Memories of the war

Sometimes I forget that Sierra Leone experienced a brutal civil war in the not too recent past. People here are generally so hopeful and focused on future plans for development and improvement in the country that I can forget the tragedy that affected everyone here. Although it sometimes comes up in conversation, people here don’t talk often about the war, and I generally don’t ask many questions in order not to pry into something that may be very difficult for people to talk about. Also, since this is my first time in Sierra Leone, I have nothing to compare it to in terms of how the war changed things here. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between what was destroyed by war and what has deteriorated due to neglect.

Two days ago, Mary Hawa Turay, co-founder of cdpeace, arrived in Sierra Leone for a visit (she is still living in Canada). As we were driving back from Freetown together, she talked about some of the changes she could see due to the war, and some of the things the communities I’m working in have experienced. One thing she mentioned was the state of people’s houses. Before the war, the houses used to be bigger and better constructed – whole compounds with several buildings and a wall around where families lived together. Unfortunately, many homes were destroyed during the conflict. Throughout the country you can see the remains of buildings, still charred from being burnt to the ground. When people had to flee their homes as the fighting advanced, they left everything behind, and in most cases lost it all. Although people have been able to build new homes, they are working with much less than they had, and the houses now tend to be smaller and less solidly constructed.

The two chiefdoms in which I’m primarily working (Gbonkolenken and Paki Masabong) were really affected by the war, Gbonkolenken more so. Mary told me that when the rebels were advancing through the country from the south, when they came to the villages in Gbonkolenken chiefdom (which is essentially right in the middle of the country), the people of Gbonkolenken were one of the first groups to put up real resistance to the rebel advance. Because of this, the rebels decided to punish them – many people were killed and injured. Children were kidnapped. People were forced to commit atrocities (raping, killing, maiming) against their family, friends and neighbours. Whole villages were destroyed and burnt to the ground, so much so that there was nothing left. In the village of Mathombo, school children and adults were locked inside the school and it was set on fire. Many people died. The foundations of that school are still visible in the Mathombo community (Mathombo school is one of the cdpeace pilot schools and has just recently been rebuilt by cdpeace with the support of donors from Canada). Mary said that after the rebels made an example of Gbonkolenken, other villages throughout the north surrendered to them more easily.

I repeat these stories not to dwell on the terror and destruction of the war, but to contrast that with the current climate of hope I see here, and to remember what Sierra Leoneans have experienced. In the face of the devastation of the war that was really so recent (the war began in 1991 and was declared officially over in 2002), it is even more admirable and inspirational to me that the people I have met here now live so peacefully together and that their focus is so strongly on bringing development to the country. Of course there are many challenges here, and a lot of work to be done, but it is obvious to me how much people here are ready to move beyond what happened to them during the war and work hard to build a peaceful and prosperous country. It's pretty impressive.

The work has begun

As I mentioned in my last post, this last week has been busier than my first few weeks in Sierra Leone. Things feel like they are finally picking up steam. Just like with any new job, it has taken time for me to settle in, figure out what my priorities should be, get to know the people involved, and really get started on the work. Add in adjusting to a new community and culture, and it makes for a somewhat slow start. I very much appreciate the time I took at the beginning to visit various schools and communities, do language training, and more or less get adjusted, but it's great that more concrete things are now happening on the work front.

I gave my first teacher training workshop this past weekend, on Sunday. First of all, the date was originally planned for Saturday, but on Thursday afternoon we discovered that donors who built the two new schools in Maso and Makambray (from Plan) were coming to visit on Saturday. With half of the teachers attending the workshop coming from those two villages, we had to reschedule, so we moved the workshop to Sunday. Unfortunately, this conflicted with attending church services for some, so the turnout was a bit lower than it might otherwise have been. However, we still had 22 teachers attend, so I'm pleased with that.

Overall the workshop went well I think. Rather than focusing on training on learning methods (since I am not a teacher myself, I didn't feel comfortable offering that kind of training), the workshop focused on peace education and classroom management. It was really a follow up to a workshop held by PSI and cdpeace here in January. That day-long workshop focused on eliminating corporal punishment in schools (now illegal in Sierra Leone). The workshop I did yesterday offered a quick review of the key items learned at that workshop and then checked in with the teachers about how things are going in terms of the goal of eliminating corporal punishment. My role was as facilitator rather than expert, which was exactly what I wanted.

