Will be in touch soon, read poem "Always Special"
One love.
Grace

Thanks so much for your assistance with publicising Helene Lembanaka's death and fundraising appeal. Eventually Helene's family and Gabonese Consulate collaboratively assisted to transport her body back home, whilst a small core group of Helene's friends and colleagues rallied around to support her partner and AFAL colleague, George.
With the assistance of Acton Community Forum, and Acton Black History group, we are in the preliminary stages of organising a memorial for Helene. The aim is to provide family, friends, colleagues and well wishers the opportunity a chance to publicly mark her passing, with contributions about her life and work, as a journalist and director of the African Visual Audio Library. We hope to exhibit samples of her work (i.e. video footage of her workshops in action), storytelling from her book, Tales from Gabon (2006), have Gabonese music and other musical tributes that Helene would have liked, as well as invite oral contributions from family, friends and colleagues, who would like to offer tributes in memory of Helene. The date that has been set aside for the memorial is Friday, 28th September, 6pm- 10pm.

~~The memorial will be held at Priory Community Centre, Friday 28th September 2007, between 6-10pm Priory Road off Acton Lane W3~~

Following efforts made by Hélène’s family overseas, we are glad to inform you that sufficient money has been raised to finally transport the late Hélène Lembanaka back to her birthplace, Gabon, where she will be laid to rest around 2pm, on Thursday, 12th July 2007. Due to circumstances outside of our control, it has not been possible for friends, family and work associates of Hélène in the UK to pay our last respects. Nevertheless, we can still spare a private moment on Thursday to pay homage to Hélène.

We thank you all for your support and contributions to the fund, which is still live and growing slowly, £303.00 as of yesterday. The funds will be used to help George Kouma, (Hélène 's companion & AFAL supporter) rebuild his life and to consolidate work done in Hélène’s memory. Please, if you intend to donate any money but have not yet done so, we continue to welcome your support

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Hélène Lembanaka, who died suddenly in her sleep in the early hours of Tuesday, 26th June 2007. Hélène was the founder of the Africa Audio-Visual Library (AFAL). She had previously worked as a journalist for the Africa N01 Radio in Gabon, her home country, and the BBC World Service in London. She built and made available a resource of audio-visual material to promote African Heritage in the outside world. With her tireless efforts, AFAL has secured recognition from the community as a whole in the form of awards.

Biography
Born on 6th June 1956 in Mounana, Gabon, West Africa, Hélène was one of four children of Jean Pierre Douman Goye and Melanie Pembe. A studious child, in her teens she gained a French Baccalaureate at the Lycee in Mouila, Gabon before coming to London in 1977 to undertake B.A Honours Degree, Applied Languages (English and Spanish) at Ealing College of Higher Education. She went on to acquire further qualifications, i.e. Higher Diplomas in Political Science and International Relations and Science of Information and Communication, respectively, followed by a Master’s in Information and Communication, while based in Paris.

Hélène’s academic interest in Politics and Communications was further reflected in her professional life. For example, she has worked as a Communications Officer at the Embassy of Gabon in Paris (1991/1994), as a Producer for the BBC World Service, Bush House, London (1994/1998) and as a Branch Organiser (Reporters Sans Frontières in London), supporting asylum seekers and refugee journalists, and issuing press releases on press freedom violations, amongst other duties.

From 2001 until her death, Hélène was the Founder and Co-Coordinator of the project, African Audio Visual Library, AFAL, in Acton, West London, whose objectives include collecting and collating a wide range of audio-visual material on African Arts and Cultures on an on-going basis; providing a library service during office hours and making this information accessible online at www.afal.org.uk and organising educational events to promote understanding of African Arts and Cultures and bringing such material to a wider range of people. AFAL as been supported by Action Action, Awards For All, Can Do (The Scarman Trust), The Local Network Fund, The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit and, Ealing Council, The Peabody Trust and Trust For London

Hélène’s male companion/partner & AFAL supporter, George Kouma, her family, friends and wider professional and personal communities have been left devastated and shocked by her untimely death. Because of Hélène’s past professional activities with the Embassy in Gabon and the London branch have provided support to those closest to Hélène, both in London and Gabon, however, the expense of transporting Hélène’s body back to Gabon - so that her wider family, friend and colleges can perform the necessary cultural and spiritual rites for the funeral ceremony - has been left to the family, which they are struggling to meet.
Against this background, and taking into account the difficult situation George has found himself in, Grace Quansah is co-ordinating a fundraising campaign with the help of Mor Dioum, (Director of the Victoria Climbié Foundation, and Director of the Victoria Climbié Charitable Trust and the Victoria Climbié family representative). For background information, The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK emerged from the Victoria Climbié Family Campaign, an organisation that was founded to support the family of Victoria Climbié in their quest to seek justice and accountability in regard to the failures, incompetency and negligence of child protection systems. The campaign supported Francis and Berthe Climbié during the course of the Victoria Climbié public Inquiry. Mor is willing to use his expertise and organisation to help spearhead the funding-raising campaign, due to time limitations.
The campaign needs to raise £5, 000 to include the cost of transporting Helen’s body, and to support family members, including George in London. Cheques can be made payable to: c/o The Victoria Climbié Foundation, The Dominion Arts Centre, 112 The Green, Southall, Middlesex, London, UB2 4BQ or alternatively cash/cheques can be deposited in the following account:
The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK
Account Number: 01508040
Sort Code: 400203
I can also be contacted on 07877-653631 or email: [email protected] to advise you on where else a physical donation could be made to one of the bases. Mor Dioum can be contacted on 020 8571 4121 or [email protected].
Veronica Foreword ([email protected]), a close friend, journalist/translator/colleague of Helene, Rachel Pepper of Acton Forum (0208 993 6158 or [email protected]), and Aisha Yassin ([email protected]) of Ealing Racial Equality Council, are also assisting with the campaign by setting up collection bases. One will be at Acton Forum (112 -114 Hardy Court, Bollo Bridge Road, Acton, London, W3 8DD).
Please do include messages of condolences by email, by post or sign cards, which will be made available through the persons above. All the names of donators and donations will be noted and contact details will be taken for future communication.
Hélène did so much to enrich the lives of Africans and other young and adult communities in the UK, Gabon and elsewhere in the world. The least we can do is help to support her at this sad time
Many thanks,
Grace Quansah (‘Akuba’), Writer/Performance Artiste/British Museum freelance Facilitator, Climbié Family Member.

Mor Dioum, (Director of the Victoria Climbié Foundation, and Director of the Victoria Climbié Charitable Trust.