UP COUNTRY EXPERIENCES

January 2014

Upon my arrival in the office in Freetown I shared the story about Ryan Carlson(2yrs) when told to say hi to Grandma Sara he said “Hi Grandma Syrup”.  From that moment on I became Grandma Syrup!!!  Love it!

A Cutie In Moyamba

At one of the first Stakeholders Meetings I met a darling young teacher with the Peace Corps whose students will be participating in the newly formed Fambul Tok Peace Clubs.  There are 5 schools in each of 6 districts with 50 Peace Club members in each school to start.  I arrived with over 600 bracelets made on the Rainbow Loom by young people Chloe and Lance Coonrod, Sarah Mufson & friends, and myself (OK so I’m not so young!).  The bracelets will be distributed to Peace Clubs in selected schools since there are not enough to give to all the schools in all the districts.  I am not sure when I will visit the chosen schools.  I’m sure the bracelets will be a hit so I’ll need to get busy and make the rest of the 1500 needed for all the students in all the schools.  I can send them by UPS to the Fambul Tok Headquarters in Freetown when I am done.

We had quite an adventure getting to one of our meetings in Moyamba. 

What To Do?

A tree had fallen down over the road in the night.  Motorbikes could duck under, but we could not get past it.  We enlisted men from the village to come to the tree and using a handmade ax and chopping knife, they were able to cut the tree so it could be moved out of the way.  The wood was very hard and they worked up quite a sweat getting the job done.  I encouraged them to sing while cutting and they did.  They got a big kick out of that. 

In one of the very remotest villages at the end of the

He Was Not Afraid

motorcar road in Moyamba three of the attendees spoke about how they had never seen a white person before and they were so happy I took the time and cared enough to visit them.  It was so touching I cried. 

Adama Making Friends With Val

The little ones would stare at me, but when I waved for them to come over, they would hide behind an adult or solemnly shake their heads “no”.  One poor little one burst into very loud tears.

Another section expressed a desire for me to attend their bonfire.  It is this kind of appreciation from the people here that is most humbling.  I am told it is because I integrate with them so well by dancing with them, eating their food and exhibiting genuine interest in them and their lives.  All of this is true, but I do all of that because it seems natural and I delight in all things I can learn and experience.

There is a difference in Sierra Leone this time.  The infrastructure is improving, the atmosphere seems more vibrant and productive.  Hard to explain the feeling I am getting as I travel around.  The two districts I have visited so far are new ones for me and are much poorer than any of the ones last year.  That being said, these two districts have the most educated children and a large number of schools.  Interesting!

My Guest House experience is much the same.  No running water.  Buckets baths and filling the toilet tank to flush the toilet are the norm.  In the villages the toilet facilities range from flat stones on the ground surrounded by a tall enclosure made from straw to the luxury of an enclosed toilet with a hole surrounded by a raised cement seat.

Some of the guest houses offer breakfast with the price of the room.  Those are 70,000 Leones per night ($16.00) while others with no breakfast are 45,000 per night ($10.25).  I stayed in the latter one for 4 nights. 

$10 per night Guest House

Since I was staying for a number of nights, I paid extra for fuel to run the generator for power (fan to sleep and charging time for phone, computer) lasting 6 1/2 hours instead of the 2 1/2 hours they offer.  I also negotiated breakfast everyday and one lunch for the FT staff and myself on our non-field day.  I gave money to buy the food and a salary to the woman who shopped and prepared it.  All this for and additional 230,000 Leones ($52.00)

The biggest expense was a large can of powdered milk for my coffee.  When quoted 35,000 Leones ($7.95), I thought it was a bit high, but I had never purchased a large can before only small baggies.  I was also able to try the local coffee!  Evidently there are some small industries for local consumption and roasting and grinding coffee is one of them.  The coffee is finely ground, but not instant so it creates a coffee sludge in the bottom of the cup much like Turkish Coffee.  It, however, is delicious.

On the second day of using the powdered milk I looked more closely at the can.  It was baby formula!!!! This explained the high cost.   It tasted fine and had all kinds of good vitamins and minerals contained within.  No side effects except this almost uncontrollable urge to suck my thumb!

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara