PEACE MOTHERS JOURNEY DAY ONE VILLAGE TWO

December 17, 2012

Village Two

Note The Goat Using The Bridge!

This village is located a long way out into the bush over very narrow bumpy, O.K. back wrenching, roads and a short way up a mountain. Once we arrive it is worth the journey as the scenery is wonderful. Again they are not aware we are visiting! Even though we are spending the night! Such is the hospitality found wherever we go. They want to feed us, and give us gifts of bananas, chickens and kola nuts.

To the district staff’s surprise we learn they are having a reconciliation bonfire tonight! One of the villagers who left for Guinea during the war has returned to find two of his cows and ten of his goats taken by another villager. This is a BIG deal as these animals are the man’s wealth and is the same as if someone stole the majority of our money.

This type of offense is often punished by the killing of the thief by the wronged party. The village, however, is using the Fambul Tok process to solve the conflict. The community Peace Mothers Reconciliation Committee, trained by Fambul Tok, has been working with both of the men and have gotten them to agree to reconcile at the bonfire tonight. Relatives have arrived from Freetown to witness this event.

The Teams

First there will be a football match between the young girls of the villages from the section and several from Freetown. It is symbolic of the reconciliation and will take place on the field at the school. As we are visiting with the chiefs and elders the coach brings the girls to meet us. They arrive singing and dancing and soon I am pulled down to dance with them.

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One teen begins to challenge me in the dancing and I respond in kind. I know it is all in fun, but Ibraham tells me later he was about to intervene it looked so real!  As I walked out onto the field to kick off the first ball (yes again and in flip flops!) she runs up to me and hugs me calling me her padi (friend). I hug her back and agree to be her padi. She plops herself down next to my chair during their break saying she is sitting by her padi!

Cow to the Right!

The game ends in a tie and even though it is not supposed to be a competition, tying the score is the best ending. At one point a cow (they are free to roam everywhere) wanders onto the field. The girls are not deterred and run right at it in pursuit of the ball. The cow beats a hasty retreat.

We are led to sit under the Peace Tree that can be found in every village. This tree is where anyone can go to work out even the smallest conflict. All are equal under this tree. We are welcomed once again and are here to listen to the stories of successes. 

Kola Nuts

First a bowl is presented to us. It contains kola nuts in some water and is a tradition here to welcome visitors. The kola nut is known to make you “high”. It contains a high amount of nicotine which causes energy and suppression of appetite if too many are eaten at once. I am given the bowl first and told to take a nut, break it in half and take a bite out of one half. Then I am to present the other half to the Town Chief.

This I do and when I return to my seat Micheala says I have done the ceremony like a traditional woman. She wants to know how I knew to bow when presenting the half to the elder. I said it was instinct and reminded her I have an African soul :-).

One of the men then told the story of the village right after the war. When the villagers began to return to the village some of the men went to the river where before the war there was plenty of fish. When they got to the river there were only a small amount of fish. As time went on and the village struggled to get along with one another, the fish disappeared completely.

Fambul Tok arrived with the reconciliation and power of forgiveness intervention and conducted the bonfire. The village then celebrated a ceremony honoring their ancestors. After those two ceremonies the village settled into a routine of peace and unity beginning to work together in peace. One day the men returned to the river and found the fish back in more numbers than before! In their minds a miracle had occurred due to the reconciliation and forgiveness process. Whose to day they are wrong? Many villages say there is magic in the bonfire put there by Fambul Tok!

Several women speak about the success of the rice and groundnut harvest on the Peace Mothers cooperative farms. They all give credit to Fambul Tok and the power of forgiveness. They say that they love the fact they have empowered themselves and can now send their children to school. Disputes are now settled under the Peace Tree eliminating the chief, the police, the courts and the cost of filing a complaint with those entities.

After that presentation we are invited to go back to the village and rest until time for the bonfire. As we sit resting on the porch of a large house villagers come and go to visit with us. One of the elders brings us a whole tray full of bananas and later a rooster that will be cooked for us. We all have to put our hands on the rooster as acceptance of the gift before he is taken into the house to be dealt with!

One of the other women in our group and myself will share a room in this house. Walking into the house we find ourselves in a very large empty room. There are doors to chambers all along both side walls. It is dark inside and I almost step in the rice drying on the floor. This room is used for drying rice and social gatherings especially in the rainy season.