I'm generally very  impressed by the teachers here. Even though many of them do not earn salaries (our work here is primarily focused on the volunteer teachers), they are always eager to learn new skills. Some of the teachers who attended the workshop walked 5 miles on a Sunday afternoon just to be there. Teachers seem very dedicated to improving their teaching and creating a more peaceful classroom and community. At the end of our session we brainstormed about ideas for future workshops that cdpeace & PSI might offer. Among the subjects mentioned were child-centred learning techniques, using local materials as teaching tools, agricultural training, training in activities like games, sports and music, human rights training, and record-keeping and computer training. Classroom management is a major issue as well, especially with the huge class sizes here (for example, my neighbour in Mapaki, Fatmata, teaches nursery at the school in Maso and has 75 children in her class, ranging in age from 2 to 5 years old). There is obviously a great need for ongoing support for teachers here, and PSI and cdpeace are both working to meet that need in whatever way possible. It is also inspiring to hear the teachers talk about what they can do to help themselves without waiting for outside support (e.g. from government) that may never come.

Also on the work front, I have done my first few interviews for my research. I have started with interviews with my key informants - people in the community who are knowledgeable about women's health and are in a leadership role. Already some interesting findings and ideas have come up, and  I am really looking forward to starting the interviews with local women themselves, hopefully later this week. Lots of typing to transcribe interviews is ahead for me!

I will be out of touch for the next two days. Tomorrow morning I am heading to Lungi (where the airport is located) to pick up three visitors from Canada arriving late in the evening. The visitors are Jane Gloor and Nancy and Vaughn Wellington. Jane is a pediatrician and the parent of a student at Parkview school, one of the schools in Canada that is twinned with a school in Sierra Leone (Mathombo school). They will spend a week in Paki Masabong and Gbonkolenken chiefdoms visiting schools and clinics and then are planning a week of holidays.

On our way through Freetown to the airport I'm also planning to stop in to the grocery store. I'm inordinately excited about this, especially the prospect of getting my hands on some real cheese and maybe some nutella and/or some jam :) I'll report back on all my food goodies when I return to Mapaki on Wednesday.

Maso and Makamray school opening - September 18

I have been meaning to post the post below for some time – it was written a while ago, but I forgot to post it. The school openings took place September 18, so a few weeks ago now. More to come tomorrow on today’s World Teachers Day celebration in Mapaki.

Yesterday I attended the opening of two new schools, primary schools in the communities of Maso and Makamray (both in the Paki Masabong Chiefdom) - photos are at http://picasaweb.google.ca/clarepoulev/MakamrayAndMasoSchoolOpening#. The schools were built by Plan (formerly Foster Parents Plan) Sierra Leone with funds from Plan Japan. I went with the Chief, who was speaking at both events.

Each school is a building with six classrooms (for classes 1 - 6) and an administrative area. Along with the school building, Plan also builds a latrine and a well for use by students. This is important because schools must have these facilities in order to get approved by government for support. In addition to the buildings, Plan also provided some basic educational materials (e.g. text books) as it is difficult for schools to get these. Plan also provides some scholarships for students, to help with fees and costs (although there are no school fees at the primary level, the required books and uniforms cost money), and for teacher training. PSI and cdpeace provide similar scholarships, and these two schools were involved last year in our school twinning project as well.

Both openings were similar – the communities, students and teachers were waiting to greet us with song when we arrived. The first opening began about an hour late, and the second one was then late as well. The late starting time is fairly typical here. Each opening included speeches by the Chairman of the Teacher’s Council, the Paramount Chief of Paki Masabong, representatives from the district council, the national government, and the school management committee, and by Plan staff.

At both openings, the children from the school performed a few short skits and songs. The skits were cute. In Makamray the skit was focused on allowing all children to attend school. The kids in Makamray also sang a song, directed at the government officials present that included a request to approve the school. Both Maso and Makamray are community schools, so they currently get no support from government. Now that they have school buildings, latrines and wells, they can apply to become a government-supported school. This would give them some support for teacher salaries (for those who are certified teachers) and some support in terms of books and learning materials.

In Maso, the skit the kids did was about HIV/AIDS prevention. They talked about safe sex, about ensuring that any needles and razors used are clean or sterilized, and about getting tested for HIV. They also sang a song about protecting yourself from HIV using the “ABC” method: abstinence, be faithful and use a condom. While AIDS is not as big of a problem here in Sierra Leone as it is in other parts of Africa, the song and skit was a reminder that it is present here too.

A few stats on HIV in Sierra Leone from UNAIDS (http://www.unaids.org/en/CountryResponses/Countries/sierra_leone.asp). In 2008. an estimated 55,000 people were living with HIV in the country, a prevalence rate of 1.7%. There were approximately 3,300 deaths due to AIDS, and 16,000 children orphaned due to AIDS. Of course, data collection is a challenge here, so it’s a bit hard to say how reliable these statistics are (for example, the estimate on AIDS orphans ranges between 6,400 and 26,000).

