ON THE WAY TO KAILAHUN 

November 1 and 2, 2012

This morning we set off for the District of Kailahun.  It is quite an adventure as the roads are worse than the ones leading to Kono from Freetown!  Along the way we stop to ask a motorbike driver about the road ahead.  he tells us there is a detour that is better than the “main” road (main is stretching it a bit). We continue up the road stopping twice more to confirm where we will pick up the detour.  Did I mention there are absolutely NO road signs of any kind whatsoever, anywhere?

Stuck!

We find the “shorter and better” detour and begin to take it.  At first it seems we have made a good decision, but as the road narrows and we hit some really deep areas of mud, water and trenches, we begin to wonder.  At one point we come across a pick up truck that is stuck in the mud impeding our ability to continue.  Since the road we are on has become not much wider than a tractor path we have no choice but to help them. 

The villagers who are gathered around, want to charge them 30,000 SLL for a rope which is a LOT for locals.  They have no choice but to pay it.  The rope is attached to the front of our vehicle and the back of theirs.  Michaela and I get out walk around, across the bridge and through the trees trying to avoid as much of the stinky mud as possible.  At one point I enlist a young man to give me a hand over the bridge and a log.  Success!  Miracle Mustafa has done it again.  The truck is free and we are on our way finally making it back to the main road leading into Kailahun Town.

Entrance To District Office

Our first stop is at the District Office for Fambul Tok.  The Peace Mothers coordinator by the name of Yatta greets us.  Sheku from the Freetown office is there along with Musa, and Mohamed from Kailahun.  We speak about our plans for the visits in the area.

The next day our first stop is the house of the Chief of Kailauhn Town.  He lives in a large house with a large cool verandah in front.  What little I saw of the inside is beautifully tiled.  We tell him of our purpose in town and the surrounding countryside.  

Next stop the police station for the same purpose.  We have an appointment with Youth Chairman of Kailahun to discuss a venue for a very large town meeting to take place on Sunday.

It amazes me how quickly and last minute meetings can be planned and take place.  This is Friday and the meeting on Sunday will have the stakeholders (Police,PPRC,DCMC,All Religious Leaders,Women’s Advocate,Youth Representatives,Chiefs etc) in the process for a peaceful election.  All of these people still have to be invited!  It will be for all the people of Kailahun Town.   I have no doubt it will take place even with the short notice.

Lunch is at a local place.  The cost? 4,700 SLL or about $1.15! I had Casava Leaves and rice.  I was surprised to find meat with the leaves.  Tiny bones and all!!! It was delicious.

I need to find local places to eat and shop in Freetown.  I can see now how they say you can live in Salone (short for Sierra Leone) for $100 a week not including rent.  I have been shopping in the most expensive store in Freetown where everything is imported from France, UK and Belgium.  Cereal is $4.00 a box, a qt of milk is $3., a large instant coffee is $10.00 and bag of almonds $8.00!  It is apparent I need to find local places to buy my goods.  Adama is going to show me the places when I return.  Even then the shop keepers will raise the price because I am a non-national.  I don’t mind and understand why.

Our meeting with the Youth Chairman is productive.  A venue is found, the time for the meeting set and the proper people notified by the evening.

The place I am staying is very attractive.  I opt for a room with a standing fan for about $28.00 per night.  The electricity here, as in Kono, is run by generator.  This means 6:30PM to 6:30AM are the hours of light and power.  No sense spending $55.00 for the room with A/C that can’t be used during the day.  A fan and the windows open allow for cool sleeping.

Sitting Room for Four Sleeping Rooms

The place is set up in “Houses”.  I am in House 1 in room 103.  There is an entry room with couches.  There are four rooms off the main room, two on each side.  The cold water shower is part of the bathroom.   

Tomorrow we go to three Chiefdoms to deliver the same message we have been giving in Kono. 

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

A Beauty.  Great Colors.

For those who don't know, I LOVE snakes.  Here is a beauty found in the bushes by the guest house in Kailahun.  Isn't he/she spectacular?

