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 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.

Randoms

Today I had spaghetti for breakfast Sierra Leone style - with boiled eggs, mayo and ketchup. It's actually pretty good, but I think my Italian family would be appalled :-) I also had an orange and a banana. Yummy!

There is a spider that lives in my bathroom. If I saw this spider in Canada I would likely have considered it a large spider, but since I've come to Sierra Leone my standards on spider size have changed. I have decided to let it live there as long as it doesn't bother me. Also, I'm a bit afraid of trying to kill it, since I think it can jump :-|

On the topic of animals/insects in my room, I saw a little lizard on the wall yesterday. Unfortunately it scampered away before I could take a picture.

I think I'm going to head to Makeni tomorrow to meet up with another SFD (Students for Development) intern, David and do some errands. I'll probably stay the night, so might be no posts for a couple of days. Wishing everyone a good weekend though!

For some reason, searches done through my Google search bar in Firefox keep converting to Google Italy and I get all my results and text in Italian. It's incredibly annoying since I don't speak Italian. If anyone has any ideas for solving this, please share them!

Monday is World Teachers Day. There is going to be a big celebration here in Mapaki, so I'm really looking forward to that. Expect a full report.

A visit to the farm

Yesterday Alpha took me to visit his farm. Alpha is a boy of 15 who lives here in Mapaki with his family. He and Carolyn were good friends, and he has come often to visit me as well. He is currently in the last year of Junior Secondary School (JSS) here in Mapaki. Alpha dreams of becoming a doctor one day, so he works hard at his studies.

I mentioned to him that I was interested in visiting some farms, so yesterday he brought me to visit. (Photo at right is of Alpha's father harvesting rice. See more photos of the farm at http://picasaweb.google.ca/clarepoulev/AlphaSFamilySFarm#) The family farm is close to Mapaki, only about a 5 minute walk down the road towards Maso, and then a climb up a path to the top of a hill. Alpha told me that his farm is probably smaller than the average in the village. I am rubbish at estimating area and distances, so I won’t try to guess how big it was, but it didn’t seem huge. Alpha told me that a farm’s size is really just limited by the amount of seeds a family has. Families save seeds to use in planting the next time, but of course they also need to eat so are limited in what they can save. If Alpha’s family had access to money for more seeds they would simply clear more land for planting.

The farms here are generally mixed crop farms. On Alpha’s farm was planted rice, sorghum, corn, cassava, a few types of beans, and some vegetables (I saw a few hot peppers and tomatoes). There are also palm trees for coconuts, palm wine and palm oil. Different cops are harvested and planted at different times, and even rice is generally harvested and planted 3 times per year (depends on the type of rice though). The staple crop here is definitely rice (there is a saying that a Sierra Leonean hasn’t eaten until he has had rice), so that is the majority of what is planted. Planting is not done in an organized way in the sense of rows or anything like that – my understanding is that seeds are just thrown and grow where they land. There is no form of irrigation available as far as I can tell – this is why the dry season here is also known as the “hungry” season, because food doesn’t grow as well without the rains.

Apparently Sierra Leone also imports a lot of rice, so people have really been affected by the increasing price of rice and other food commodities over the last year. The price of a bag of rice has increased from 100,000 LE to 120,000 LE. I noticed that the rice I ate at chop houses (restaurants) in Makeni was plain white rice, different from the rice we eat here in Mapaki, which is harvested from the fields.

When the rice is ready to be harvested, it is cut down with a machete and then tied up in little bundles and hung up for a few hours to dry. Once dried, it has to be threshed to separate the seeds from the stalks. Then it must be pounded to open up the seeds to get the grain for cooking. Maintaining the farm and harvesting and processing food are hard work. Generally, the whole family works on the farm. When we visited, Alpha’s father was there as well as his two sisters, Sine (sp?) and Alice. I think that Alice is the older sister, around 24, and the two little boys in my photos are hers. Sine is 19. People go to their farms in the morning and sometimes do not return until dark. Everything is done by hand or with basic tools. Children work on the farms as well as adults – they gather wood, clean, pound rice, etc. Now that Alpha is back in school after the holidays, he generally only works on the farm on weekends.

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#

Costs of living in Sierra Leone

I'm heading back to Mapaki this afternoon. Before I go, here's a quick post on some of the costs of living in Sierra Leone. I am finding that in Makeni and Mapaki it’s generally not too expensive - prices would be higher in Freetown. Below are prices for some basic things. All prices are in Leones (LE). The Canadian dollar is worth about 3,200 LE and the American dollar is about 3,900 LE per dollar.