Some colleagues who work in hospitals in Makeni have told me that they think that the official prevalence rate is an underestimate based on their own experiences. Given how prevalence data is collected, this could definitely be the case. From what I understand, prevalence of HIV is usually estimated primarily by testing pregnant women who present at clinics for prenatal care and extrapolating that data to the population at large. There are a few problems with this approach in Sierra Leone:
1. Many pregnant women here never go to a clinic for a variety of reasons.
2. Taking a quick look at the map of testing sites in Sierra Leone shows that they are highly concentrated in Freetown, with a few in the south and east of the country. There are none near Makeni or anywhere in Northern Province, except one in Kambia District.

If you are interested in learning more about HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone, take a further look at the UNAIDS website link above.

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.”

Visit to Gbonkolenken

I’ve just returned from 2 days in Gbonkolenken chiefdom, visiting the communities of Mabarr Line, Makonkorie, Mathombo and Yele. We stayed overnight in the cdpeace guesthouse in Mbarr Line and I had my first experience with a pit latrine (an outhouse). The outhouse wasn’t so much the problem, just the fact that we had to walk outside to get there and it poured rain most of the night. I’m definitely spoiled here in Mapaki with a bathroom right in my bedroom.

A few interesting stories to tell:

On the first day in Gbonkolenken, some kids from the neighbour’s house came over to sit with us at the guesthouse (we were all sitting outside). One little girl, maybe around 3 or 4 years old (it’s difficult to tell someone’s age, and the kids don’t know how old they are) immediately adopted me. Her name was Maio. She started telling the other kids that she owned me and they weren’t allowed to touch me. One of the other adults asked her how much she paid to bring me from Canada and she said “5 block” (that’s 500 Leones, or about $0.25 Cdn). She generously also offered to pay that amount to send me back home too :-) Maio is the little girl on the right in the picture – the kids here are generally all familiar with cameras, and “opporto, snap me” is heard quite often (meaning, white person, take a picture of me).

Another story: we met on the second day (this morning) with the women’s groups from the 6 surrounding villages. Cdpeace gave them groundnut (peanut) seeds to plant this year. The women told us that apparently the seeds weren’t good and the crop they have is poor. The women were asking about the possibility of getting access to microcredit to help them earn additional income in times like this of poor harvest. I was curious how they knew about microcredit – turns out that a lot of the bigger towns have access to microcredit either from government or NGOs and that’s how these women heard about it. The women would use the loans to supplement the food they got from their farms through petty trading. For example, they would tie dye cloth or make soap. Selling these items would then help them earn a cash income that could be used to buy additional food, to pay education costs, or any other household expenses. I’ll have to look into the microcredit situation here and see what I can do.

While in Gbonkolenken, I also saw much more evidence of the conflict than I have seen so far. For those who don’t know, Sierra Leone experienced a horrific 11-year civil war (1991-2002), and there are still plenty of reminders about the war around the country. In Gbonkolenken I noticed many more homes that were burnt out or destroyed during the conflict. We also visited the community of Mathombo, where they have just had a new school built by cdpeace with funds from the PSI-cdpeace project supported by CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency). I was told that the old schools was burned down by RUF fighters, with many children still inside. The effects of the war are visible in other ways as well – when we stopped on the highway to buy some bread, a young man came and stared in the windows of the car. Sally told me that most likely he had probably fought during the war, and gotten addicted to drugs (the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the rebel fighters, used drugs to fuel their fighters, especially child soldiers), and was now crazy. She said that there were many boys like this all around the country, and no help for them, so they just wander the streets. I met someone last week who works on mental health here and the situation is pretty dismal. There is almost 0 support for mental health, so many of the people who are dealing with mental health issues are left to fend for themselves if they have no families to help care for them.

Oh, I also learned an important lesson on my visit to Gbonkolenken: Never go anywhere without your raincoat in the rainy season. Even if you don’t think you’ll need it, even if it seems nice, just bring it anyways :-) I was caught in the rain more than once over the two days I was there, and riding on a motorbike in the rain is not so fun!

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.

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!

People

So I thought before I continued with my posting I should draft a quick list of the main people I will be referring to in case you get confused. I will update it as I go. The list is in alphabetical order by first name.

Alysious Fornah: Alysious teaches computer classes in Mayagba.

Agnes Bah: Agnes is the Gbonkolenken Coordinator and works with the Gbonkolenken chiefdom.

Carolyn van Gurp: Carolyn is a Canadian volunteer who now lives for most of the year in Mapaki, Sierra Leone working on peace education projects. Carolyn is currently in Canada but hopes to return to Mapaki soon.

Chief Kebombor Conteh: Chief Kebombor is the Paramount Chief of the Paki Masabong chiefdom, the head village of which is Mapaki. The chief lives in Mapaki, across the street from me.

Francis Massaqoui: Francis is the Financial Officer for cdpeace, and also acts as second in command when Thomas, cdpeace's Executive Director, is not available. Francis lives and works in Makeni.

