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.
Showing posts with label Mayagba. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mayagba. Show all posts
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Happy International Day of Peace!!
September 21 was the International Day of Peace, a day first declared by the United Nations in 1981 to highlight efforts to end conflict and promote peace. Here in Sierra Leone, we organized the first celebration of International Peace Day in Mayagba. I have a few pictures posted of the day (http://picasaweb.google.ca/clarepoulev). Below is the text of what I said at the meeting. Wishing you all peace and happiness!
“Today we have gathered here to celebrate the International Day of Peace, celebrated every year on September 21. This special day was established by the United Nations in 1981 as an annual event to highlight efforts to end conflict and promote peace. Every year, people in all parts of the world honour peace in various ways on this day. We, gathered here in Mayagba, are celebrating peace in Sierra Leone and in our lives in solidarity with many hundreds of thousands of other people around the world.
Anam Prem from India said that "Simply the absence of war is not peace”. Peace is much more than just the absence of armed conflict. Peace means development. Peace means having enough food to eat and clean water to drink. Peace means having adequate shelter. Peace means a clean environment. And peace means having family, friends and the freedom to express your own religion and culture. Building peace means working together to achieve all of these things. You can create peace in your life and you community simply by showing kindness to your fellow human beings, to animals, and to your environment.
All around the world, many people are working for peace. For example, Sierra Leone has many friends in Canada who are working in partnership with us to help bring peace and development here. TMT and Mary, co-founders of cdpeace, asked me to share with you the news that Logan MacGillvary, a 12 year-old boy in Canada, has won the “Me-to-We” award for his work on raising funds and materials for Sierra Leone. Logan will donate his award of $5,000 for the construction of the “Listen to the Children Multi-purpose Center” at Mayagba. Thank you to all here who helped to vote for Logan.
Logan’s work is just one example of the global partnership for peace in Sierra Leone. Our gathering today is an important celebration of over 7 years of peace here, and a demonstration of cdpeace’s commitment to working for peace in this country. It is an expression of the wish of everyone here for peace in the world made in solidarity with many other people around the globe. Thank you for coming, and thank you for your commitment to peace and development in Sierra Leone.”
“Today we have gathered here to celebrate the International Day of Peace, celebrated every year on September 21. This special day was established by the United Nations in 1981 as an annual event to highlight efforts to end conflict and promote peace. Every year, people in all parts of the world honour peace in various ways on this day. We, gathered here in Mayagba, are celebrating peace in Sierra Leone and in our lives in solidarity with many hundreds of thousands of other people around the world.
Anam Prem from India said that "Simply the absence of war is not peace”. Peace is much more than just the absence of armed conflict. Peace means development. Peace means having enough food to eat and clean water to drink. Peace means having adequate shelter. Peace means a clean environment. And peace means having family, friends and the freedom to express your own religion and culture. Building peace means working together to achieve all of these things. You can create peace in your life and you community simply by showing kindness to your fellow human beings, to animals, and to your environment.
All around the world, many people are working for peace. For example, Sierra Leone has many friends in Canada who are working in partnership with us to help bring peace and development here. TMT and Mary, co-founders of cdpeace, asked me to share with you the news that Logan MacGillvary, a 12 year-old boy in Canada, has won the “Me-to-We” award for his work on raising funds and materials for Sierra Leone. Logan will donate his award of $5,000 for the construction of the “Listen to the Children Multi-purpose Center” at Mayagba. Thank you to all here who helped to vote for Logan.
Logan’s work is just one example of the global partnership for peace in Sierra Leone. Our gathering today is an important celebration of over 7 years of peace here, and a demonstration of cdpeace’s commitment to working for peace in this country. It is an expression of the wish of everyone here for peace in the world made in solidarity with many other people around the globe. Thank you for coming, and thank you for your commitment to peace and development in Sierra Leone.”
Monday, September 14, 2009
Mayagba – September 11
**Pictures to follow soon!**
Today was my first full day in Mayagba. After getting up, Heidi and I sat on the porch and greeted people as they walked by. I have learned a very few things to say in Krio (a pidgin English) and Temne (one of the major local languages here), but am still struggling. Looking forward to doing some Krio and Temne language training in about 10 days from now.
Around noon we had a community meeting, organized by Mr. Mark Fornah, the cdpeace Literacy Coordinator. This meeting was to introduce me to the community and vice versa. It was really wonderful. Not too long and with the opportunity to meet and talk a little bit with people. I doubt I will remember very many names though. The meeting ended with prayers and blessings for myself and Heidi and singing.
One interesting thing about Sierra Leone is that there seems to be no religious strife at all here. Perhaps that is a generalisation, but thus far it seems that Christians and Muslims coexist with no problems. There is a mosque and a church in Mayagba, and there were both prayers from the Imam and Christian prayers at the meeting today.
