The Impact of War

Last weekend a journalism student named Alhassan took me to Kambia, which is about four hours from Makeni on a terrible excuse for an international highway, near the border with Guinea. I stayed at the Catholic mission where Alhassan used to be an altar boy, in a house with two Italian priests who have been in Sierra Leone for decades.

Kambia was completely devastated by the eleven-year rebel war. The ruins of once-beautiful homes are everywhere, as the rebels simply took over the town, stole property, then looted and destroyed everything when they left.

These kids are playing soccer in the street, with another reminder of the war in the background.

It is obvious that Kambia was once an amazing little town, with a beautiful river, rolling hills and palm trees. The rusted remains of light poles dot the now-darkened streets. It is very sad to see such wasted potential in a town like this. The destruction in Makeni was not so bad because the rebels used it as their headquarters. In Kambia, every other building speaks of the terrible things that happened there.

Pikin News

Yesterday was the International Children's Day of Broadcasting, sponsored by UNICEF. I've been working with a group of 30 kids (12-16 years old) called Children of God for the past month or so to produce a kids' radio news program. We aired the debut edition of Pikin News ('pikin' means child in Krio) yesterday with only minor hitches. The kids did most of the work and I served as their producer. They focused the first show on the problem of teen pregnancy in Sierra Leone, so we had field interviews and a panel discussion. The next topic will probably be child trafficking. We hope to start producing Pikin News weekly. The kids are fun to work with, although it is exhausting to deal with them. We've heard good feedback from people around the country, and the Director of the radio station wants the program to continue. So it looks like that will be a big part of my work here, which is a good thing.

This is Thomas and Victor at the radio station where I work. The window on the right is my office.
I went around town with a few of the kids last week to interview people about teen pregnancy, including one 15-year-old mother. The most interesting stop was at Magbenteh Community Hospital, where a few friends of mine work. We entered a doctor's office to interview him, and right away his cell phone rang. He answered and calmly said, "Yes, it is definitely cancer. She must be amputated." Then we visited the Therapeutic Feeding Center, where malnourished children go to rehabilitate. There we met a tiny boy named Foday who was, quite literally, just skin and bones. He was surviving with only milk, but I hear he is eating a bit now.

People are incredibly difficult to work with here. Nobody can work as a team and they don't trust each other. Everyone suspects everyone else of being corrupt. They are incapable of holding a meeting without an out-of-control screaming match. Even the kids accuse their group president of being a corrupt criminal. And this is supposed to be a Christian radio station. We had a ridiculous outburst last week and I was stuck in the middle. It involved the money (of course) which I budgeted and gave to the kids' coordinator to pay the caterers for yesterday. It's certainly not worth going into much detail here because it should never have been an issue. Basically, a couple people were upset that we were spending too much money on food and they didn't know about it. I guess they thought the money would find a better home in their own pockets. Anyway, after plenty of accusations, threats, and near-fistfights right in front of the kids, the whole thing sort of blew over. Days like that one make me think a full year of this is an awfully long time. It was frustrating and unnecessary. Nothing is easy in this country.

And now for some things completely different.

I marched through Freetown for World AIDS Day on December 1 and recorded the President's speech for later broadcast on Radio Maria news. The highlights? A bat pooped on me while walking under the giant cotton tree downtown -- a huge, nasty African bat, not some wimpy Congress Avenue bat. And our taxi ran out of gas in the pouring rain, so the driver left my friend Davina and I in the car, took our umbrella and went to fetch gas while we blocked traffic in a driver-less taxi. Good times.

I went to a birthday party at the British High Commission in Freetown. A strange scene, as it was full of expatriates hanging by the pool and dancing around big white Roman columns. Not more than five black faces in the crowd. An interesting experience to say the least.

Sierra Leone's 'winter' has begun. I actually have to cover up at night! Very exciting. The Harmattan winds are coming in from the Sahara. All the locals whine that it's so cold and they wear winter hats and huge coats. I'm sure it hasn't reached below 70 degrees yet. And you thought Texans were bad about cold weather.