Night in a guesthouse in Freetown with power, running water, clean beds and mosquito nets: 40,000 LE

Meal of rice and plasa (sauce – can be groundnut soup, cassava, beans, stew, etc.) plus a drink: 5,000 – 8,000 LE depending on the plasa and the drink

Bag of water (this is clean filtered water, about 10 L in a bag I think): 4,000 LE

500 units of time on your mobile phone (to send a local text is 7 units and to make a call during the day is 5-7 units per minute): 17,000 LE

Oranges: 500 LE for 3 oranges

5” foam mattress for a bed: 170,000 LE

Goat (mmmmm): 100,000 LE

Large bag of rice (not sure of the size, but they are big bags): 120,000 LE

Motorbike taxi ride anywhere within Makeni: 1,000 LE

Taxi ride from Makeni to Mayagba (12 miles on the highway): 4,000 LE (keep in mind that this fee is for the taxi shared with the driver and 4 other passengers – you could pay more to have the whole car to yourself – probably 25,000 LE or so, but that’s just a guess)

One hour at the internet café in Makeni: 5,000 LE

Printing at the internet café in Makeni: 1,000 LE per page

Coke in a can: 2,500 LE

Gallon of gas (3.8 litres): 14,800 LE

Star beer (the local beer): 3,500 LE

Lighter: 400 LE

Bread: 1,000 LE

Killdriver (short bread cookie - see my previous post on these. Yummy!): 500 LE

Swimming at Wussum hotel: 10,000 LE

Rent for KK and Heidi's house (a compound with 8 bedrooms plus a back house and a second building for a generator - fit with electricity and running water if you have a generator to power it.): 5 million LE per year

Many of the prices I’ve listed above are fixed prices, but some can vary because you have to bargain for them.

Makeni night life

I had quite an exciting weekend here in Makeni and had the opportunity to sample some of the night life, which was fun. We went out both Friday and Saturday nights though, so I’m a little sleepy today. That, and the lack of coffee. Heidi and KK are still in the process of setting up their kitchen as they just moved into their house, so until Saturday there was no way to cook or heat anything. Saturday we got some coal for the coal pot, so on Sunday I attempted to use the coal pot to boil water. This, apparently, is harder than it sounds, because I was unsuccessful. I don’t know what I was doing wrong, maybe not enough coal or not lighting it properly, but the water never boiled, although it did get hot. I couldn’t get enough heat going to boil it I guess. Because it was well water I didn’t want to drink it without having boiled it for a few minutes, so I just gave up on the coffee. I’ll need to get a proper lesson in how to light the coal pot some time. Anyways, I’m looking forward to getting back to having my morning java back in Mapaki, even if it is instant :-)

On Saturday Heidi and KK and their friends threw a big party for another friend, Rabia, who was leaving Sierra Leone the next day after spending a year here as a VSO volunteer. We borrowed a barbeque (not a gas bbq, just a big barrel cut in half and filled with coal) and spent the day preparing food. The main event for the meal was a goat. The goat was bought that morning and tied up in the corner of the yard for a while before he was turned into supper. I think that’s probably the closest I’ve ever been to meat that was alive before I ate it :-) It was tasty though! There was a ton of food at the party, lots of different things, which was great. About 20 or so people came and everyone brought something. We ate a lot, but there were a lot of leftovers as well. Unfortunately because there is no way to preserve things (i.e. no fridge) a lot of the leftovers were wasted.

During the party we had quite an audience. The party was out in the front yard of the house. The gate to the compound is just bars rather than a solid gate, so you can see into the yard if you are standing outside the gate. We are often visited by children coming over to stare at and to talk to us. The night of the party there were at least 10 or 12 kids standing around outside looking in. It’s a bit disconcerting. Every time someone would tell them to get lost, they would leave but then come back after a few minutes. Eventually it got late and they went home, but we had an audience for most of the night. We would have liked to give them some of the leftover food, but didn’t for several reasons: first of all, it just perpetuates the stereotype that white people have food (or money, or other things) and they will give it to you if you hang around them enough. Also, because there were so many children, with more near by, giving out food to some would most likely have caused a bit of a ruckus and there may not have been enough food for everyone.

Once the BBQ portion of the evening was over, we went out dancing. There are two “clubs” in Makeni, Apex and Flamingos. Apex is bigger and nicer and is part of the Wussum hotel (the one with the pool) and Flamingos is a more local kind of a place. On Friday night we went to Flamingos, and Saturday to Apex. The dancing was a lot of fun! The music was pop, but they played mostly Sierra Leonean and Nigerian music (same at Flamingos). I am getting to know some of the most popular songs now and am going to try to track some down to bring home with me. The bars felt similar to clubs at home, except for a few things. The group I was with were the only white people there of course. Also, many people dance by themselves (less common to see this in Canada), and people of the same sex dance together. Girls dancing together is common in Canada as well of course, but you’d never see guys dancing together in the same way that you do here. You also often see men holding hands here. This is not considered a sign that they are gay or romantically involved in any way. Perhaps this is because homosexuality is so totally hidden and taboo here. Anyways, the dancing was a lot of fun. We stayed out very late though, so Sunday was spent mostly lying around being lazy. I am still a little tired today (Monday), but not sure if that is related to the lack of caffeine or actually being tired, since I slept pretty well last night.