Our room is very large and serves both as a bedroom and storage room for all kinds of cooking pots, cups, dishes and other utensils. In these village houses cupboards and closets do not exist due to the expense of building or buying them. Thus every nook and cranny is used for storage. Cooking is done outside or in a small outdoor hut during the rain.

The bed we will share is larger than our king size bed in America and very comfortable. Needless to say the facilities are outside in a little hut. The bucket bath is conducted in another hut using water heated over a fire. When the lamp (no electricity at all) is extinguished the room is as black as coal. 

Later that night we make our way through the dark cold night to the bonfire. The sky is bright with stars. It has been a wish of mine to witness a Fambul Tok reconciliation bonfire so I am in a state of anticipation. The beauty of this event is that the process is being followed by the villagers without the knowledge of even the Fambul Tok district staff. Fambul Tok’s ultimate goal is sustainable peace and unity using the Fambul Tok process without help from outside the community. Thus this event is very special to the Fambul Tok staff. 

Before the war these fires were a regular occurrence used for dancing, singing, and story telling. After the war the pain of victim and victimizers living in the same village was too great until Fambul Tok intervened. Now they are used as before and for ongoing reconciliation as issues arise.

Bon Fire

A hush comes over the large crowd gathered around the raging fire. The victim is the first to speak. He tells his story of the war and how he tried to stay in the bush outside the village, but the rebels were too active and, fearing for his life, he ran away to nearby Guinea. He left his entire wealth behind; 4 cows and 10 goats.

Why he stayed away so long is unknown to me, but he has recently returned to find two of his cows and all of his goats stolen by a man of his village who was captured by the rebels and made to fight. He says it is his right to kill the man and was going to do that when the local reconciliation committee intervened using the Fambul Tok process they were taught. After counciling and mediation he finally agreed to forgive the perpetrator.

Next the perpetrator tells his story. He was captured by the rebels before he could run away and made to take the cows and goats for the rebels to eat. If he didn’t do this, the rebels threatened to kill him. He knew the man who owned the cows and goats had the right to kill him for this act, but he knew the rebels would kill him if he didn’t.

After telling his story he expresses his regret in stealing the animals and asks for forgiveness. He stretches out flat face down on the ground in supplication before the man he wronged asking for his blessing and forgiveness. It is probably the most heart wrenching act I have seen in a very long time. Tears are running down my face as I am writing this just like they did that night as I witnessed this blessed event.

The victim reaches down, lifts the man up, hugs him and grants him forgiveness. Then they danced together to a cheering crowd who join in the dance. The faces on both the men are shining with joy and peace.

Tonight I saw and felt first hand the peace and joy true forgiveness brings. I go to bed with my heart full of that peace, joy and love.

As Alan Paton is quoted “There is a hard law. When an injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive”

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

PEACE MOTHERS JOURNEY DAY ONE VILLAGE ONE

December 17, 2012

Today we will visit two villages in the Koinadugu District spending the night in the second one. The villagers do not know we are visiting. This is the way Fambul Tok operates. Once the villages have had the reconciliation bonfire the district staff is on the road everyday doing spot checks to make sure all is going well and intervening where necessary. To get the true picture they always arrive unannounced unless there is a need for a specific meeting such as the ones we did before the elections.

On The Way To The Rice Farm

As we drive up the road towards the first village we see many women coming towards us with tools over their shoulders and some with pots on top of their heads. We are in luck! It is farming day at the Peace Mothers farm. Most of the villages have up to three farms: Peace Mothers Farm, Community Peace Farm and Family farm. They have a detailed schedule for working at each of these farms.

We continue into the village to meet the Town Chief letting him know we are there and asking permission to film. As we drive in we are greeted enthusiastically by the remaining villagers. The men, children and the women who choose not to belong to the Peace Mothers Cooperative gather around our car. It is confirmed that the Peace Mothers are farming on their rice farm today.

Making our way back we park by the side of the road in front of the narrow grass covered path leading to the farm. As we make our way through the tall grass we allow the women to pass us on their way to work. They are more sure footed than we and greet us as they pass some making the comment they are surprised to see us.

