If you go you hurt.
If you hurt you feel.
If you feel, you’ll be connected forever.
The Keynote Address will commence on February 7, 2026 at 10:30 AM during Opening Ceremony.
SHUMUNXXVII is very happy to Welcome Betsy Small as our keynote speaker!
After the Peace Corps, Betsy worked in Washington, DC, then traveled to Ghana to assist a farming cooperative with Africare Inc. In Ghana, she faced accusations of subversion and was arrested, detained, and deported. Later, she led global peacebuilding organizations in Africa, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, and the Middle East. She holds masters degrees in cross-cultural counseling psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University and special education from North Carolina Central University.
Betsy resists the idea that places gain meaning only after suffering. Before Before reveals a world already complex, moral, and complete. Remembering a place before destruction—through stories of friendship, soft power, and democracy—is an ethical act.
https://www.betsysmall.com/book
Most people know Sierra Leone through war, diamonds, Ebola, and collapse. Before Before asks: What existed there before the world paid attention? This combination memoir and ethnography explores a place before it became a headline, before crisis defined its identity. Betsy invites reflection on this welcoming post-colonial nation with its deep historical ties to America.
Before Before begins with the author’s Peace Corps assignment as an agriculture extension agent and spans three decades. The book shows how forging connections can counter indifference, intolerance, and violence.
