Departures and Arrivals

Tomorrow I am leaving Sierra Leone. Hard to believe that my time here is almost over. As I get ready to leave, here are some thoughts on the things that I will miss in Sierra Leone, and the things about going home that I am looking forward to.

Things I will miss about Sierra Leone
The people: I have made some wonderful friends here, both locals and other ex-pats, who I will miss a lot when I leave. I’ll miss the kids I say hello to in Mapaki every morning. I’ll miss all of the cdpeace staff, and the teachers I’ve been working with. I will miss all the people of Mapaki, even the ones that I don’t know well. People here have been so warm and generous. I’m always amazed by those who have so little stopping by to bring me a small gift of fruit or corn or a coconut. Everyone here has made me feel so welcome, and it will be very sad to say good bye.

The weather: I think I probably picked the nicest months to be in Sierra Leone. It really has not been as hot as I thought it would be, and in the part of the rainy season I was here for it rained mostly at night so it didn’t affect me too much. I love being able to go out without even thinking about needing a sweater, jacket, or even a long-sleeve shirt. I love being out in the sun, or sitting in the cool shade on a warm day. I could live permanently in a climate like this, that’s for sure. It’s going to be a big shock going back straight into winter.

The food: I have come to love the food here. The rice I eat is mostly the local rice, and it’s really good. Actually, all the food I eat in Mapaki is generally local – it’s nice to know I’m lowering my impact on the planet by reducing my “food miles” while I’m here. I love the different sauces (groundnut soup, potato leaves, cassava leaves, squash) and will have to experiment to see if I can reproduce them at home (I know you can get cassava leaves in Halifax, so am looking forward to that!). I also love the fresh fruit here – oranges, grapefruits, papaya and pineapple have all been in season while I’ve been here. There’s nothing like the taste of a fruit that is fresh off the tree. I’ve never had such delicious pineapple and papaya or such flavourful oranges and grapefruit! The coconuts are great too.

The sense of community: there is such a strong sense of community here, in Mapaki and in the other communities I’ve visited. People look out for and care for one another. Decisions are made together by the community after discussion and debate. Problems are resolved locally by elders. People know their neighbours and greet them every day. I will definitely miss this when I go back to Canada, and I think I will work harder to get to know my own neighbours at home.

The sky: the sky here is often so amazing to look at. During the rainy season there were piles of clouds that looked so different from what we see in Canada, and lightning that would light up the whole sky like daylight. I’ve seen beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and the stars in the night sky are incredible. That’s one of the benefits of not having electricity – without electric light, the sky is so much clearer and more beautiful, especially at night. I never knew there was such a difference in light at night when there’s a full moon in the sky compared to when there’s no moon.

The music: I love the fact that people here are always singing, dancing and drumming. Even though they don’t have much, they always find a way to have fun, and they love to dance and sing! I think if people in Canada sang and danced more, we all might be a little more relaxed about things.

Things I am looking forward to about going home
Family and friends: Of course the thing I am looking forward to the most about going home is seeing my family and friends, and especially my husband. Even though I have made new friends here, I miss my people at home a lot and can’t wait to see everyone again!

Electricity and running water: A close second on the list of things I am looking forward to at home are the modern conveniences of electricity and running water (hot showers, here I come!). Actually, I could probably live for a long time without running water, especially in a warm climate. Here in Mapaki I have my shower in a bag and my indoor toilet, and someone else carries my water in, so I really have it pretty good. I don’t miss the hot water because it’s usually too warm for a hot shower anyways :-) If I had to use a pit latrine or haul my own water every day, I guess I might feel differently, but as it stands, the running water I could live without. Electricity, however, is another matter. I never realised how much I love and appreciate having regular electricity. It especially makes a difference at night. When it gets dark at 7 pm and you don’t have electric light, there aren’t too many options except to go to bed. Also, the lack of regular electricity can be a big barrier to getting work done and being efficient. Electricity is definitely one of the things that I have a new appreciation for after being here. I’m also looking forward to the other modern conveniences that come along with electricity: washing machine, coffee maker, refrigeration, microwave, etc.