Thank you and goodnight.

Week of Events

Travel is always an adventure. This is me squished up against the window of a poda-poda (minibus) on the way from Makeni to Freetown. That's Linda and Diya (British volunteers) enjoying the ride as the woman in back looks baffled by the crazy white people. They cram as many bodies as possible into these things -- comfort is not a priority. One guy in front of me was hanging out the window most of the way there. When I went to inauguration, my taxi took somebody along in his closed trunk. You learn to accept such things as normal when you live here.

I went to a traditional wedding yesterday. My office-mate's sister got married. There were tons of people wearing nice African dresses and we had some food and listened to some live drumming. The odd part was that we didn't get to see any of the actual ceremony. It was held inside the house with a few family members, and everyone else was sitting outside listening to the MC relay the wedding play-by-play from a microphone. It was a good experience nonetheless.

The nuns from the Catholic Mission invited me to mass at a nearby village today called Binkolo. It was a special celebration for baptisms and confirmation, so the place was packed. They met under a huge hut made of tree branches. Most of it was translated from English to Limba, the tribal language of that area. The Bishop of the Makeni Diocese was there, and people brought him gifts down the aisle, including rice, potatoes, and two live chickens. They set the chickens down at the front and one of them immediately stood up and pooped right on the fancy church rug. Nice. And during the confirmation of about 40 people, the bishop asked questions about their faith and they would respond in a confusing way. 'Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God?' 'NO!' 'Do you believe in the Catholic Church?' 'NO!' and so on. All the nuns sitting next to me were in shock. Later we discovered they were actually saying 'Ndo,' which means 'Yes' in the Limba language. Whew.

One more thing...Thanksgiving. In the absence of turkey, Diya and I went to the market to pick out a live chicken. I pointed out the plumpest-looking one in the cage and watched the man slaughter it right there on the street. He dumped it in a plastic bag and handed it to me while it was still clinging to life. I told myself it was just a sack of potatoes and tried to ignore its movements. Luckily others took care of the plucking and cleaning. All I had to do was provide the oven. So we had some friends over and enjoyed an amazing meal of chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn and green beans. As the only American there, it was good enough for me. I hope you all had a happy Turkey Day as well.

I've lost a good chunk of weight since I arrived. I started running some mornings with our laundry boy Jerry, but stopped because I got a cold last week. I guess my body still thinks I'm in the States and should have a cold. Otherwise life is good. 'Til next time.

The House

This is my house. Thought you might like to see it.

Also, if you feel the need to send me anything, well -- I wish you luck. The postal service is terrible. But your best bet is to send it to me here:

VSO Sierra Leone
3A Millicent Drive
Off Wilkinson Road
Freetown, Sierra Leone
P.O. Box 19

Phone: (232) 076-200-399

Inaugural Insanity

Last week I went to Freetown with Radio Maria for the presidential inauguration. Ernest Bai Koroma was elected in September, bringing the All People's Congress back to power after 10 years as the opposition party.

It was crazy. I had no real reason to be there, but I just strolled right onto the field at the National Stadium and acted like I knew what I was doing. Sometimes it helps to be white. Radio Maria had a broadcasting unit in a car parked on the field near the stands, so I was close to the action.

The stadium holds 30,000 people -- but there must have been at least 50,000 there. I mean people were desperate to catch a glimpse of this man. They covered every inch of the place, including hundreds who climbed the four light towers to get a better view. People shoved their way in at every entrance, which caused huge fights all over the place. It was a bit chaotic. Sadly, the police stood on the field near us, just watching and laughing as people pounded each other and some were even tossed over the railing to the ground 15 feet below. I guess 11 years of civil war tends to give people violent tendencies...

It was the hottest day of my life -- six hours in the sun, mostly waiting for foreign heads of state to arrive from the airport. I heard that about 30 people died, presumably from heat exhaustion and dehydration. When the presidential motorcade finally rolled in, it was worth the wait. Check it out:

It was a very historic day for Sierra Leone, and I was happy to witness it. Everyone has a lot of hope for President Koroma (who is from Makeni). He vowed in his speech to tackle the huge problem of corruption in this country. They say it's so bad that the most corrupt agency in the nation is the Anti-Corruption Commission itself. Ah, perfect irony.

You can read more about the inauguration here.

Shameless Plug

The StoryCorps book was released yesterday at Starbucks!

Go to your local Starbucks and pick up a copy (or two) of Listening is an Act of Love. You can also order it from storycorps.net, and it will be available in stores next week I believe.

This book is what I worked on almost exclusively for the last four months of my job at StoryCorps. It's being sold by Starbucks as their featured holiday gift with a bonus CD. Anyway, just wanted to let you know it's finally here. Tell your friends and enjoy reading!

Surprise Holiday

Today was interesting. I expected to be teaching basic interviewing skills in class this morning, but I arrived to discover that it was a holiday (All Saints' Day) and no one bothered to tell the faculty. So I joined a big march (about 500 people) organized by Amnesty International in support of reparations for survivors of sexual violence. As a result, I got my first West African sunburn and now I'm exhausted. We walked a few miles to the soccer 'stadium,' with little schoolkids cheering us on all the way (they love to wave at us and yell "aportu!" which means white person).

There was an incredibly long series of speeches at the stadium which involved way too much yelling into the microphone. Then a rapper named Yok7 performed a couple songs for the kids. It was without a doubt the laziest lip synching effort in history. But the best part was his backup dancers -- three of them, all wearing identical Yao Ming jerseys. Awesome. It was like watching New York City street performers who forgot how to dance.

People wear lots of second-hand clothing from abroad. In Freetown, I saw a man wearing the exact same San Antonio Spurs t-shirt I have at home. I told him so -- he looked confused. I've seen a Don't Mess With Texas shirt and a Cowboys jacket, which made me happy. Today I saw a green basketball jersey that said 'Cougars' -- I could've sworn it belonged to one of my high school teammates. I also saw a New York Mets t-shirt that was mis-printed and said 'Mest.'

OK just wanted to share my unexpectedly strange day. Goodbye.

Home Sweet Home

I've arrived in Makeni (yes, sounds like McKinney, TX) and started work on Thursday. Here are a few blurbs on random topics:

HOUSE...I'm living in luxury compared to most people here -- even other volunteers. My house has running water (pumped from a well, but still...), a shower (very rare), a generator in case we need electricity, a huge front porch, a living room, and 5 bedrooms for 3 people. There's even a hut right outside where locals gather to drink palm wine and while away the afternoon. I haven't ventured in there yet. I live with an older Irish man named Jim and a Swiss anthropology student named Mike -- he's working on his master's thesis about the motorbike riders in Makeni (see below). Life is fine without electricity...the candlelight is kinda nice. Makes me go to bed very early. So I'm settling in slowly. We also have a Sierra Leonean boy named Jerry who comes to wash our clothes. I feel slightly guilty about this, but honestly he probably helps feed a family with the 7 bucks a month we each pay him. He's a super nice kid -- just like almost everyone here.

WORK...I work primarily at Radio Maria, the Catholic station which is a stone's throw from Fatima Institute, where I'll help with teaching Intro to Journalism, and Development Communication. Right away I had a meeting with the 4-person radio station staff, and the director kept calling me 'Grant S. Foolah' over and over again. Kept introducing me to people like that, too. Made me laugh. Anyway, the station actually has some pretty good equipment, and one interview studio with an A/C unit -- it's like a little slice of heaven in that room (see below). Another VSO volunteer, Jill from England, hosts a morning news show and she's gonna interview me on the air tomorrow -- yikes. I'm still observing things and getting a feel for what exactly my role will be. I helped Jill teach a journalism class (4 students) on Friday, which was interesting. Much more about work later...