Clearing the Ground For Thrashing Floor

Climbing under a log and wending our way down the long path we finally reach the place where women and some men are busily clearing a section of ground located just up from the swamp rice field. The men do the heavy clearing with machetes and axes while the women use narrow hoe-like instruments to do the fine clearing. This clearing will become the thrashing floor when they harvest the rice in two weeks.

The women who have arrived first are already hard at work. Nursing mothers are hoeing with their babies tied to their backs. They are singing as they work. It is hard, labor intensive, back breaking work, but the joy, peace and unity of the activity is evident.

Toddlers and other slightly older children are sitting around watching the activities. Mothers stop to nurse their babies and then hop back up to work. One young boy is helping the women clear with his small hoe. One of the women shows me she has cut her foot. She takes several leaves of a nearby plant and squeezes the juice on the cut cleansing it. The she takes another leave and dabs the sap from the stem to seal the cut! I am told it will heal very quickly with this treatment.

The rice field stretches as far as the eye can see in either direction and is colored with different hues of green and gold. The planting is done in stages so the harvest is manageable. The different colors of rice show the different stages of ripening. Light bright green for the youngest sprouts, darker green and then gold when ready to harvest. Some of the rice is allowed to get dark brown and that will be used for seed at the next planting. Usually the yield is two crops a year.

Rice Farm Note Hut in Background

Located across the field I spy a thatch roofed hut and ask why it is there. It is used during harvest for resting, cooking and eating. On the days they work the farm they are there all day. Labor is divided with some of the women preparing the meal while the others work. The meal preparation duty is rotational. 

This farm is worked and owned by all the Peace Mothers in the villages of the section and many of them walk a long distance to get here. Each village contributes something for the meal; either 1,000 SLL or a cup of rice, or fish, etc.

Once the ground is free of all plant life they will cover it with cow dung and let it dry thus forming a flat thrashing floor for the harvesting that will take place in two weeks.

Having us there is too tempting and soon the women are dancing and gathering around us with welcoming songs. I dance and sing along. Then, a treat! One of the men and one of the women perform a mating dance. It is very colorful and dramatic.

When they get back to clearing some of the women begin preparing food. A roaring fire is started in seconds using long logs and who knows what to get the flame going. Girls Scouts could learn from them! Once the cooking is done, the meal consumed and the dishes washed everyone will get back to work.

Saying Good-bye

We say our good-byes because we realize they will not get much work done with us there. They love to socialize and visit and are proud of their farm. This farm was started after Fambul Tok took them through the forgiveness process. The women all say they would not be empowered as they are and here together with this successful farm if it weren’t for Fambul Tok. They use the proceeds to send their children to school. 

They would like to have tarpaulin to cover the thrashing floor since it would eliminate the small stones that always get into the rice. They also want to do cross district fish trading as the next step for growth beyond their farm.

On our way back up the path we find that someone has cut the tall grass and pulled the log down to ease our walk to the car!

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

  

CHRISTMAS IN SIERRA LEONE AND PEACE MOTHERS JOURNEY

December 16, 2012

Following this blog there will be a series of nine more.  A few months ago it was decided that we will take a journey up country to showcase the Peace Mothers who have some remarkable stories to tell as well as visit villages with other intriguing activities and stories. We are scheduled to visit 10 villages in 2 districts in 5 days. The districts are Koinadugu, where I have been before and Bombali, where I have not.

It is my swan song for up country this trip and I have in mind to make a “coffee table” book from the experience.  The purpose of the book is three fold: one to thank the US Ambassador for his efforts and support of Fambul Tok and Sierra Leone itself, two to document the stories of the Peace Mothers and three to make the book available to Fambul Tok as a fund raiser, if approved.

I have had the privilege of meeting and speaking with Ambassador Owen and his wife, Annerieke on several occasions and am very impressed by both. Ambassador Owen is very actively involved in the country. It is his policy to make sure he covers the entire country during his posting to get a better understanding what is needed. According to Annerieke he would spend more time up country than he does, if his duties permitted. He enjoys, as does she, the interaction with the peoples of all areas and feels he cannot do justice to the job if he just stays in Freetown.