SECOND KONO VILLAGE

October 25, 2012

First thing this morning we are meeting with the gender coordinator for an organization called PPRC to introduce Lillian and Michaela and to encourage the inclusion of Fambul Tok members in their meetings for the area.  It is decided that it will be extremely beneficial for the two organizations to work together about gender issues not only during the elections but also in the future. 

Later the Safety Commissioner from the ONS and members of the district organization called DCMC also meets with Lillian and Michaela.  Kathy, as a representative of the US Embassy, is the facilitator of both of these meetings.  All the organizations agree that it has value to add the Peace Mothers of Fambul Tok in their regular meetings.

The HQ Village

This afternoon we are on our way over some more of the muddy, rutty, bouncy roads we have been traveling these past days.  This meeting is taking place in the headquarters village of the Chief of this Chiefdom.

Again we are met with song and dance and once again I am excited to jump right in.  I don’t even need an invitation! I am led by an older man to the grove with the peace tree. He directs Kathy and I to the seating area.  This time the seats are created with 2X4 boards suspended between the trees.  I am very confident these will not break!  Kathy and I find out the man is the Chief and he is honoring us by seating us with him.

Weaving Fishing Net & Resting
Mat

A woman weaving a beautiful circular fishing net as she dances along presents me with the creation as I am seated.  She and the Chief try to show me how to weave it as the villagers gather around.  It looks so simple, but she has to rip out what I attempt to do.  I laugh and all around me laugh with me. 

A man is seated on the ground weaving a mat.  The Chief tells me the man is 61 years old and has been doing this for over 40 years.  He sells the mats that are used for sitting and bedding for 15,000 leones (about $3.75) to the villagers.  The grove where we are seated is his. 

This meeting has the same purpose as yesterday and starts again with the Christian and Muslim prayers.  There are subtle differences today.  Yesterdays village seemed more open and relaxed and the men more accepting of the Peace Mothers and their participation as leaders towards a peaceful election.

Yesterdays village has members of secret societies.  The women who belong to these societies are called Sowies.  The secret societies are the Animists who still uphold the traditional religion of worshiping the spirits in all things including rocks, trees, animals,etc.  There are no Animists in today’s village.

Lillian gives the same basic message as yesterday but changes it by having a skit instead of elaborating on using women’s talents to persuade the men.  The skit is about a man and his wife walking along as they begin to argue about voting.  She wants one party to win and he another.  He is about to hit her with a stick when another man intervenes.  He convinces the man that he needs to accept the fact the woman has a right to choose.  In the end they hug and make up.

Michaela asks 6 men to come forward.  She mixes age and religion in her choice.  The men hold the posters as Lillian and Michaela explain the messages and solicit agreement from the men and women.  She does this, she tells me later, to engage the men in the presentation.

It appears the men from this Chiefdom are slower to accept the change in the women and the empowerment they are showing due to the Fambul Tok process.  This village is more reserved even though they dance and sing, the same level of spontaneity is missing.

As I am dancing a woman dances up to me and yanks the scarf off of her head showing me a head full of white/grey braids.  She has dimples in her cheeks and her eyes twinkle.  We dance together as the wise old crones of the village.  She is showing me I am her equal in age and wisdom.  I am blessed and honored and touched by the purity of emotion given so freely.

I learn that the Mammy Queen has died and the woman who dances with me is in preparation to take that role in the chiefdom.

Kathy and I speak to the women.  I find it more difficult to be spontaneous with these villagers.  They are very welcoming, but the same level of joy is not present.

Large bowls of rice covered by a brown substance are the offering of food for us to taste.  The brown substance is ground, spiced and cooked casva leaves.  Kathy and I taste as does Michaela to show respect.  It is delicious.  I take a second helping.

Chief (print shirt)Saying Good-bye

We leave for the car with the Chief and a few others escorting us.  The enthusiastic farewell from yesterday accompanied by singing and dancing is not present today.  

