Morgantown woman finds her father, and her crown
Many little girls dream about finding out they're really a princess.
For Sarah Culberson, 28, who grew up in Morgantown, W.Va., the storybook scenario became reality when she was reunited with her biological father in Bumpe, Sierra Leone, and learned that she was a member of the village's ruling Mende tribe. By birthright, she's a princess.
But instead of finding a life of castles and riches, she saw a country ravaged by war and poverty. And she set out to make a difference.
Culberson was adopted through a West Virginia adoption agency just two days after her first birthday, by Jim and Judy Culberson, two educators from Morgantown.
Sarah Culberson, an actress and dance instructor living in Los Angeles, said that when she was growing up in Morgantown, she felt fortunate to be a part of the close-knit family, which included sisters Lynne and Laura. She graduated from West Virginia University in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts, then attended graduate school at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
But she often wondered about her roots.
"I just wanted to know a little bit about my history. I wanted to know where I came from and who I looked like," she said. She launched her quest about two years ago, after talking with her adoptive parents.
"I don't want to be 80 or 90 years old and say, 'Gosh, I just wish I would have looked.' "
She knew little about her biological parents beyond that they were a white woman from Morgantown and a black man from West Africa. Culberson, who learned that her mother had died of cancer about 15 years earlier, hired a private investigator to find her father. Within three hours, the investigator traced him to an address in Maryland.
Terrified of actually making contact, Culberson decided to write him a letter. Four days later, she got a call from an aunt -- her biological father's sister-in-law -- who was living at the Maryland address. The aunt explained that her father was back in Africa and would be happy to hear from her.
Two weeks later, Culberson received a call from her biological father, Joseph Konia Kposowa, part of the ruling family of the 3,500-member Mende tribe in the southern province of Sierra Leone.
"I was so overwhelmed because my whole life, all I thought is, 'He is not going to want to meet me; he is not going to want to talk to me' and that I was going to mess everything up," Culberson said.
That didn't happen. Culberson and Kposowa talked on the phone for hours. He told her she had her biological mother's laugh and personality.
He said that at the time of Culberson's birth, he and her mother were not ready for a child and did not have the means to take care of her. They decided adoption was the way to give her the best home possible.
Kposowa invited her to Africa to meet other members of his family. Culberson went to Sierra Leone with two biological uncles and her friend and mentor, John Woehrle.
"You just don't say no to an opportunity like that," said Woehrle, an acting coach and filmmaker who suggested that Culberson document her journey.
When the plane landed in Freetown, Culberson saw Kposowa for the first time -- an experience she said she would never forget.
"To actually see him standing there in person was unbelievable," she recalled. "The first thing that I did was give him a big hug."
People in her family's village of Bumpe overwhelmed her with a welcome the next day.
"It was really amazing -- 250 to 300 people were singing and dancing to me. And I had never even met them before. Unbelievable."
But, while in Sierra Leone, Culberson also saw the devastating effects of an 11-year civil war. Rebels from neighboring Liberia went from town to town killing people and destroying buildings. The school where her father was principal had been ransacked and burned. Even though the war ended five years ago, the region's only school has not been rebuilt.
"Behind all of those beautiful smiles and gorgeous dark black eyes, I saw people who persevered through the most horrible of atrocities," Culberson said.
She promised Kposowa that she would help somehow. It took two years to figure out what to do.
Woehrle and Culberson formed a nonprofit organization to help raise money to rebuild the Bumpe school. They started the Kposowa Foundation.
When the Los Angeles Times reported Culberson's story, word of her mission spread quickly. She began receiving phone calls from London, Singapore and France. Culberson appeared on "Good Morning America" and CNN. Donations began to pour in.
"This story is so much bigger than me," Culberson said. "This is about a journey to make a difference in another country.
"I am so honored by humanity. So many people have come together to make a difference -- and what an amazing difference we are all making."