We are blessed to have the funding (indirectly from US AID) for a professional photographer to accompany us. His purpose is to film a short documentary for a local TV show. I am hoping to use the documentary and some photos for a presentation to interested schools, churches and organizations upon my return.

Christmas Boutique

Decals of Religious Holiday Symbols

Today we begin our journey to Kabala in Koinadugu. Along the way out of Freetown I see some of the Christmas shopping opportunities along the way. The human mini-markets are busy with tubs full of sparkly decorations, flowers and garlands. In the local super market there is a decorated Christmas tree and garlands strung about. Everywhere along the street are outdoor vendors displaying a huge variety of items for gift giving. This activity has been going on now for about 10 days and is clogging the sidewalks and roadways.

Super Market Fake Tree

Most people do not have the money to buy frivolous decorations but all are shopping for at least small gifts. Many of the items are second hand and the second hand store has a huge line outside.

Perhaps you have noticed in some of my photos the T-Shirts that are obviously from some university, company, fund raiser, sports team and the like. These are donated clothing from abroad, I am sure. Some of the clothing is of obvious expense and quality. 

The children and grown-ups (when not in traditional African attire) in the villages are dressed exclusively in this clothing and either they don’t care about the message or they can’t read it. A little girl had on a T-shirt that read “I Am The Big Brother”. A man on a motorbike had on one of those T-Shirts that look like a female body with a bikini on the front in PINK!

Apoto Monkey

When we arrive at the guest house in Kabala I notice there are two different types of monkeys tied to different trees. They are very cute, but I feel sad they are confined to such short ropes. The driver of one of our cars plays with the most active one. Tomorrow we begin our visits.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara 

FOOTBALL MATCH AND PEACE DANCE

December 7, 2012

We arrive in Dia in the late afternoon stopping first at Mariatu’s house to say hello. Then we go Kumba’s house where we will be spending the night.  Her house is large with 3 bedrooms, a living/dining area and kitchen. She also has a store attached where all manner of goods can be had.  There is a covered porch that spans the front of the building so that both the house and the store are sheltered.  The magic happens when I walk out the back door.

Yams!!!!

There is a covered porch here as well with steps leading down to a bright green moss-like grass covering an expansive back yard.  Beyond the yard is a jungle.  In that jungle I can see trees of guava, banana, avocado, cacao, oranges and coconut palm.  It is cool and peaceful and I could stay here forever.

As we sit around the yard chatting Kumba brings out food.  And what food it is!  Local rice with country chicken in a sauce that is to die for.  It is the best food I have eaten in Salone and I tell her that.  We all eat more than our fill!

Soon it is time to go to the field where the football match will take place. I am surprised to learn that there will be two matches; one for the women and the other for the men from the two villages I mentioned before.  The DJ and his huge speakers are already set up and music is playing.  The atmosphere is one of jubilation and celebration.

I dance with the children and take photos and videos of them.  They all want to hold my hand and keep saying Pumwe, Pumwe, Pumwe. (white person)  It is difficult to persuade them I need to take photos of others than just them. They are delightful.

Team Captains

The first match will be played by the women with Mariatu leading one team dressed in green and Kumba the other dressed in blue. This match further supports the reconciliation between the two women.  Micheala is very clever.  She begins to have some of the team members from each team switch jerseys.  Then she has Mariatu and Kumba switch jerseys as well!  Now the teams are all mixed up with different leaders.  This makes the match truly a getting together in peace and not a competition.

Switched Jerseys!

The next big surprise is that I am told I will kick off the football for the women’s match!!! In flip flops no less :-).

After the match Mariatu and Kumba speak to the crowd reiterating the joy they have found in forgiveness and praising Fambul Tok for their part in making it happen.  Then they begin to dance together.

Men's Teams

Next is the men’s match.  There are some excellent players on both teams, but this is not a competition either; just a way to come together in reconciliation. After this match the representative of the district football league presents two new footballs to the Mammy Queen. These balls will be available for use by the women and men of the Chiefdom.

Presentation of Footballs To Chiefdom
Speaker and Mammy Queen

Many people come up to me and thank me, shake my hand and some hug me.  It is a joyous and emotional experience.  My heart is full to overflowing by the end of these events.