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

Note the elaborate hair

braiding on the little girl

at the bottom of the photo.

 What beautiful faces. 

US AMBASSADOR MEETS THE 

PEACE MOTHERS

October 31, 2012

Michaela, Lillian and I meet this morning to make an agenda for the meeting of Michael Owen, US Ambassador, and 22 of the Peace Mothers from the Kono District.  We draw a diagram of the best way to situate the tables and chairs.  The staff at the hotel arranges them.  

Michaela, Lillian and Zinab come back at 3PM bringing posters and a Peace Mothers T-Shirt for me.  Along with them are 11 of the 22 Peace Mothers.  When the car pulls up and they all start piling out, it reminds me of the clown car at the circus.  I cannot believe how many can fit inside the Land Cruiser.  And, no, I’m sure there is not a seat belt for everyone!

Peace Mothers & Posters

I hang up the posters along the front of the tables creating the u-shape.  Across from them is the head table for the Ambassador, his wife and two staff members.  The rest of the Peace Mothers arrive and I duck into my hotel room to add the word Grandmother on the back of the T-Shirt under the words Peace Mothers.  It’s official, I am now a member of the Peace Mothers as their Grandmother!  The women all applaud when I appear wearing the altered T-Shirt.  Then they burst into a song just for me!!!

Abdul, Lillian, Ambassador Owen, Mrs. Owen-Huisman,Joshua

At 4:30 as the two cars carrying the honored guests arrive the women all gather around greeting them with song and dance just like in the village.  By the smiles on their faces it is evident they are really caught up in the joy of the celebration.  They are lead into the meeting area singing and dancing all the way.  On the way in I tell the Ambassador about the lunch he had last year for those of us on the cruise up the West Coast of Africa and how touched I was by his stories of Sierra Leone and his plans to help them.

Lillian opens the program with a welcome and purpose of the meeting.  Michaela tells about Fambul Tok’s reconciliation program through the Power of Forgiveness.  She has stories illustrating how this program has empowered the women and resulted in Dr. Die, a main perpetrator of extreme violence during the war, to come in and ask forgiveness from his village.  He is now the leading force in bringing in the Ex-Combatents to educate them about Fambul Tok's process.  Those men now call themselves Peace Parents and are productive members of their villages. Both Lillian and Michaela are excellent speakers and their passion for what they do and for Fambul Tok shines as they speak.

After Michaela’s presentation two of the Peace Mothers tell their stories.  One extolls the wonders of Fambul Tok and how their process has changed her life and the life of her village. She makes the point that she is speaking English even though she is from the village.  It is Fambul Tok that has given her the courage to speak to important people like the Ambassador.  She says if she tells all the wonderful things that have happened, it will take her until tomorrow! 

The next one tells of her rape by her uncle during the war and her reluctance to confront him during the Fambul Tok bond fire.  She finally confronts him and he admits his crime and asks for her forgiveness which she grants.  She says she now feels free and is very grateful to Fambul Tok, the reconciliation process and the Power of Forgiveness bond fire.

Ambassador Michael Owen congratulates the Peace Mothers on their achievements in just a few short years.  He tells them it is due to women like them that Sierra Leone is healing and beginning to recover from the effects of the war.  Many said after the war was over that Sierra Leone would always be broken and could not recover, but Fambul Tok and the Peace Mothers are proving them wrong.  He says President Obama wants him to give them and Fambul Tok a message of respect and admiration for the work they are doing. 

The Ambassador encourages them to continue growing and empowering themselves and other women around them.  Because of their successes they will be the influence on the young girls in their communities to follow in their footsteps.  This is the future of a strong Sierra Leone.

Later that evening Ambassador Owen, his wife, Annerieke, and his Political Officer, Joshua, return to the hotel for dinner with four of the political party leaders in Kono.  They are surprised and happy to see me sitting having a beer and I invite them to join me.

Ambassador Owen asks me to elaborate on the story that brought me back to Sierra Leone to work with Fambul Tok.  Briefly I explain I was touched by his stories of the war and the attempt to recover when he spoke to us last year during our stop in Freetown.  I was encouraged by his plans to help Sierra Leone. Then the Fambul Tok documentary presented by the filmmaker, Sara Terry, came to Bend.  During my contemplations of where I should go in Africa to be of service, a voice in my head said “You need to go to Sierra Leone”!  I tell him I was surprised but after thinking about it my heart felt good about the decision.

Annerieke expresses her desire to visit the villages.  I invite her to come with us after the elections.  She is excited and says she will love that and can take a week to do it sometime in December.  I tell her I will set it up and contact her when I return to Freetown and have Internet access.

About that time Abdul, also with the embassy, returns with their guests and they get up to move to their table.  As they leave both the Ambassador and Annerieke tell me that the presentation by Fambul Tok and the Peace Mothers was the highlight of their day!  Wow!  I know that will please Michaela, Lillian and Zinab.

It's Official!!!

A little later Abdul and I are standing together at the counter.  He to order food and me to pay my bill.  He thanks me for organizing the dinner, complements me on my dancing (with the women at the presentation) and asks me where I learned how.  I tell him I have an African soul and love to dance.  He then tells me the presentation was the highlight of the day and perhaps the entire trip!  Double WOW! 

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara 

IN THE FIRST VILLAGE

October 24, 2012 Afternoon

Before I begin the stories of the village experiences let me explain the hierarchy of the areas.  They are divided into Districts, then Chiefdoms, then Sections and finally Villages.  The number of Chiefdoms, Sections and Villages can vary within each category of each district.

We are in the Kono district and are going to a Chiefdom for the meeting.  Peace Mothers Chairwomen representing all sections are in attendance as are the section vice-chiefs.  The Chiefdom Chief died yesterday, so the section chiefs are all at his funeral.

We are met with dancing, singing, drums and other sound instruments.  The women, men and children crowd around us welcoming us to their village.  They invite us to dance with them and I am excited to do just that.  They are delighted that I jump right into the fray with no hesitation.

This village also has people from the traditional religion or secret societies in the mix.  The Sowie women are dressed differently and dance differently using hoops wrapped with cloth in their dance moves.

We dance and sing and shuffle our way towards the Peace Tree.  Each village has such a tree where all are equal and can say what is bothering them to anyone including the Chief.  It is a place to resolve any conflict. This space is where ongoing reconciliation takes place after the initial Power of Forgiveness Reconciliation bond fire.

As we approach the entrance to the trail leading to the grove housing the peace tree, I am taken to an older man who then escorts me to the grove.  The trail is narrow, slippery with mud winding through the forest into the grove.  I am thankful for the supporting hand.

Inside Grove of Peace Tree

Inside the grove large bamboo branches have been lashed together and suspended between trees to make seating.  We are lead to the place where we will sit for the meeting.

One purpose of the meeting is to educate everyone about how representatives of the Peace Mothers have been trained and designated Peace Ambassadors to lead their villages towards a peaceful election.  The main purpose of the meeting, however, is to bring the message of the importance of a peaceful election to all the people of the Chiefdom.  T

The meeting begins with a prayer by the Christians and then a prayer by the Muslims.  As we are seated after the prayer our section of the bamboo “bench” breaks tumbling us to the ground!  Laughter all around as a proper bench is brought for me and my escort.  He begins to brush off my back and butt before I sit.  From the grin on his face I get the idea he is enjoying this!

Lillian, the Kono District Coordinator and Peace Mothers District Chairwoman of Fambul Tok, begins the program.  Her talk is about how all the villagers can participate in the process of a peaceful election.  She stresses that it is a joint effort with the men and children supporting the women.

Peace begins at home.  It is stressed that each individual needs to make up their own mind for who to vote.  If a husband supports one party and the wife another, the husband should respect his wife’s decision and not try to make her change to his party.  The parents need to set a positive example for their children.  However it is up to the women to set the atmosphere for peace.  

In the past men have been known to beat and or harass their wives to make them vote for the husband’s party. Women have also been harassed at the polls and women candidates have even been assaulted.  Women have been marginalized in all aspects of their lives.  Fambul Tok is changing that as I will write about in a future blog.

On the day of the election everyone should go to the polls, vote as they wish and go home.  They are not to engage in debate with others of the opposing party as this can lead to violence.  How they vote should be kept secret.

After the winner is announced, they should be happy and congratulate the winning party.  If their party is the winner they should make sure they do not act in a way to incite anger in the members of the losing party.  At the end of the day they are all Sierra Leoneans and need to support the ruling party for the good of all.

As Lillian was giving her speech in Krio, the local language, I had a young man next to me translating.  At one point she gives an example of a woman observing her man fighting that day with another man about the election.  She begins to tell the women how to persuade her man not to fight about the election with anyone by using her feminine talents.  The more she gets into how to use sensuality and withholding favors the more embarrassed the young man becomes struggling to find the words to translate.  I know, from her acting abilities, exactly what she is telling them so I tell him not to worry as I know what she is saying.  

In the middle of the presentation there is a flurry of activity and people begin to suddenly leave the grove.  Rain is coming!  How they sensed that is a mystery, but no sooner do we get to a place of shelter it begins to pour buckets.

We all cram into the community meeting house to finish the meeting.  At one point as I look out of the open entrance a lightening bolt hits the ground next to the building and at that exact moment comes a HUGE clap of thunder shaking the structure.  Screams all around but no one tries to run away.  Later Michaela tells me that the villagers look at the rain, thunder and lightening as a blessing on the meeting from God.

Cathy Presenting Poster

Michaela, Lillian and a Peace Mother Chairwoman named Cathy present a series of posters representing what to do and not to do during election time.  As each poster is presented an agreement to comply with the positive message on the poster is extracted from the men and the women.

Michaela & Cathy Take Note
Of the Edge Of The Sowie's Hoop
on the Left.

Posters are distributed to be taken back to the villages, t-Shirts with Peace Ambassador on the back and a picture of one of the posters on the front are given to the Peace Ambassadors.  The woman seated next to me hands me her one month old sleeping baby girl so she can don her shirt.  She then rushes off to join the singing and dancing that erupts out of the joy of the moment.  This moment of pure joy culminating in singing and dancing is one of the many reasons I love Africa.

After the singing and dancing ends, Michaela invites Kathy Selvaggio, the gender consultant to the US Embassy, to say something to the villagers.  She whispers to me that I will be next!  With my heart full of love for these people, I am happy to share that feeling and to tell them how honored I am to be a part of this day.  I tell them I am the first Fambul Tok grandmother and know they will be successful in their efforts for a peaceful election.  To me they are beautiful and brave.

Some of women of the village bring in large bowls of rice covered with some meat and spices.  To show respect, it is tradition for a guest to take the first bites of food.  Kathy and I are handed spoons.  We take our bites of the deliciously spiced rice and they all applaud breaking again into song and dance as Michaela takes her bite. 

On that happy note we say our good-byes as we are escorted to the car by dancing and singing Peace Mothers.  Words cannot express the emotions running through me.  I want to break into song and dance all on my own!

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara 

THE DRIVE TO KONO

October 24, 2012

As we left Freetown Last night we passed by a new University of Medicine established in 2010.  Also many dams being built, roads and bridges under construction, and signs for planned new communities.  

When Michaela said the roads on the way to Kono were rough, she wasn’t exaggerating. We had a taste of it yesterday when we encountered a few stretches of road where the mud on the road was so deep several large trucks were stuck and we barely made it through.  I dubbed Mustafa the Miracle Driver as he maneuvered our Land Cruiser through the river of mud sometimes sliding sideways in the red clay glop.