Food!!!: Although the food here is tasty, there really isn’t much variety in the diet, and it’s not all that healthy. Vegetables are not readily available in Mapaki, and the cooking is done with a lot of oil and salt. Along with specific foods like broccoli, asparagus, cheese, and yogurt, I have really missed the food variety I am used to. I am looking forward to cooking for myself, grocery shopping, and accessing the wide variety of foods we are lucky enough to have available to us in Canada. I also desperately miss real coffee (I’ve been drinking instant since I got here) and am SO looking forward to my first cup in many months in the airport at Heathrow when I arrive there :-)

Being ignored: One of the things that is difficult about being here is constantly being noticed as a white person (see my previous blog about this – http://clareinternational.blogspot.com/2009/12/black-and-white.html). I must admit that I am really looking forward to being able to blend into a crowd again. To be able to walk down the street without being called after, and to not being particularly noticed everywhere I go. I am sure that I will appreciate anonymity even more now than I used to.

Comfort: Sierra Leone is not the most comfortable country. The beds tend to be either too hard or too soft. My working environment is not very ergonomically correct and this causes me some problems sometimes. There is never a couch to lie down on, only chairs to sit in. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own comfy bed, lying on my own comfy couch, and sitting at my own desk in my own office chair, all adjusted for me. I’m even looking forward to snuggling up in my housecoat under a blanket because it will be cold winter when I arrive home (brrr!), although I’m not sure how long that will last!

The library

I can’t believe that somehow I have not yet written a post specifically about the Mapaki community library. Many of my evenings in Mapaki so far have been spent in the library. The library is open Monday to Friday evenings, from 7:30 – 9:30, or until the battery, charged during the day by the solar panel, runs out of juice, whichever comes first. If it’s raining the library doesn’t open, and if it is open, the kids usually scatter for home at the first hint of raindrops.

The library here is really quite incredible (a few photos here: http://picasaweb.google.ca/clarepoulev/MapakiLibrary02#, although they don't really do it justice!), and is already known about quite widely in the country. The library is so popular that the younger children have to be limited to one visit per week (Grades 1 – 5 on Monday to Friday evenings). The older children (Grades 6 and JSS students) and adults can come any evening. On any given night there could be 15 – 30 people in the library. Young kids looking at books, older kids studying or doing homework, volunteer teachers looking at teaching resources, and adults from the community reading or having a computer lesson. I often go with a book and just read in the electric light. Sometimes I bring my computer and do a bit of work, although this tends to attract a lot of attention :-)

One of the great things about the library is that it is open in the evenings. In a community where electric light is rare or non-existent, it really helps the students to have extra light at night by which to study.

The story of how the library came to be built is worth repeating for those who don’t know it. The following was written by Carolyn van Gurp, PSI volunteer Regional Coordinator for Sierra Leone, and was published in the January 2009 issue of Peace Talks International, PSI’s quarterly newsletter for our member schools.

New Library for Mapaki
by Carolyn van Gurp

Thank goodness the people of Paki Masabong ignored my advice. “No, it can’t be done, money’s not there,” was my response when I was told the community really wanted to build a library to serve the needs of the hundreds of children and adults who were trying each evening to pack into the small temporary room that was serving as community library in this small chiefdom, where only about one in thirty adults have been to school.

Here we are, one year later, preparing for the big feast planned to thank the many youths who donated their time, labour and local materials to make this dream a reality. A beautiful, spacious, well-stocked, solar-powered, internet-equipped library which is the talk of the country (the only village-based library of its kind in Sierra Leone) is about to officially open its doors (we expect the President to be here for the opening). And this dream is the result, not of the initiative of a wellheeled, well-funded NGO, but rather the determination and hard work of the people of this small community and their visionary Paramount Chief.

All this started two years ago when a visitor to this community, seeing no books in the schools but observing four teenage boys each evening poring over a decades-old dog-eared Shakespeare book, sent over several boxes of books which were then set up in a room designated as community library in a just-built “guest house” in the village. Lit in the evenings with a single bulb powered by a donated solar panel and battery and staffed by a volunteer teacher, this became such a popular and crowded place that each child in the village had to be limited to one visit to the library per week and there was no room for adults to squeeze in.