Two more Krio lessons today and tomorrow and then I’m heading back to Mapaki on Tuesday. One of the things that I have enjoyed about being in Makeni is becoming more comfortable doing things on my own. There has been more opportunity here for me to go to shops, the office, out to eat, etc. by myself, and I feel quite comfortable doing that now. Makes me feel more at home in the country, which is good. I’m sure I’ll be down in Makeni for the occasional weekend, but for now I’m looking forward to going back to my quiet village life in Mapaki tomorrow. I will be taking some food treats from Makeni back with me though – crackers, laughing cow cheese, hot chocolate powder and soya sauce (for those days I don’t feel like eating the plasa (sauce) that is available). The cheese especially will be a nice treat – there is very little dairy here because of the lack of refrigeration.

More on Makeni - September 25

So this is now my fourth day in Makeni. Unfortunately, the internet hasn’t been working very well all week in the UN office, so I’ve had some trouble getting online. Heidi assures me that it’s not usually like this, I guess I’ve just picked a bad week to be here. Too bad, I was looking forward to a more reliable connection than I have in Mapaki, but I guess not.

The issues with communications (bad internet connections, lack of cell phone signal, my inability to send text messages to Canada) has been one of my biggest frustrations with being here so far. It’s difficult not to be able to communicate with people when you want to, especially with my friends and family back home. It also makes it difficult to get work done. Poor communications prevent you from doing work because you need to communicate in order to do it, and they also waste time because you spend time fiddling with the internet or your phone or whatever instead of working on something. Sigh. I know I will be more appreciative of our reliable telecommunications network when I get back home!

I want to describe Heidi’s house, where I am staying while in Makeni. The house is a compound, meaning it has walls around it and a gate. In addition to the main house, which has about 8 rooms plus a big living room and a bathroom, there is a second, smaller house in the back. Lecturers that work in the mental health program that KK works on stay in the back house when they are in Makeni. Everything is surrounded by the wall. The gate is always kept locked for security reasons, and there is a guard at night. All of this makes it sound like Makeni is very dangerous or something, but that isn’t really the case. I haven’t felt unsafe or worried for my security the whole time I’ve been here. It’s more to guard against theft. Especially since it would be known that white people are living in the house, there is a greater risk for theft because it is believed that there would be more to steal.

A few other stories from the past few days: Two nights ago (Wednesday night) we went to the launch of a new Amnesty International campaign to reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone (I mentioned this in a previous post, along with a link to some information about the campaign). This kick-off event was part of a tour Amnesty is doing around the country – the first stop was in Freetown, and they were going to a few other places in addition to Makeni as well. The launch was held outdoors at the football “stadium” (it’s not a stadium in the sense that you would normally picture it – it was just a huge dirt pitch with some goal posts where football is played). The event started about 2 hours late. This seems to be fairly typical here. The Secretary-General of Amnesty was here though, as well as the Paramount Chief in the area and a few other dignitaries. Following the speeches, there was entertainment, local Sierra Leonean dancers and singers. It was fun, pop type of stuff with some dancing as well. There was quite a crush of people there, but we managed to situate ourselves right in the front, so we had a pretty good view of the entertainment.

I think that a campaign around maternal mortality is a good thing - according to the WHO statistics, the rate in Sierra Leone is one of the highest in the world. The two main issues I think are the inability to access medical care because of cost or distance, and the poor availability of care because of staff shortages or poor training, lack of supplies, etc. For example, I visited a clinic in Makonkorie in Gbonkolenken chiefdom when I was there - they had almost nothing there. They didn't even have scissors or forceps to use during a delivery. From what I have seen from the Amnesty campaign so far, it focuses primarily on cost and transportation barriers. In my opinion, the supply side problems in health care here are equally as important.

Speaking of health and access - I got conditional approval from Carleton's research ethics committee on my research today! Yay!! I have to make a few changes and send it back, but they are minor, and it's nice knowing I'll be able to go ahead as planned. I'm hoping to start interviews within the next couple of weeks.

Oh, I also had my first taste of something called a killdriver at the Amnesty event. It’s a cookie, very similar to a shortbread cookie taste. You can buy it from sellers on the street. It’s called a killdriver apparently because it’s so good that when drivers eat it they crash and die. Funny, hey?