BUT it is not over!  We go to Mariatu’s house to eat with her.  Fambul Took never judges or takes sides so to keep the neutrality we now will have eaten at both houses.  However, she wasn’t expecting us to eat her food and apologizes for it saying our food was to be served by Zumba!  We eat anyway and I know she is pleased.  Then back at Zumba’s we eat again.  This time it is goat pepper soup.  Yum! I am so full I can hardly eat.

The Peace Dance is next starting at about 10PM and lasting until the last dancer goes home even if it takes all night!  At about 10, all decked out in our dance finery, we wander up to the Barrie (a community building located in the center of the village) where the fun has already begun.

The place is packed and the music loud.  On the grounds outside the Barrie people have set up tables of all kinds of food and drink for purchase.  People are dancing everywhere: up in the Barrie, on the ground, on the street.  They dance together, alone, and in groups.

We wander into the building and are soon caught up in the dancing.  I love it here because everyone dances from the littlest ones to the oldest ones.  If you can walk and move you dance!  I can do both of those things so I dance and dance and dance! The music is of the disco variety. Soon the DJ calls all the Fambul Tok team up to the front to dance with the celebrants.  The crowd stops dancing to watch.  In short order they join in again and I find many people wanting to dance with me.

A news photographer is snapping photos all night.  Requests for a photo with me come from all sides to point where I have permanent flash images in my eyes.  I feel so blessed and just when I think my heart cannot take in anymore love, it expands to do just that.

At about 12:30AM we call it a night and wander back to Zumba’s.  My hair looks like I just got out of the shower so I sit outside until about 1AM to let it dry.  

The sky is inky black with a sliver of a moon and the stars so bright they almost hurt my eyes.  It is so peaceful even with the disco music off in the distance that I really wish I could spend the night out in the open.

December 8, 2012

Today we leave at 5:30AM for the long drive back to Freetown.  I mentioned in an earlier blog that the first time I visited the Kailahun district the energy felt tense and dark to me. It still had that energy when we arrived two days ago before the power of forgiveness brought the two women together and healed the Chiefdom. Today, as we drive through the district I realize the dark energy is gone and a lightness has taken it’s place!

It is then I think on the extensive affect the negative and poisonous feud had on not just the Chiefdom, but the entire district!  When a rock is tossed into a lake the ripple effect goes way out beyond the entry point.  The realization hit; this ripple effect is what had been happening in Kailahun. Once the feud ended and reconciliation and forgiveness were chosen, the ripple effect became positive.  WOW!

The other day in the Daily Good.org there was this quote: 

“There is a hard law.  When an injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive” Alan Paton.

Much Love to You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

AT THE POLICE STATION

DECEMBER 6, 2012

We arrive at the police station at 9:30 AM to wait for the women.  The police chief expresses his relief and extreme thanks to Micheala and the Fambul Tok team for solving the dispute.  He says he was very worried about the division of the town and the ramification of the complaint if taken to the Magistrate Court in Freetown.

Yatta Holding My Banana Gift

While we wait and they talk (it’s in Krio so I only grasp bits and pieces) music is playing in the background.  Now, I LOVE the African beat and was bobbing in my chair to the music when I realized everyone was smiling at me.  Ibraham from Fambul Tok had seen me dance in Koinadugu and made the comment that I cannot sit still when the music starts. We all laugh. All of a sudden a woman comes into the office with a bunch of bananas to present to me as a gift from the police chief! I guess he liked my bobbing :-)!

Zumba and Mariatu Together again

Soon the women arrive.  Their faces are radiant and eyes are shining. They are two completely different women from yesterday.  They rode in on one motorbike from the village which would have been impossible before yesterday.  They tell us that last night they walked together and visited every house in the village to show their unity and ask forgiveness. The people were so overwhelmed that some of them even gave them money!

The Imam appears and begins to expound on the wonders of Fambul Tok who was able to do what he and the other religious leaders had been unable to do. He is there to support and witness the end of the complaint.  He is joined by the Partnership Chairman who is also beaming and complimenting Fambul Tok. He supports the withdrawal of the complaint and tells the police chief to grant it.

A reporter from the Sierra Leone national radio station has heard about the meeting results of yesterday and wants to interview Micheala. After hearing her story he is very moved and plans to broadcast the story nationwide tomorrow. He will also be at the celebrations on Friday in Dia.