That’s when the Paramount Chief and elders intervened. “We need a library…we need a place where both adults and children can come and read and study and learn about the world.” Unable to envision a source of funding such an undertaking, I was sceptical. The community, though, knew it had to and could be done and at a community meeting called to discuss the library, two families came together to donate prime land in the centre of the village for its construction. The youth, meanwhile, organized in three work brigades representing all sections of the village, started making the mud bricks needed for walls and footings. Each day school children would stop on their way home from school to carry endless buckets of water for the youth who sweltered in the hot dry season sun
to make enough mud bricks for a large fourroom library. Just in time to cover the walls and protect the mud bricks before the rains came, the community received a small grant to purchase zinc roofing and cement and the outside shell of the library was completed.

Over the ensuing months, the youth of the village developed hands-on experience and training in carpentry, masonry, wiring, painting, boardmaking, and woodworking as they volunteered their time to complete the library.

And what a library it is! Housing an amazing collection of hand-picked culturally-relevant visually-rich books about people, animals, plants and the planet and stocked with several laptops and digital video and still cameras donated from Canada, the library has a donated satellite internet connection which has been put to some very unique uses (a Skype wedding, agricultural research, discussions between youth here and in Yukon, video postings, etc.).

Staffed by two volunteer teachers living in the community, the library will be hosting classes for adults and children in health education, computer basics and functional literacy, workshops for teachers on a wide range of topics and will serve as a chiefdom “lending” centre for learning materials for community schools.

The community has asked me to pass on thanks to the many people and institutions that have come along on this journey and contributed to making this a place of pride for all. A huge thanks to CIDA, Friends of Sierra Leone in the USA, Centre for Development and Peace Education (cdpeace) and Peaceful Schools International, staff of Halifax Film, Green Solutions and the kind and caring individual donors who have contributed in various ways.

A typical day in Mapaki

With just 3 weeks left in my internship, I thought that I should finally post something about my typical day in Mapaki. I’ve been meaning to do this for some time, but at least I’m getting to it before the end of the internship! :-)

I normally get up early, around 6:30 am or so. Village life starts early, and most people here are up and about even before that. I wake to the sounds of roosters crowing, people talking, my neighbours cooking and sweeping their yard, and people coming back from mosque.

I usually eat breakfast around 7:30 am or so, and then go and say good morning to Chief, Sallay, the kids, and the other women in the kitchen, plus whoever else is around. Kouame and Mabinty often stop by the guesthouse in the morning to discuss plans for the day.

Some days I stay around Mapaki. I work on the computer (the photo is me in the office in the guesthouse), check my email, write reports, do some research work, etc. Sometimes I do chores like dishes or laundry (although I get in trouble from Mabinty for doing my own laundry instead of giving it to her to do), or sweeping out my room. I usually spend time every day sitting outside and watch people go by, or I read. Sometimes there are events going on here that I participate in – for example, there was a District Council meeting here on Wednesday afternoon that I sat in on.

Other days I visit the other schools and communities that I work with. Usually Kouame and I go by motorbike to these other places, villages like Maso, Makambray, Makonkorie, Mbarr Line, Mathombo, Bumban, Yele, Moria and Mayagba. I visit the students, meet with the teachers or deliver letters from schools in Canada and collect replies from schools here to send back. Visiting the schools is a lot of fun. The furthest schools are a little over an hour’s drive away, in Gbonkolenken chiefdom. The closest ones are outside of Mapaki, just a 10 or 15 minute drive.

Often in the evenings I do an interview for my thesis research. I generally do yoga every other day. Later, after eating dinner, I usually go to the library to read in the electric light. Sometimes I watch part of a movie on my computer, or stay in the guesthouse office to do some work that requires more quiet and concentration than the library provides. I go to bed early, usually by 9:30 pm or so. Without electricity, there isn’t much to keep me up late at night.

