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!

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!

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.

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.