SWEAT...It is hot and seriously humid. Like living in Houston without A/C anywhere. I am constantly dripping with sweat. This means I have to drink lots of water, which is not always easy to find. They sell little plastic packets of water at the Fatima 'canteen' and you can get bottled water along the road. But if I don't want to pay for it, I have to boil it and then filter it, which takes a long time.

MOTORBIKES...They're everywhere in Makeni. It's the primary mode of transportation. I have a sweet black helmet with flame decals. It says 'UNEED' on the front, as in 'U-need to wear me.' The main highway through town (off of which I live) is nice and smooth, but most of the other roads are in terrible condition -- dirt roads with potholes galore. So riding is sometimes an adventure. But riding in a car on the bad roads is even worse. The new government has promised to improve roads throughout the country...we'll see about that. I'm on a quest to buy a cheap bicycle somehow.

FOOD...Variety is not a strong point. Mike has shown me the few decent eating spots around town. By 'few' I mean three. They all serve rice with a sauce usually made of ground cassava leaves. And in the tiny supermarket, they have pasta, spam, tuna, crackers, baked beans and corn. In the streets you can get bananas, green oranges, sweet potatoes, bread, carrots, cabbage, green beans, tomatoes, and cucumber. Chicken is hard to find unless you're willing to kill it yourself -- I'm not. My friend Diya made mutton curry for us last night from the leg of a goat that was sacrificed as part of a baby naming ceremony (welcome to Africa). It'll take some getting used to, but it should be fine once I learn my way around and settle into a routine. At least the restaurants are cheap -- about $2 for a meal and drink. I'm not starving by any means, so don't worry.


Gotta rest up for my big on-air moment tomorrow. 'Til next time...

Freetown

I am here. I am safe. I am healthy. I love it. You can stop worrying.

Sorry for the long delay, but I just wanted to say that I've had a nice first week in Freetown. Training wraps up on Wednesday and then I'll travel three hours 'up-country' to my new home in Makeni. I can't wait to get started. There's far too much to tell you in one post, so I'll try to spread out the info and avoid overwhelming you.

This is where I spent my first evening in Freetown. Not bad, huh? I went to another beach yesterday that must have been paradise. Ah, the volunteer life is so tough...

I'll soon be in Makeni, far from the beach and much hotter than Freetown (and it's hot here, believe me). OK, one more photo. We took a hovercraft like the one depicted below from the airport to Freetown. I liked this painting, so there you go. The writing is in the local Krio language, which I'm just beginning to learn.


Alright, look for more soon. Hope everyone's well. Chao.

Sierra Leone!? I didn't know that was a real country!

A store cashier seriously said that to me the other day. Apparently there's a passing reference to Sierra Leone in the movie 'Shallow Hal,' which she openly admitted she had seen.

Chances are you don't know too much about this place I'll be living (don't worry - I didn't either). Here are the basics: Sierra Leone is a tiny country in West Africa. It is trying to recover from a brutal decade-long civil war which ended in 2002. It is poor. Very poor - ranked 176th of 177 countries on the UN's Human Development Index. The official language is English, but most people speak Krio. The population of my city is almost 100,000 and it is a 3-hour drive from the capital, Freetown.

If you want to know more, check it out on Wikipedia. More details to come in future posts, too.

I'm off to the airport this afternoon. I arrive in Freetown on Saturday. I'll be there for 9 days of training before I move to my new home in Makeni. Adios America...

10 Days

So I've been in Ottawa for the past week and a half, learning all kinds of good stuff about international development work and trying to figure out exactly how I'll manage what is sure to be a challenging year ahead. I head to Sierra Leone on October 12 and I have a million-and-one things on my to-do list.
I'll try to post news and updates here whenever possible, but I'm not yet sure how reliable my Internet access will be at work. I'll do my best.

Check back soon!