It’s a pretty quiet life, but very relaxing and peaceful. I can’t remember the last time I was getting 8+ hours of sleep a night consistently and I quite enjoy it. I might have to keep up my going to bed early habit when I get home!

Black Magic Justice

Yesterday I witnessed for the first time the use of black magic/witchcraft in Mapaki. There is a very strong belief throughout Sierra Leone in witchcraft, evil spirits, magic, etc. even among people that are well-educated. This has come up in my health research a few times – people believing illnesses are caused by witchcraft or seeking treatment through spiritual means as opposed to medical ones – but I have never seen it in actual practice. Yesterday, I saw the village witch/sorcerer (not sure what the right term would be here) was using it to catch a thief.

Apparently a woman’s phone had been stolen, and she had hired the witch to find the phone and the thief. The witch had a magic circle with various potions, a mirror, a rooster, and a set of sticks in the middle. She then used the sticks to locate the thief. Before this could begin though, the sticks had to be tested. Someone hides a small coin (100 Leones), and the witch uses the sticks to find it. She was successful in doing this, which indicated that she would be able to find the thief. She then used the sticks to locate the thief. I wish I could have taken a photo or video of this process, but I didn’t have the camera with me. Basically she holds the sticks and shakes them, and the sticks seem to lead her around various places. Of course she is followed by at least 50 children and a handful of adults to see what is going on. More adults wait by the circle for her to come back with the thief.

Eventually she identified the thief’s house and his name. It was a teenage boy, about 15 perhaps, but he wasn’t home. So then she used the sticks to find him (he was apparently off doing something in the bush). He was brought back to the circle. However, he denied that he had stolen the phone. A couple of possible witnesses were also brought forward but he still denied that he was the thief. In the end, because he refused to admit it, nothing more happened. I was told that normally if the person admits their crime, they return the property and the witch is paid a fee by whoever hired here. The offender is also fined. However, if the person denies it, the witch then usually produces the stolen property as proof that they are indeed guilty. In this case though, the witch refused to produce the phone unless she was paid 200,000 Leones (a huge sum of money here).

Anyways, it all seemed a bit confusing to me as I didn’t quite understand who paid what to who and why. It was very interesting to see in action though, and many other people in the village turned out to watch as well.

Road trip to Lungi

I'm back from Lungi, arrived in Mapaki yesterday evening just as it was getting dark (around 6:30). We had a pretty uneventful journey. Our Canadian visitors, Jane Gloor and Nancy and Vaughn Wellington all arrived safe and sound on Tuesday night. We stayed in Lungi that night and took the 8 am ferry over to Freetown the next day. I enjoyed taking the ferry in the daytime (when I took it before when I arrived it was night) - great views of Freetown from the water. I'll post a few pictures. Had breakfast in Freetown (mmmm, Bliss cafe!) and picked up some groceries (among the treats I got are jam, raisins and some chocolate! No nutella though, which I was disappointed about), then met with cdpeace Board Chairman Peter Koroma and headed out of town.

I haven't been in Freetown since I arrived. It's so crowded and the traffic is so terrible. Makeni seems very pleasant and quiet by comparison :-) I did find that Freetown seemed much more manageable to me this time around than the first time I was there though, which I think is a sign that I'm adjusting well to life here. Looking forward to spending some more time in the big city with Chris when he's here.

I have heard from other ex-pats about having trouble at checkpoints on the road to and from Freetown, but we were waved through every time, probably because we were driving in the cdpeace vehicle rather than taking public transport. The journey was a little crowded with 6 passengers and the driver and 6 suitcases (some full of medical supplies to be donated to clinics here) and a few bags all packed into the truck, but we survived just fine :-)

Yesterday we stopped in Mayagba to meet the community there before coming to Mapaki. There was a death in the village just the day before, so rather than doing a big community welcome, TMT asked us to come and "greet the burial" - paying our respects to the community who were gathered because of the burial. It was a neat experience to participate in that. You give your greetings and show support by giving a small amount of money (we gave Le 20,000) or if they didn't have money, many people would bring food items. The villagers were very surprised that we white people came and participated in their custom, but I think they appreciated it.