This afternoon, after a visit to Makeni to use the internet briefly (too briefly to type out these posts and post them on the blog!), I returned to Mayagba. I spent a few hours sitting on the porch and was soon surrounded by the small children of the village (pictures to come). The kids here are very curious about white people – they shout “opporto, opporto” (white person in Temne) anytime they see one. They all wanted to hear me talk and touch my skin and hair as well. While white people are perhaps more common in the bigger centres (still not a frequent occurrence though), they are rare in the villages. Many people, both adults and children, are curious about what I’m doing here and want to say hello. I took a few snaps of the kids (pictures coming) – they LOVE getting their picture taken and seem to find it hilarious.
One of the older kids (his name was Fred and he spoke a bit of English) brought out a deck of cards. We played cards for about an hour or so, first a game taught to me by Fred where you add cards together and collect pairs, and then I tried to teach them to play slap. I’m not sure he fully understood the game, but we had fun anyways! All the while we were playing, there were 7 or 8 other children crowded around me. I tried teaching them my name, but it turns out that Clare is a bit hard to say. I’m sure they’ll learn over time though.
Oh, also today I rode on a motorbike taxi for the first time (1,000 LE from anywhere to anywhere in Makeni) and took my first solo taxi ride from Makeni to Mayagba!
A final word about taxis in general. I am writing this post a few days in, so I have now had the opportunity to be in several “taxis”. The term taxi here is used to refer to an car that picks up passengers. The cars are not in the best shape unfortunately, but they generally get you where you need to go. Many do not have working gas or speed gauges, and often doors and windows don’t work properly. During my taxi ride from Makeni to Mayagba, when it started to rain the driver had to pull over and open each door in order to roll up the windows by manually connecting the wires. Taxis are also maximally crowded – 7 to a car is the norm. I’m learning that transportation here can definitely be an adventure!
Today was my first full day in Mayagba. After getting up, Heidi and I sat on the porch and greeted people as they walked by. I have learned a very few things to say in Krio (a pidgin English) and Temne (one of the major local languages here), but am still struggling. Looking forward to doing some Krio and Temne language training in about 10 days from now.
Around noon we had a community meeting, organized by Mr. Mark Fornah, the cdpeace Literacy Coordinator. This meeting was to introduce me to the community and vice versa. It was really wonderful. Not too long and with the opportunity to meet and talk a little bit with people. I doubt I will remember very many names though. The meeting ended with prayers and blessings for myself and Heidi and singing.
One interesting thing about Sierra Leone is that there seems to be no religious strife at all here. Perhaps that is a generalisation, but thus far it seems that Christians and Muslims coexist with no problems. There is a mosque and a church in Mayagba, and there were both prayers from the Imam and Christian prayers at the meeting today.
This afternoon, after a visit to Makeni to use the internet briefly (too briefly to type out these posts and post them on the blog!), I returned to Mayagba. I spent a few hours sitting on the porch and was soon surrounded by the small children of the village (pictures to come). The kids here are very curious about white people – they shout “opporto, opporto” (white person in Temne) anytime they see one. They all wanted to hear me talk and touch my skin and hair as well. While white people are perhaps more common in the bigger centres (still not a frequent occurrence though), they are rare in the villages. Many people, both adults and children, are curious about what I’m doing here and want to say hello. I took a few snaps of the kids (pictures coming) – they LOVE getting their picture taken and seem to find it hilarious.
One of the older kids (his name was Fred and he spoke a bit of English) brought out a deck of cards. We played cards for about an hour or so, first a game taught to me by Fred where you add cards together and collect pairs, and then I tried to teach them to play slap. I’m not sure he fully understood the game, but we had fun anyways! All the while we were playing, there were 7 or 8 other children crowded around me. I tried teaching them my name, but it turns out that Clare is a bit hard to say. I’m sure they’ll learn over time though.
Oh, also today I rode on a motorbike taxi for the first time (1,000 LE from anywhere to anywhere in Makeni) and took my first solo taxi ride from Makeni to Mayagba!
A final word about taxis in general. I am writing this post a few days in, so I have now had the opportunity to be in several “taxis”. The term taxi here is used to refer to an car that picks up passengers. The cars are not in the best shape unfortunately, but they generally get you where you need to go. Many do not have working gas or speed gauges, and often doors and windows don’t work properly. During my taxi ride from Makeni to Mayagba, when it started to rain the driver had to pull over and open each door in order to roll up the windows by manually connecting the wires. Taxis are also maximally crowded – 7 to a car is the norm. I’m learning that transportation here can definitely be an adventure!
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