Last night we had a fun evening. In the late afternoon we went over to the Wussum hotel, the nicest hotel in Makeni. They have a pool, and you can swim for only 10,000 Leones (about $3). I didn’t swim, not having a bathing suit with me here in Makeni, but the others did. Then we sat around and had supper and drinks (chicken shwarma, yum!) and watched “Africa Magic” – movies from Nollywood (Nigerian Hollywood – apparently the third largest film industry after Hollywood and Bollywood). The Africa Magic films are generally terrible, or so I’m told. The one we half-watched while sitting around wasn’t much of a gem. The acting is bad and the stories are silly. But it’s still neat to see African popular film. I also very much enjoyed the tv, electricity, cold drinks and food available at Wussum. All in all, a good night!

p.s. no new photos until I am back in Mapaki as I didn’t bring the cord for my camera with me.

Krio in Makeni

On Tuesday morning I came to Makeni. I will be here for a week doing Krio language training and working in the office with Heidi (she works in an office that is available to NGOs in the UN compound here in Makeni – there is power, internet and best of all, air conditioning!!). Makeni is the capital of the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The population is about 200,000, so it’s MUCH bigger than Mapaki.

There are good things and bad things about being in Makeni. The city is loud and much more crowded than Mapaki, and things are further away from each other of course. I am staying at Heidi’s house, which she shares with a few other people. The house is great – lots of space and conveniently located close to her office (it has no running water or electricity though). The only unfortunate thing about the location is that they are close to a mosque, which has prayers every morning at 5:30 am. These are quite loud and have been waking me up. I’m hoping I’ll get used to it after a couple of nights and am going to try sleeping with ear plugs tomorrow night.

On the plus side, there is much more available in Makeni than in Mapaki in terms of food. You can get vegetables (lettuce, tomato, carrots, cucumber, beans), fruit (apples, bananas, plantains, oranges, grapefruit) and a lot of other stuff – chocolate powder (to make cocoa), coffee, soya sauce, tuna, eggs, etc. Some of this is available in Mapaki as well, but much of it, especially the vegetables, is not, so that part is a treat. Yesterday I even had ice cream! I think the box said that it was egg flavour, but it was still yummy :-) Something cold to eat on a hot day is always nice.

Speaking of hot days, it hasn’t been as hot here as I initially expected. I don’t have a thermometer, so I’m not sure of the temperature, but I would guess it’s usually in the high 20s or so. It’s not usually super muggy, although some days are worse than others, but it does rain almost every day. It’s nice when it rains because it cools things off a bit. The cloud cover that we often have makes it feel less hot as well – yesterday it was sunny and it was wicked hot in the sun. I’m sure as the rainy season comes to an end (October) and the dry season starts, it will get hotter.

One of the other things I have been enjoying about being in Makeni is getting to know some of the other expats working here. There are several VSO volunteers working for local NGOs based in Makeni. Amy and Rabia work for Future in Our Hands, Sahiel works for MADAM (I can’t remember what the acronym stands for but it’s something to do with development and agriculture I think), and KK works for CAFOD (Catholic Association for Development).

The Krio lessons are going well – so far we have learned basic greetings, how to ask for a few things, for directions, food, prices. We did a whole thing on how to bargain, which is key here. Some prices are fixed, like for smaller food items, or in some of the shops, but you really do have to bargain for any larger items. I don’t consider myself a good bargainer, but perhaps now that my Krio is a bit better I will have more opportunity to practice.

Freetown – September 10

My second full day in Salone (term of endearment for Sierra Leone) was spent in Freetown. Freetown is a bit of a frenetic city. There are people and cars and noise everywhere, even at night. It actually took us most of the day just to get out of the city. We went for brunch at a café called Bliss and I ate the last pastry I’ll probably eat for a long while. We then had a few errands to run, but actually spent much of the day waiting.

By the time we arrived in Makeni, the capital city of the Northern Province (about a 2.5 hour drive on the only paved highway in the country) it was dark. It gets dark here around 7 or 7:15, and by 8 pm it is pitch black. The dark is a bit hard to get used to. For one thing, it’s kind of a weird feeling for it to be dark so early yet still warm. For another thing, when it is dark, it is REALLY dark, since there are no street lights and very few outdoor lights. Lanterns or candles are generally used in the evening and I have been making liberal use of my headlamp too (thanks Chris!).

We stopped for dinner in Makeni (meat on a stick from a street vendor, yummy!). then drove on to Mayagba, where the cdpeace main office is located, and where Heidi and I spent the night. Heidi was living in Mayagba, but has just moved to Makeni in order to be able to easily access the internet every day (if you want more of a background on Heidi, or anyone else I’m mentioning, see the “people” post, which I’ll update whenever I meet someone new – I will bookmark it in the links section). We arrived in Mayagba after 11 pm, so no one was around. People generally seem to go to bed early and get up quite early here, which suits me just fine! MKK (Mohammed K. Kamara), who runs the guesthouse for cdpeace, did get up to greet us and make sure we had everything we needed though.