After visiting Mayagba we made our way to Mapaki. In Mapaki the new guests settled in and had some supper. Then there was a big community welcome for them, with dancing and drumming of course. Today they are just resting and exploring Mapaki.

It's been neat to receive people who are visiting for the first time, to be the one who knows the country (at least a little bit by now) and can explain things and help them settle in. I remember what it was like for me when I arrived, how overwhelming everything seemed the first couple of days, so I hope that I helped smooth the way a little bit for them. It was also a good practice run of picking someone up at the airport since I'm heading back there to get Chris on Sunday night. Yay!!

This afternoon I am participating in a skype videoconference presentation to Carleton university. This is part of the public engagement activities that I need to do as part of the CIDA grant that funds my internship. I'm a bit worried about the quality of the internet connection, but I'm crossing my fingers that it all goes well.

Tomorrow we are heading to Gbonkolenken chiefdom to visit the school in Mathombo and the clinic in Makonkorie. I also have various other things to do there (meet with the women, visit the other schools, meet with the teachers receiving scholarships for teacher training and do a teacher workshop!). We may stay over night and come back on Saturday, but I'm not sure about that yet.

World Teachers Day Celebration

Today I woke up to rain, and it rained most of the morning. The day has so far been cloudy and one of the coolest days since I got here. I haven’t seen a cloudy, rainy day like this since the first week I was here. Last night I was thinking about the end of the rainy season because we have had a few clear evenings lately, but perhaps I spoke too soon. When the sky is clear at night the stars are amazing, but I’ve only seen this a few times so far since it is usually cloudy. The rainy season is beautiful at night too though – the way the lightning here lights up the sky is incredible!

Ok, enough about the weather and on to World Teachers Day, which was Monday, October 5. This was the first celebration of World Teachers Day in Mapaki. The event was organized by the Paki Masabong unit of the Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU). Apparently, this unit is the only one authorised by the SLTU to organise such a celebration. Considering the unit was started only a year or two ago, that is very good.

The day kicked off with a march past by the teachers and students. There were about 60 or 70 teachers in attendance from schools all around the chiefdom, although apparently many of the teachers from further away were not able to attend. There were about 400 students who took part in the march past as well – most of them from Mapaki, but some from other nearby schools as well. I have some photos of this: http://picasaweb.google.ca/clarepoulev/WorldTeachersDay#. I have a few videos too but have been unable to upload them as of yet.

Following the march, we had some formal presentations. A representative of the teachers spoke about the importance of investing in teachers (the theme of this year’s day). This is especially true in Sierra Leone, where many teachers are unpaid volunteers, and where training and support for teachers is minimal. The Chief spoke about the importance of education in the Chiefdom. Although in 2002 after the conflict there were very few schools here, there are now 15 government-supported schools and 12 community schools in the Chiefdom, so this is good progress. Chief also encouraged community members and teachers to become involved in the democratic system in order to further advocate on behalf of teachers. I also spoke briefly about the school twinning project and the sharing of information and skills between teachers in Sierra Leone and teachers in Canada.

After the formal part of the day (which took until about 2:30), the SLTU also organized a football game between teachers and a disco at the community centre here in Mapaki. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling well due to too much sun on Sunday and too much heat on Monday morning, so I skipped both of those activities and spent most of the rest of the day lying down and then went to bed early. I am especially disappointed that I missed the disco, as I’m sure it would have been a lot of fun. I woke up at 4:30 am and the music was still going! Next time I won’t miss out . . .

If you have a teacher in your life, even though World Teachers Day is over, it's never too late to thank them for all their work! So thank you to teachers everywhere!

Daily life in Sierra Leone

Food in my room - cucumber, oranges and coconuts. From Miscellaneous

I have gotten a few questions about my daily life here in Sierra Leone, so I thought I would share how I go about some of my basic tasks.

Food and Drink
I generally eat pretty well here, although I suspect that I am consuming a lot fewer calories here than I would at home, simply because there is less variety and availability of food. I do not often feel very hungry though, which is a good thing. The custom here is to eat one big meal a day, usually in the mid to late afternoon. I get my meals in Mapaki from the Chief’s kitchen (photos of the kitchen to come soon). They make me breakfast as well as the main daily meal. I have learned to keep a few other items on hand in my room (right now I have: bread, cucumbers, oranges, coconuts, some trail mix, peanut butter and granola bars brought from home, and some crackers and laughing cow cheese recently purchased in Makeni), which I usually eat around lunch time. Then I eat the main meal for my supper. So, here is a typical day of food:

Breakfast – One or some combination of eggs, fried plantain (yummy!), corn meal porridge with bread, or some combination of the above. Along with my instant coffee of course (have I talked about coffee a lot so far? Feels like I have. The true sign of an addiction to caffeine :-)

Lunch – One or some combination of bread, sometimes with peanut butter (not every day as I’m trying to stretch it out), cucumber, oranges, coconut, laughing cow cheese. I now have some mayo and ketchup as well and I may try adding these into the mix too. Perhaps I’ll get myself some spam for sandwiches too.

Supper – rice with some kind of plasa (sauce) with meat. The plasas are groundnut (peanut) soup, cassava leaf or potato leaf, squash or sweet potato. The meat is fish, chicken or some other unidentified red meat (probably bush meat of some kind).

As you can see, there isn’t much available in terms of snacking and treats. It’s a pretty basic diet, and there is definitely a lack of vegetables, although I try to eat as much as I can. Next time I’m in Freetown though I am planning to stock up on a few other goodies, perhaps some nutella, cookies and whatever else might last in the heat and taste good.

For drinking, in Mapaki I stick to bottled water, coffee, and tea. I probably drink 2-3 litres of water in a day. Pop is available here, but it’s not cold. When I was in Makeni I drank A LOT of coke because it was nice and cold, but I don’t want to make that a habit. The local beer here, Star, is also quite good and readily available many places in Makeni.

Water and Sanitation
There is no running water in Mapaki. Some places in Makeni have it when there is a generator to run the water pumps. I am lucky enough to have an “en suite” bathroom, which includes a place to bathe and wash clothes and dishes and a toilet, which is flushed by pouring water into it. Most people would have outdoor pit latrines, not indoor toilets.

In the rainy season (which it is now) water is generally not a problem, although there are shortages here in the dry season. My water for washing comes from a well just across the street. The well is chlorinated, well-maintained and protected and the water is clean. People here drink this water; I don’t because it could have microbes in it that my body isn’t used to that would upset my stomach, and I figure better safe than sorry. There are a few containers in my bathroom which are filled with water. No, I do not get my own water – Mabinty brings it for me. Some day soon I will learn how to pump water from the well though.

Despite Mabinty’s protests, I do my own laundry. There is a line in my bathroom where I hang it to dry. I try to do it on a regular basis, every day or two, so that things don’t pile up. The line is only so long, so I can only hang a few things to dry at a time. Mabinty takes care of washing the sheets and things like that.

As I mentioned before, I now use my handy dandy shower in a bag to bathe, which is awesome. Before that (or if I’m somewhere without my shower), I took bucket baths. This involves pouring water over yourself with a cup, soaping up, and then rinsing. It’s hard to rinse with one hand while pouring water with the other. This is one of the things I appreciate the most about having the shower.

Transportation
The only downside of being in Mapaki is that it is off the highway, so it is much more difficult to get places. Luckily for me, the road between Mapaki and the highway is in pretty good shape, and I have access to both Carolyn’s motorbike (with Kouame driving) and the Chief’s vehicle if needed. Fuel is about 15,000 LE per gallon (about $5 Cdn). It takes 3 gallons to go to Makeni and back in the car, and one gallon on the bike. I could also get a ride out to the highway and try to catch a taxi or a motorbike from there into Makeni, but that might prove difficult. For getting around in Mapaki I use my feet. There is also a bicycle available, but I’m not sure what shape it’s in.