Heidi Davis: Heidi is a volunteer working for cdpeace as the Fundraising Coordinator. She is from the US and has been in Sierra Leone for the last 6 months. She is planning to stay another year. Heidi lives and works most days in Makeni - the nearest big city.

Hetty van Gurp: President of Peaceful Schools International, who I am also representing here in Sierra Leone.

Kieran King (aka KK): KK lives with Heidi in Makeni. He works on a mental health program with CAFOD (Catholic Association for Development). He's been in Sierra Leone for almost a year.

Kouame Maxime: Kouame is also in Mapaki, he takes care of the guesthouse and library with Mabinty and is also in charge of maintaining the solar panel and internet connection here. He is also helping me out a lot - taking me to Makeni when needed, showing me around, helping me figure things out. Oh, and he is also the official cdpeace videographer & photographer.

Mabinty Kamara: Mabinty lives in Mapaki and is in charge of the library. She also takes excellent care of me at the Mapaki guesthouse.

Mark Fornah (Pa Fornah): Mark is cdpeace's Literacy Coordinator. He lives in Magboroka. He is also Mary's father.

Mary Turay: Mary and Thomas Turay (Thomas is known as TMT here in SL): Mary and TMT are the founders of cdpeace and the reason I am in Sierra Leone. They have lived in Canada for the last few years, which is how I know them. TMT is returning to Sierra Leone next month.. They have lived in Canada for the last few years, which is how I know them. TMT is returning to Sierra Leone next month.

MO: the Chief's driver.

Mohammed K. Kamara (MKK): MKK is the cdpeace Program Secretary and he also takes care of the cdpeace office and guesthouse in Mayagba.

Sally Conteh: Sally is cdpeace's Community Animator. She is also Chief Kebombor's wife. Sally lives in Mapaki, across the street from the guesthouse.

Sheka: the cdpeace driver.

Thomas Conteh: Thomas is Francis Massaqoui's assistant and helps with cdpeace finances.

Thomas Turay (TMT): TMT, along with his wife, Mary, is one of the founders of cdpeace and the reason I am in Sierra Leone. TMT and Mary have lived in Canada for the last few years, which is how I know them. TMT is returning to Sierra Leone next month.

Welcome to the blog!

I am creating this blog as a way to share information and updates with family, friends, the Carleton University community, and the wider world while I am in Sierra Leone from September to December 2009. I am going to Sierra Leone to work as an intern with the Centre for Development and Peace Education (cdpeace). My internship is part of the Students for Development Program, and is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (thank you CIDA!) and run through the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).

A little bit of background: I put this internship together as a result of an ongoing relationship with cdpeace, developed through a Canadian NGO called Peaceful Schools International (PSI). I sit on the PSI board and got involved with helping cdpeace with fundraising work from Canada. Ever since learning about cdpeace and their work, I have wanted to visit Sierra Leone and work with them on the ground.

This is a very hopeful time for Sierra Leone. After ten years of civil war, the country has now had almost 7 years of peace. While still ranked the second poorest country in the world with a life expectancy of 40, highest infant mortality rate, 30% of the population displaced, traumatized child combatants and victims, and a literacy rate under 30%, there has been a relative level of stability, two successful national elections, a strengthening civil society, and key issues that led to the civil war such as control of the diamond mining areas are receiving international attention and action.

In Sierra Leone, I will be living primarily in the village of Mapaki (Google earth view of Mapaki). While Mapaki may lack some of the normal modern conveniences I am used to (for example, running water), they do have a library powered by solar panels and a satellite internet connection, so I’ll be able to stay in touch via this blog, email and Skype.

I will be doing two key things as part of my internship. I will be supporting cdpeace on a peace education project, a joint project with Peaceful Schools International. This will include supporting teacher training, and facilitating communication between schools in Sierra Leone and their twinned schools in Canada and the US. I will also be helping cdpeace with more administrative and organizational work. The cdpeace buildings were unfortunately destroyed during the war, and the organization is now working on getting fully up and running again, including re-building their facilities. I will be supporting them in everything from basic computer training, to fundraising and financial management, to program set up and evaluation.

While I am in Sierra Leone, I will also be doing field work for my MA thesis (at Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs) on barriers to accessing health care, looking at Sierra Leone as a case study. So it’s a dual purpose trip. I will be blogging about the research experience as well as my work with cdpeace.

I invite you to become involved in this journey with me in whatever way you can. Here are some suggestions:

• Read my blog and comment on what I post!
• Learn about Sierra Leone specifically, and Africa more generally (ask me for some good books, or check out some of the links and blogs I've posted).
• Donate to the work of cdpeace or PSI.
• If you are a teacher, invite me to come speak to your class when I return in January. I'm putting together a presentation suitable for students from elementary up and will, with your permission, invite students to create messages for children in Sierra Leone.

Do you have your own ideas about how to get more involved? Have you visited Sierra Leone before? Feel free to share your thoughts with me here.