During the night the lightening and thunder storm we saw off in the distance catches up with us dumping a large amount of water. Five AM arrives too soon and we pile back into the car to begin our final six hour drive.

The road conditions are far worse than last night.  We ford streams, plow through deep holes full of water, slide through miles of mud and, where the road is somewhat paved, lurch over pot hole after pot hole for miles on end.  Here we are headed to where they mine diamonds and other minerals and the road is almost impossible to negotiate. This boggles the mind. They need supplies in and to transport goods out.  It would seem to be in the best interest of the mining companies to have passable roads.  Obviously it is not or they would.

Negotiating Gate Passage

At one point we reach an area where three large semi trucks are stuck blocking the road. We are directed to a road that will take us around. The private road providing the detour is a short way back up the road.  We turn into it and are met with a “gate” of a log stretched across the road starting at one tree and ending lodged in the crook of another.  Two men sit on the porch of the house just beyond the tree gate.  Mustafa honks the horn and asks them to lift the gate.  They refuse. We find out they are not letting us pass because other taller vehicles have taken the detour and torn down the low hanging electrical lines connected to the house.

The Gate

After several minutes of negotiations shouted out the window of our car and the stubborn refusal of the men to raise the gate, Mustafa and Michaela get out and approach the men.  Finally they are able to convince the men we are not tall enough to interfere with their lines and they let us pass.

Occasionally we pass through small villages, but we are truly out in the middle of nowhere.  Across from one very small cluster of houses, we are stopped by a check point.  We passed a few of them last night but were always waved through.  This time they want to see our papers.  Because of Michaela’s advice, I have a copy of my passport and visa with me.  Kathy, however, only has her embassy ID which, she was told, should be enough.  It wasn’t. Mustafa pulls over to the side of the road and Michaela and Kathy go with two of the guards to a building across the road.

While waiting for them to return I get out to stretch my legs.  I am approached by the other two authorities who strike up a conversation.  It is established that I am volunteering with Fambul Tok and not with a chemical or mining company!  One of the men asks why I want to come into the Districts and I reply the countryside is where I feel I will find the true heart and soul of the country.  I want to learn about the people living in the villages.  He is happy with that and says he wishes for me to get started.  I counter I can’t until he lets us go, so let us go!  He shakes a finger in my face, tells me I am too clever and walks away laughing.

The other fellow stays to chat further.  He asks me about my husband.  I tell him I am a widow and happy to be independent at this time.  He is shocked that I don’t feel I need a man to “take care of me”.  I tell him I am 70, had a wonderful life with my late husband, and don’t need to be taken care of.  He then waxes poetic on the virtues of marrying a woman over 50 VS a younger woman.

After about 20 minutes Kathy and Michaela return and we are free to go.  It took calling an authority in the embassy who in turn asked the name of the guard and the name of his superior to convince him the embassy ID was sufficient ID with which to travel.  It seems what the guard really wanted was a ride with us!  He didn’t get his ride.

As we drive into Koidu in the district of Kono we see people wearing red everywhere.  Music is blaring, people are dancing and milling about.  There is a rally of the present ruling party, APC, and the President and Vice President are in town!  We stop at Uncle Ben’s Guest House where we are supposed to have reservations.  Not, and we are told there are no rooms open in town.

We decide to have lunch and worry about the room thing later. Michaela takes Kathy and I up into a restaurant overlooking the main street.  We opt to sit outside on the veranda so we can watch the action.  Michaela and Mustafa leave us to go to the Fambul Tok district office where they will pick up one of the local employees.

While are waiting for our chicken and chips (french fries) for me and chicken and couscous for Kathy, two young men sit down at the table next to ours.  They are both dressed in red color indicating they are here for the APC rally so we strike up a conversation.

It is a small world wherever you go.  One of the young men, Marlon, has a business right next door to the office of Fambul Tok in Freetown!  He is involved with a new process that turns trash into biofuel.  They are the only ones that can do this and are here to start the process in Sierra Leone.  He has been educated and lived in both the US and England, but is returning here to his home country to be a part of the rebuilding. 

His quieter friend and I begin to chat and he tells me his passion is youth involvement.  He is creating centers where the youth can go for socializing and playing games to keep them off the street.  He also wishes to open a vocational school where they can learn a trade.  He is hoping the centers can keep them engaged so they will not go back to drugs and violence.   I suggest that he have the youth that have been educated and are successful in various occupations be encouraged to come to the centers to be mentors.  If they show the younger men the life education can provide, it will encourage them to follow in their example and, once educated and employed, they can return and be mentors.  A give back program, if you will. He likes the idea.

Soon another friend joins them.  He owns a sound equipment business that is on a corner in Freetown that I walk by everyday!  He has provided a large flatbed truck with speakers and sound system to travel up and down the street during the rally.  It goes by as we are chatting. Quite impressive!

Politics becomes the topic.  It is established that the two major parties ideologies are the same.  The difference is the leader of one party is a planner and the other a doer.  The planner was in power from 2002 to 2007. The doer has been in power these past five years and has improved the infrastructure and education systems greatly.  I suggest that the president of the doers and the vice-president candidate of the planners run together, he laughs.

Next I ask about the present vice-president and an article I read in a local newspaper.  The article spoke about a journalist who had uncovered a level of corruption tied to the VP.  Three days later the journalist was beaten within an inch of his life and is now in hiding.  I want his opinion about that.

He smiles and does a dance around the subject.  He says it hasn’t been proven.  The VP is a young and ambitious man who contributed a great deal of his own wealth for the APC back in the 2007 election.  Because of this contribution he was given the position of VP, but now it is felt by some that he needs to step down and let another run for VP.  The theory is those who wish him to step down are trying to discredit him.

Michaela and Mustafa return, we bid our goodbyes and I promise to stop by both of the businesses once back in Freetown. This afternoon we are going to one of the villages for a meeting with the all the Peace Mothers from all the sections of the Chiefdom.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

LIFE IN FREETOWN

October 19, 2012

First rule: pedestrians do NOT have the right of way! Given the lack of sidewalks most people walk in the streets as do I.  The cars, buses, SUVs, motorbikes all beep horns and fly by as we walk along.  They expect you to get out of their way.  At least I don’t jump anymore when they honk or cringe when it seems they miss me by inches as they whiz by. I’ve gotten so good at crossing busy streets that I might even be able to cross a Cairo street in the future :-).  Those of you who have been to Cairo can appreciate that statement!

Women and men, boys and girls walk down the street carrying things on their heads. Dozens of eggs perch on one young fellows head as he walks up the street loudly announcing eggs for sale.

Bread Seller Has Also Butter & Jam

Note Stool for Resting Bread Tray When
Someone Is Buying

Many items are sold this way.  Besides eggs I have seen honey, sunglasses, water packets, bread, sausages, flip flops, bras (yes, bras!), shirts, candy, soda, tissues, rag cloths, fruit and veggies, cooked food, ceramic pots and sticks of wood.  


These human mini-stores spend the day from before dawn until sunset walking the streets of Freetown selling their products. 

Getting Ready

Up They Go

Success All 5 Up and Carried
Note Both Hands Free!

Everyday on the street outside the office, I hear the noise of beating on wood and a man’s voice calling out. I wondered what it was until one day I passed him in the street carrying a small wooden stand. He was beating it with a brush and had a small backpack on his back.  I realized he is a shoe shine guy!

The other night Adama and I took a walk to the ocean.  We passed by a large warehouse building closed for the night.  During the day it is a huge indoor market selling crafts from around the area.  We passed the hospital, and a local outdoor market with stall after stall of clothing for sale.  The market was closing up for the night.

She showed me the spot where the slaves were loaded onto the ships. It is called King Jimmy, but I don’t know why.  It is just a small wooden ramp that goes from the muddy banks into the ocean.  All slaves that left Sierra Leone were taken to the southern states in the United States.  This is the only country along the slave coast where that happened.  The slaves from other countries were taken to England, France, Caribbean as well as the U.S.  