Exercise
Exercise has been woefully lacking over the last few weeks, although I did manage some yoga, but now that I am back and settled in Mapaki for a little while, I plan to get into a regular yoga and running/walking habit. Plus I hear that somewhere around there’s a chin up bar that was built for Gerald van Gurp when he visited last winter. I might have to give that a try as well. I am finding my back a bit sore from the lack of ergonomically correct chairs and the soft beds, but I’m hoping regular yoga and exercise will help with that.

Did I miss anything? If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

p.s. a few new pictures from Makeni and elsewhere are up on my photo page, http://picasaweb.google.ca/clarepoulev/Miscellaneous#

Mapaki – September 12 and 13

The morning of September 12 (Saturday), we had a staff meeting of all the cdpeace staff in Mayagba (see the “people” post) for a list of most of the staff. The staff meeting was really good – gave me a chance to meet everyone and to hear a bit about the work that is happening so far, and for me to introduce myself. I’m looking forward to hearing more from the staff about what I can help them with in terms of training. Some of us are meeting again on Monday to plan something for International Peace Day. Should be good!

After our meeting, I went to Mapaki with Sally Conteh (the Chief’s wife) and Mabinty. It was very nice to finally get to Mapaki and be able to unpack and settle in somewhere, rather than lugging my stuff around all over the country. The handle of my suitcase broke on the journey over, and I think this suitcase has seen the last of its travelling days (it’s lasted me 6+ years and many trips, so I can’t complain), but it still needs to make it home again! It’s a relief not to have to drag it around any longer though.

I began my stay in Mapaki by inadvertently doing something to the lock on the door of my room, AFTER I had put all my things in it so that the lock no longer worked. The carpenters had to come and remove the lock and put on a new one. Sigh. But I got in fine in the end and have now settled in quite well to Carolyn’s room in the Mapaki guesthouse, which is very comfortable :-)

Mapaki is the capital of the Paki Masabong Chiefdom, one of the areas where cdpeace works. TMT (Thomas Turay, one of the founders of cdpeace), grew up in this area. It is about 17 miles (I think, have to double-check that) from the Azzolini highway to Mapaki, and the road, although dirt, is quite good. Apparently the chief lobbied the government quite hard to get them to repair and maintain the road. There are a few potholes because it is the rainy season, but for the most part the road is fine. Makes the journey so much easier!

Mapaki is fortunate to have both a guesthouse and a library, newly built by the community in the last year or so. Both have access to power from a solar panel and a satellite internet connection. There were some problems with the internet over the last few weeks, but it seems to be working now, so I should have relatively reliable internet access. It is for this reason that Mapaki will be my home base while I am here in Sierra Leone, although I will be spending time in Mayagba and in Gbonkolenken chiefdom as well.

Yesterday afternoon/evening was pretty quiet, just spent mostly settling in. Today was much more exciting! The morning started with the sounds of drumming and singing outside the guesthouse. Mabinty came in to tell me that they were drumming for me (I didn’t realise that at all – thought it was something to do with church since it was Sunday). I went out and got to dance for a bit (fun!) and then we had a community meeting to introduce me to the community (similar to what was held in Mayagba). It’s really a humbling experience to be introduced to a whole community as someone who can help them, and I hope that I can live up to their expectations. I’m very interested in learning more about all the communities I will be working with.

I also had a tour of the village today, courtesy of Kouame and Sorie. I saw both the Mapaki schools (primary and junior secondary school), the court and jail, the community centre, the church and the mosque, the site of the new youth training centre that is currently being built, and all the important houses. I met many people, although I’m afraid I’ve forgotten most people’s names . . . I really need to carry a notebook with me to write these things down!

After a few hours on the internet (oh how I missed the internet! SO happy to have it working now!!) and a yummy supper, I spent the evening sitting on the front porch of the guesthouse. I read until it started to get dark. As dusk fell I just sat and listened to the sounds of the village. I can see already why Carolyn loves it here so much. It is a beautiful place, and all the people I have met so far are wonderful! I know I am going to have an amazing experience here.