Are you getting the picture here?  This reconciliation is a BIG DEAL!  The feud was poisoning not only the village but the whole Chiefdom and even the district.

I am beginning to realize just how blessed I am to be witnessing this process.  I am seeing the Power of Forgiveness work first hand.

Imam Waving Goodbye

The complaint is withdrawn.  The women and the Imam ride off to the village to prepare for the peace football match and peace dance taking place tomorrow.  We will join them in these celebrations and stay over night with them in the village.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

UP COUNTRY CONFLICT

December 4, 2012

Today, Tuesday, we leave for Kailahun to attempt reconciliation of a community conflict in the village of Dia of the Kissy Kama Chiefdom. Dia is the Headquarters Town of this Chiefdom and was divided geographically in half due to party conflict, APC VS SLPP, even before the election. We visited there in November as part of the sensitization project of Peaceful Elections. Everything was relatively peaceful but tense.

There was another conflict between the towns of Ngainda and Dia that took place on the day of the announcement of the election results. There were stones thrown, and threats made to beat one of the Section Chiefs and a Deputy to death. Fambul Tok district staff and the Peace Mothers from the two villages were able to diffuse that conflict and get an agreement for a reconciliation Football Match followed by a Peace Dance to take place in Dia.

December 5, 2012

When the Fambul Tok team arrives to pick me up at my guest house in Kailahun this morning, I get in the car and announce that we are going to exude so much peace and love that they will have to reconcile. Everyone agrees. 

At Ngainda

Our first stop is in the village of Ngainda to speak to the Section Chief to thank him for reconciling the conflict and to arrange a tentative date for the football(soccer) match and dance.  The match will not be one of competition, but one of coming together in a sport for peace. We are greeted warmly by both the Section Chief and the Town Chief. We are surrounded by children and the women come out to play the gourd and sing. An agreement for a tentative date for Friday, 7 December is reached.  This date will be confirmed at the Chiefdom meeting later in the day.

Upon arriving in Dia we learn that the Paramount Chief was called to Freetown by the President. The day before the President and his rival met and agreed to work together peacefully for Sierra Leone. They promised to instruct their supporters to follow the path of peace and unity established in their meeting. Before he left for Freetown the PC wrote a statement for the Chiefdom Speaker to read at the Chiefdom Meeting.

While we wait for the meeting time, Micheala begins to question the Mammy Queen and several women from the village.  She learns that the village division is not only about the two parties but goes much deeper than that. It started with a deep grudge over a personal matter between two women. They used to be very close friends and are even blood relatives, but have divided the town with their feud. 

The Fambul Tok district staff has tried reconciliation.  The religious leaders have tried reconciliation. The Peace Mothers have also been involved. The issue cannot be resolved thus the intervention from Fambul Tok HQ team.

Yatta, Mammy Queen & Micheala before the
meeting begins.

Chiefdom Meeting Attendees

Once the Chiefdom meeting begins, Micheala encourages both of the women to tell their side of the story. One of them is convinced the Paramount Chief (who is her father!) wants to kill her. He invited her to his house and when she arrived she found her former friend turned enemy already there. She is attacked by this woman and beaten. Because of this she has started proceedings against the chief in the courts.

Achieving Agreement & Reconciliation

After both women have spoken, Micheala gathers the women in a close conference speaking to them in private while we all look on. After some minutes have passed they turn around and declare they have come to forgiveness and reconciliation.  One is crying and declares she will withdraw her case against the Chief.  She and her “sister” will come into the police station in town tomorrow to make that happen.

Folding the arms in this culture means listening,
contrition and accepting. Unlike our culture
where it means shutting yourself off and
not listening.

Micheala then admonishes the Mammy Queen for not doing enough to support a reconciliation.  Indeed, it seems that she may have contributed to the problem between the Chief and his daughter who is her step-daughter. 

The towns people erupt in shouts of joy and begin dancing around. The football match and dance are confirmed for Friday. Everyone is beside themselves with relief and the confidence of lasting peace and unity again.