We got caught in a thunder and lightening storm.  Most do not have umbrellas so when it begins to pour everyone heads for the first shelter they see.  Adama and I got inside the entrance to a public toilet building along with about 10 others while waiting for the rain to slow.

It was dark by the time we returned to the apartment complex.  I was very glad she was with me to help me cross the busy wet streets in the dark.

Much Love,

Mom/Grandma/Sara

COOKING & MISCELLANEOUS

October 16, 2012  

Adama

Last night I had a cooking lesson from Adama, the manager of the guest house/apartment complex.  We cooked Fou Fou, Okra Stew (she called it soup), and Rice.

Fou Fou

Fou Fou is Casava that is cleaned, pounded, water added and fermented. It is used as the starch for the meal.  Poi is the equivalent in America.  Except Fou Fou is pleasant to eat plain.  It has a vinigary taste caused by the fermentation process.

Bowl Full of Thinly Sliced Okra

To eat it you put the Fou Fou or rice in a bowl and add some stew on the side.  Take a bite of Fou Fou and then a bite of stew.  It tastes fabulous.

The Okra here in Africa is so much better than America.  It is smaller and is always fresh.  It is cooked only slightly which minimizes the sliminess that is  characteristic of okra. The stew contains, smoked fish, small bits of beef, onions, palm oil (it’s RED!!!), spice cube (looks like bouillion cube), hot peppers, and okra.

Smoked Fish & Hot Peppers

Meat, hot pepper, onion, palm oil

All ingredients together 

At home I have been contemplating how to get around using plastic wrap or aluminum foil.  Easy.  Put another plate on top and pop it in the frig.

A Bowl Topped with a Plate topped With A Plate!
Environmentally friendly "plastic wrap"!

As I walked home from the office yesterday I came upon a road repair crew.  The repair zones were marked out in chalk. No jack hammers here.  Men with pick axes were digging up the part of the road areas to be fixed.  Another man handled a wheel barrow while a second one filled it with asphalt bits from a pile on the street and a third man shoveled it into the holes.

The only heavy equipment was a small roller machine to roll the fixed areas flat.  I have no idea where the big pile of asphalt in the street came from.

Sundays are very lively by my apartment.  On my street are at least three schools and as many or more churches or church groups using the schools as a meeting center.  On the surrounding streets there are more of the same.

The music from the Elohim Church starts at about 7:30AM and comes from two blocks down and two blocks over. The music is reminiscent of reggae, but what mostly carries is the beat of the bass. We are on a hill.  Sound travels well from down below.

What makes it such a cacophony is that each building has a loud speaker system outside!!!  All the music, all the preaching (think passionate evangelical) and sound is broadcast outside. The various services last from 1 1/2 to 2 hours and some churches have more than one service.  This means constant noise from 7:30 AM to about 2:00 PM!!!!!

Maybe next Sunday I’ll take a trip to the beach

 :-).

Last year the road we travelled was so congested with people walking and cars driving it took a police escort to get us through.  I remarked that I haven't seen congestion like that this year and was told it is only in the eastern part of Freetown.  Evidently that is the section to travel through when coming from the port.  Many people from Up Country never returned to the villages after the war choosing to stay in Freetown.  For some mysterious reason they chose to settle in the eastern section.

Before I left the US, I constantly checked the weather forecast for Freetown.  According to AccuWeather (I usually find they are very accurate) it was raining everyday.  AccuWeather still is reporting rain everyday, but that is not the case.  

I stopped carrying my umbrella last week.  It spitted rain on me on one afternoon.  There have been some torrential (think buckets) downpours but always at night and for short periods.

The sun comes out everyday for some period of time and there has been a breeze most days for some or the whole day.  Here I was psyching myself up for at least a month of constant rain and it is not that way at all, 

thankfully!

Changing Evening Sky:

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma/Sara