MORE ACTIVITIES IN KOINADUGU

November 14,2012

During my “downtime” here in Kabala Town I rode a motorbike for the first time.  Michaela left on Sunday morning for a meeting in Mekene and then on to Kono and Kailahun until late Wednesday.  I expressed a desire to go with her.  It is the week before the elections and as they are both hot spots especially Kailahun, she felt I will be safer here.

She will return here on Wednesday and then to Freetown on Thursday so she can vote.  The US Embassy observer team has room for me to accompany them on election day here in Koinadugu and to take me to Freetown on Sunday. They are staying in the same hotel called, Tech 2, as I.

The occasion for the motorbike ride was to attend a meeting of some of the stakeholders at the Office of National Safety.  Fambul Tok district offices do not have cars only bikes.  Abraham came to get me, I climbed on, grasped one side of him with my left hand, the back of the bike seat with the other and off we went.  He drove as slowly as he could for my safety.

The bike is amazingly comfortable due to its very springy suspension system.  As you know the roads here are very bumpy, but the bike took them with ease.  Abraham asked if I had ridden on one before and I admitted it was a very, very long time ago (think high school).  It seems I was making the right moves for a rider in the back and he was surprised.

As part of the meeting all in attendance visited the Chief who won the election the day before.  However, there had been a skirmish resulting in the hospitalization of a young man after the results were announced.  It seems the chief himself threw a rock at his opponent's house. This is what started the skirmish.  His opponent is his nephew! To atone the Chief parted with some cows to give to the aggrieved.  

The ONS Director (Office of National Security) and the Police Director felt it was necessary to visit the Chief with a message of the importance of him gathering his people to impart a message of peace.  They said he needed to embrace the loser and ask for forgiveness for the injury to the young man.  It is up to him as the leader of his Chiefdom to keep the peace and not be the perpetrator.

We then visited the losing candidate to express our condolences and to hear his side of the issue.  The ONS Director made the appeal for peace and hoped he will accept the Chief’s apology and forgive the young man causing the harm.  He stressed with him as he did with the Chief it is important for this to happen so the community can live in harmony.

During all this running around I was able to ride in the ONS car instead of a motorbike.  While the experience was fun, the lack of a helmet for me makes it not a smart idea to make riding around on a motorbike a habit.

Mohamed

Later that afternoon I spent some time speaking with Mohamed, the manager of the hotel.  He is a delightful young man and we had a great chat.  On one of my walks I noticed a place that seemed to serve food at the top of our road and I asked him about it.  Even though there is a blackboard outside with the offered fare, they are not serving food anymore.

Mohamed told me he had taken me to where the white people eat called Choices.  HMMMM!  If this establishment relied on white people to make a living, they would be out of business!  I did see one white man peek in the door, but the rest of the 20 or so patrons were locals. 

Roasting The Goat Meat

I expressed a desire for something more local and he asked if I like roasted goat.  Yes!!!  That night we walked to a place where a man is roasting goat over a charcoal oven/grill type apparatus.  He cut the piece of goat Mohamed chose into small pieces, combined cut up onion and, yep, peppers as he grilled.  As we waited for our dinner, I took photos of some of the other waiting patrons.

Waiting For His Goat Meat

He wrapped the cooked goat, onions and peppers in newspaper, put it in a small plastic bag and we made our way back to the hotel with our dinner.  Using toothpicks we ate the very delicious goat.  So delicious I had him take me back again last night!

Another Patron of Goat Meat

Tonight we will be trying a different local place for some kind of potato specialty called Irish Potatoes.

Girl Who Took Inventory

As I was relaxing in the dining area of the hotel some children approached me.  Soon there were about 6 or 7 of them.  They wanted me to take their pictures and some of the results are at the bottom of this blog.  One little girl came over and began to inventory me and my parts.  She recited the word as she touched each in turn: eyes, ears, hair, hands, clothes, feets, shoes, boobies :-).  Then the others took turns touching my hair.  I drew the line at a group grope of the boobies.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

At first he was afraid of me, but once I took

his picture he wanted to sit

by me and chat away.