The Chiefdom Speaker thanks Fambul Tok for bringing this peace and unity. He thanks God for Micheala and her wisdom and expertise to solve this long feud and for bringing the community together again. He thanks me for coming all the way from America to witness this and he says how embarrassing it is for them to have me see them this way. He then likens Micheala to the shepherd who gathers the sheep to take them to safety and me to Moses taking the people out of Egypt to the promised land!

Talk about being blown away! I just kept thinking peace and love and shining that light. I didn’t speak in front of the group. All I did was BE myself and interact one on one with the children, the women and the men before the meeting started.  

Now I really understand what Stephanie means when she says to just BE and shine your light.  It isn’t necessary to DO anything. I’m not the doer, God, Holy Spirit, Higher Self, is the doer and I am just to BE and allow. How great does that feel to finally connect that feeling in my heart? Words cannot express.

Tomorrow, 6 December, we will go to the police station to witness the withdrawal of the case against the Chief.  The police will have to agree that the dispute is ended by interviewing both of the involved women.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

KOINADUGU DISTRICT CHIEFDOM VISITS

November 10, 2012

We leave really early this morning to make our way to a district called Koinadugu.  We stop and buy some freshly hard boiled eggs from one of the human mini-markets in a town along the way.  They are still warm and yummy.  I buy two.

Michaeala needs to do some business at the Fambul Tok district office in a city called Makeni.  It is part of the Bombali district where we may visit some time in the future.  I wait in the car and take a nap!!!

Heremakono

On the way into Kabala, the main town in Koinadugu, we stop in the Wara Wara Yagala Chiefdom, Heremakono Section in the village of the same name.  In the interest of time we gather under a tree at the edge of the village instead of taking the trek to their Peace Tree.  Soon we have a full gathering of the village and the dancing and singing begins.

It seems my reputation arrives before I do.  I am greeted as the Peace Mothers Grandmother and am expected to dance.  I am more than happy to comply.

Zainab

Zainab begins the meeting by declaring we are all brothers and sisters no matter the color of our skin (she points at me) or status.  She calls me her sister and I am honored.

Then Margaret, who is newly trained as a peace Ambassador, leads the program to impart the message of peace.  Peace now, during and after the elections.  She is passionate and well spoken.  I can tell her message is being heard and accepted by the villagers.

Our next stop is the FT district office in Kabala.  It is in a lovely new building and has several rooms containing sleeping and bathroom facilities.  I expect to stay here, but find no screens on the windows, netting over the bed or a fan for movement of air. 

While we are waiting for the time to go to the next village, a woman approaches with tubs and baskets full of food and the utensils needed to consume it.  I choose some fried plantains, spicy beans, and a ball of cooked Casava.  It is really yummy.  She also has hard boiled eggs, chicken and fish.

Community Meeting Center

In the afternoon we visit the Dogolya Section in the Section Chief’s village of the same name.  Our meeting here takes place inside of a round cement community hut with a thatched roof.  This village is decidedly Muslim and more conservative than the one we visited this morning.

As the people gather the women sit on one side and the men on the other.  All are dressed in traditional clothes.  But they begin to dance and sing as I join them.  The dancing is calmer and more refined, but no less joyful.  After it is over the men applaud and thank me for dancing with the women!

This meeting imparts the same message as all the others we have held. The Section Chief is very supportive of Fambul Tok as are the other villagers.  One man named Dr. Joseph is very enthusiastic and makes it his purpose to get everyone to the hut.

I have a video of me dancing with the women when the meeting is concluded and they are gathered outside the hut.  They are shaking my hands, hugging me, patting me on the back and just generally enjoying the moment.  The internet here is too slow to download the video now, but I will create a blog with videos after returning home.  

I know I have said this before, but my heart is so full of love and joy when we leave.

Instead of staying in the district office, I opt to check into the guest house called Lam Tech II where the US Embassy observer team will stay.  I make this decision for several reasons.  The office, as I mentioned, is very lovely and new and I would be very comfortable staying there except for the lack of mosquito protection and petrol in the generator for light. 

It is dark and late by this time and we are all very tired from the long day.  As it turns out my decision is a good one not only for the reasons stated but also for the remoteness and lack of food facilities in the area.

The guest house serves no food, but is in walking distance of the center of town where food is easily obtained whereas the office is not.  I make myself at home in my room at Lam Tech II and drift off to sleep to the sound of the generator and disco music!!!

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara