Where am I?

2010-01-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

1. Chimps!
2. Mum at the cotton tree (center of Freetown)
3. My gross burnt leg before I made it to the hospital
4. Gold panning ladies. This is where your gold comes from.

What's been going on

2010-01-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

1. Sunshine looks like obama, right?
2. We went to Bumpeh to visit Salifu, a kid i met in November who has had a really crappy life...he's a disabled orphan, and lived for 7 years on the streets of Ftown, dragging himself around with his arms. He'd fallen through the cracks, but this British guy I met set him up with a small room and school fees, so now he's fairly self-sufficient, and has a life. We brought him an Obama tshirt because we knew it would make him a rock star in the village.
3. Kids in Bumpeh excited by white people with cameras
4. MORFA's trees got eaten by locusts while I was in Mali. Still trying to sort out what should have been/should be done. The leaves will grow back, so it's not disasterous...yet.
5. Moringa Pioneers! These T shirts were requested and eagerly anticipated by MORFA, and man were they happy to get them. T shirts matter here. Actually, as I walked around Koidu that day, people yelled 'MORFA!' and gave the thumbs up, so that's cool.

Pays Dogon

2009-12-17T10:44:00.000-08:00

Eventually, we made it to Dogon country! We got a guide at a hotel in Bandiagara, the place where most people set out from. Ibrahim (aka 'Pygmy') has one of the driest senses of humour I've ever encountered, and that is exceptionally rare to find in Africa. Like, crazy rare. So, that was enjoyable, and he did his job well, but I think he was super-tired of showing tourists around, frankly. Fair enough! He gave me a turban and I have him a necklace I made, so we're bff now.

We did 4 days and 3 nights, about 40 km of trekking along the escarpment- mum even climbed it (not that she had a choice)! Dogon country was amazing- the landscapes, architecture...but the culture was a bit of a low point for me. I know I'm not supposed to say that, but hear me out! Maybe it's just the way Ibrahim explained things, but he kept describing this really misogynist culture that revolves around jealousy and deceit. He told us all these stories about how people are selected for human sacrifice (tricked into it!), how disgusting and impure women are in Dogon culture (we bleed, so are obviously pure evil and should be treated as such), and the many different ways people can get ostracized from and/or enslaved in Dogon society. All this, while every. single. fucking. person. we met along the way asked us for a 'cadeau'. Hundreds and hundreds of people every single day came up to us, kids, grown ups, elders, men, women, other, with their palms outstretched saying "madame, cadeau!" "donne moi ton bouteille!" "donne moi un bonbon!", and literally grabbaing at our stuff- I had to smack an old lady's hand who was trying to steal my water bottle! That aspect was geniunely upsetting. Not because I can't handle being asked for things, but because I am very ashamed of everyone, self included, who has been part of the process by which an entire culture has integrated demanding inconsequential gifts from visitors into their daily lives. I get it, but I don't like it.

This gentleman describes it well: http://www.paulstravelblog.com/2009/01/monsieur-cadeau.html.

But back to the Dogon landscapes...wow. Truly some of the most amazing I've ever seen.

Timbuktu

2009-12-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

Boy in Timbuktu with a watermelon, and toubab in a wagon.

With this behind us, we headed up to Timbuktu, expecting...something sort of scary. The canadian embassy has Timbuktu at the highest level of warning, though we couldn't (and can't) really figure out why...some stuff has gone down waaaay out in the north of the country, and in neighbouring Mauritania, but that's days and days from Timbuktu. Nevertheless, with every western country having issued a terror warning, a good half of the tourists we met in the south weren't chancing it, which ultimately meant that we had a wonderfully hassle-free time up there...I wanted to stay! Not only very few tourists, but the touts (vendors- VERY aggressive here in Mali) weren't bothering with the piddly few of us who were there. Timbuktu is funny, because it's so legendary, and yet it's really sort of nothing-y...not beautiful, not a lot to see...but lots of history. We saw some Bella campements, and understanding what the current situation is really between the Tuareg and the Bella is of interest to me. The Bella are the black Africans who have traditionally been slaves of the lighter skinned (Berber-y) Tuareg, and though slavery is officially abolished in Mali (but not that long ago...), all signs point to the Bella still being an enslaved and (obviously) marginalized people.

This travel advisory for Timbuktu is a hot topic in Mali right now, as to most people here, including the long-term western residents, it's completely overblown. People opine loudly and constantly about it. True enough- it's high season, and there are very few tourists about- hotels, guides, the whole country is losing money. There is even an advisory against people attending the Festival au Desert! We have had hotels to ourselves some nights, and rarely shared campements with others in Dogon country. One day, leaving the town of Djenne, we took a bashee (pickup truck with benches in the back) with 12 other whiteys, and they are the same ones we've run into all over the country (the capital, Bamako, excepted)! There are more tourists about, of course, but relatively few in what is purported to be the most touristed country in W Africa. I can't really have an educated opinion on the advisory, as I don't know the behind-the-scenes of the risks, but I have to say that I think a high-level terror advisory is a bit much based on what I've seen, heard and experienced here.

Kirsten vs the Dogon

2009-12-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

A guide for Dogon country (you need one) was recommended to me by a Canadian friend who did a One Sky internship in Mali; I'd been corresponding the guide (Dra) via email for a few weeks, and once we got close to where he works out of, I called him to meet. He asked me to come meet him at the hotel he was staying at, rather than coming to my hotel. This is an odd thing to request, as it was after dark and we'd just arrived in town...I said no, you can come to me, or we'll meet tomorrow- he started to get strangely pushy and aggressive about it all. The owner of the hotel we were staying at caught wind of the conversation (gregarious and take-no-shit german lady), and got on the phone with him, basically saying 'wtf, who is this, why are you asking my guests to go to a different hotel'...and then all hell broke loose. Seems Jutta (the proprietress) and Dra have a history, and long story short, Dra chased us down the street, into a restaurant, threatened Jutta's life, and told us that if we didn't take him as a guide, we'd better watch our backs in Dogon country. To which the obvious response was "we're not going into the desert alone with you, you crazy mofo!". He didn't understand. I suspect he was drunk or high or something, but maybe he's just crazy.

Within hours, the news of this altercation was all over town, Dra being very certain that he'd been cheated out of customers by Jutta. I ended up having to speak to the head of the Dogon in Sevare in a sort of tribal justice kind of way that night, and mum and I went to bed very freaked out. That night, we decided that terror warning or not, we should get the hell out of dodge and go to Timbuktu! Funny the way that logic worked, because previously we'd figured it wasn't worth the risk, but suddenly it seemed like the safest place to be! The next day we booked our plane tickets and I started corresponding with hotels upcountry under the name of Kirsten- news travels, we were told, and every Dogon was going to be on the lookout for Michelle and her mother. WTF?!

Happily, in the afternoon of the next day, we were tracked down by another high-up Dogon guy (the 'head guide', A.G.), who extracted our side of the story. I emailed him a thanks for hearing us out, and he emailed me to let me know that we were 'cleared', and now free to go to Dogon country. Yay! Thanks, Dogon kangaroo court.

Toubab Paul in the cooking pot

2009-12-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

One of the best moments I've had in Mali occured yesterday at the bus station in Segou, on our way back to Bamako...there was a TV screen in the (outdoor) waiting area, showing a Malian soap. Malian soaps are as awesome as Nigerian and Ghanaian ones- that is to say, downright amazing. Low budget, ridiculous, and completely hilarious. The soap yesterday centred on the sotry of Paul, a toubab (white guy) who had lost his fiancee somewhere in Mali, and was going through all sorts of cacicatured 'African' situations in order to find her, including being captured by 'savages' and put into a cooking pot! The absurdity of the plotline, mixed with the hilarity to the local people of watching it with two white ladies, topped off by everyone's falling into hysterics every two seconds at how funny it was, made for what was basically a waiting room full of people exchanging no words, but laughing their asses off together to the point of crying for a good 45 minutes. Good times.

Kira Salak and Timbuktu

2009-12-08T02:10:00.000-08:00

First, this article (this woman!)- amazing : http://www.kirasalak.com/Mali.html. The end, especially, but read the whole thing, there is no chance you'll regret it.

Second- Mali has been eventful, and I'll compile the events in about a week to post(there will probably be even more by then!). Would it be a ridiculously obvious statement to say that it's very different here than in Salone, than in Ghana, than in the Gambia? Perhaps, but I hadn't anticipated it to this degree, as w Africa is so often referred to as a whole. The Mali Empire, Ashanti Kingdom, Gold Coast &etc having overlapped so much historically, to consider differences across modern boundaries seems colonial. Maybe it is, but it's also real...definitely real.

Mali has not been exactly friendly to us so far. I could see it being described as a friendly place, as there are always scads of smiling people wanting to talk to us, but I don't consider it to fit my definition of friendly, because there is no interest in making connections, sharing humanity, being friends. Quite the opposite, in fact- the superficial mask of smiles covering the underlying desperation to separate me from my money makes the situation seem really menacing to me. The touts here are agrressive, they don't stop when I ask them to, and it scares me sometimes. This happens in Sierra Leone too- large men will try to block my path to force me to buy from them or whatnot, but there, the sophistication of the technique is undeveloped, so that I can raise an eyebrow and smile, or even scowl and say "make way!", and the fellow will grin, apoligise and move. Here, not so much- the tourist trade is developed, there are cartels in each town, and touts will phone each other to discuss in which direction we're walking, and what kind of interactions have taken place thus far. It's about extracting money from the tourists, in whatever way, at whatever reasonable cost (malleable definition of reasonable!). Whioh is fair enough- I blame myself for the interactions more than anything (if there is blame to be allotted, which is really a bit dramatic), as I loathe the idea of being a tourist- entering towns and villages for a day or two, taking a million photos and leaving nothing behind(except some empty water bottles)- and I should have remembered that in making these travel plans. I wouldn't logically expect the local reaction to us to be any different- I'd probably treat us just as disrespectfully were the tables turned. [let me amend and say that I'm generalizing, of course, and there have been some really kind, truly friendly people along the way- unfortunately their numbers are minuscule compared to the other.]

I've realized that I really do appreciate hiding behind my volunteer/NGO worker veil, letting it impart some legitimacy to my presence in Africa. I feel like a straight up asshole traveling around like this, I feel I'm being treated like one too, and I don't think I'll do it again (be a tourist in Africa, or maybe anywhere in the developing world, or maybe anywhere in the world). It feels harmful locally, nationally, regionally, as well as to me. But maybe it's just ego. I know the delineation between foreign worker and tourist is nebulous in the minds of many, but it's sharp and clear as day in my mind, and now in my experience.

But don't worry- we're safe, my mum is having a blast and couldn't care less about these things, which is a good counterbalance to me. I am having a positive time overall- I think it's obvious that in life, I can appreciate difficult experiences, and this one is teaching me a lot. I can't really complain, I realize- we're seeing amazing things, and despite my pooh-poohing the tourism, I recognize it is the sole option we have if we wish to see legendary places like Djenne, Dogon country & Timbuktu. So far, the perspective imparted by visiting these amazing sites- not just visually amazing, but emotionally, intellecturally, physically, envronmentally, spiritually heavy places- is worth all my western boohoo-ery. I'm lucky to be here, I'm appreciating it, but this does not make the emotional toll of being constant prey any less tiring. Mum is out today while I take a day off from Africa- am in a hotel with hot water and wifi, and damn well enjoying it.

Catch up

2009-12-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

Finally have internet again! I decided last weekend to spend 3 days at the beach, alone. This was actually an ambitious plan, as I didn't really expect to find the deserted beach of my dreams on a holiday weekend (tabaski)....hoping for the best, but prepared for and expecting something a bit mediocre, I was very very pleanantly surprised! A random turnoff that I asked Moses (driver) to take led to a tiny beach, cut off by rocks from the surrounding busy beaches, where I hunkered down with my hammock tent, some water and a book for 3 days of...something. I gave myself the task of foguring some stuff out, and wouldn't ya know it, I kind of did (a bit- enough). There was a caretaker of an old guesthouse (soon repoening, I think I'll take my mum there), and for a nominal fee he provided 'security' for me, cooked me amazing meals, and provided a deck chair for me to hang out on. I'm bragging- it was great.

The party!

2009-11-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

My birthday party was so silly. It was fun, nice, involved me having to give a speech (people were absolutely appalled that there was no 'programme'!), other people giving speeches, having happy birthday sung by a group of people who didn't really know the words, fish head stew, one cassette of Salonian music on repeat for several hours, dancing Sunshine Family, and all sorts of hilarity and hijinx. I'm a bit lazy with the writing lately, so photos below.

I'm taking off this weekend to go beach camping- figure life out and the like- and when I return I'll be flying out to Senegal to meet my mum!

Oh, and the red-shirted fella is the famous Sunshine!

Pics of me!

2009-11-17T07:39:00.000-08:00

Me in my office a few days ago (the flash disguises the fact that I'm working by candlelight!); this morning, with a guy names Mustapha in Kisibona (near Koidu)...he was the recipient of some of the Moringa seeds I gave MORFA last year, and he's done very well...this is one of the smaller trees, there's one that's like 9 feet tall (in 5-6 months!). He says eating the moringa leaf daily has cured his diabetes and hypertension, which I'm skeptical of, but if he wants to testify like that, so be it! I'm glad he's well, anyways.

2009-11-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

From bottom to top: the kids who tried to break into my office, drawing on my office; these kids shouted as I walked by “WHITEMAN SNAP ME!”, then chased me until I did; a photo I love from my walk in Kenema; more walking in the villages of Kenema

2009-11-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

From bottom to top: Downtown Freetown x2; tire change in Mototoka on the road to Koidu; my office

The road from Koidu to Kenema is ridiculous

2009-11-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

I set out for Kenema at about 2pm on Thursday, thinking it would take the quoted 2-3 hours, clearly not having learned any lessons in Africa yet! Sunshine secured me a bike rider, and I'm going to have to ask him where he found this kid...about 45 minutes in, in the town of Nimikoro (not too far from Bandafayie...close enough still to Koidu that people recognized me), bike gets a puncture in the tire. It happens, good thing we're in a village with a police post...he leaves me there to go get it fixed, which is usually about a 15 minute job. 90 minutes later, after much cajoling, I convince one of the cops to go looking for him...he's been chillin'! Just hanging out with his friends! So my ass-head driver and I set off again, and not 20 minutes later, another puncture...poor kid has clearly not done this road before, he's perplexed by these punctures (riders on rough roads usually carry repair kits), so I ditch this guy and get on a bike with an experienced guy, sandwiched between him and a guy named Mohammed who was carrying a huge jerrycan of water. Lots of hilarity for kids in villages we passed...overloaded bike with a white lady!

At Tongo, Mohammed disembarked, and my new driver set about trying to find a new passenger with whom to sandwich me- he told me to 'wait small', which is what my first driver had said when he disappeared for 90 minutues, so I started to get high-pitched. Just then, an SUV of cops that had been driving behind us and had amusedly witessed much of my day pulled up, and offered me a lift the rest of the way (27 miles). Yay! Total time elapsed so far, 3.5 hours.

The cops were the commissioner of the Kenema district, his deputy (female), and a driver. All were quite well off, and the commissioner had traveled more than I have! I forget that there are well-off nationals here, because I rarely meet them. For what it's worth, the commissioner seemed very bright and honest (cops here are notoriously corrupt). I'm very grateful they picked me up, both for he respite from the bike and the experience, except- driving on awful roads in a car is way slower than on a bike, and I we stopped in various villages along the way to meet people and drink. Which is cool, except it got to be raining and nighttime, and I'd been expected at about 5pm! Time elapsed by the time I arrived in Kenema, 6.5 hours.

No matter, I had fun, finally made it, and so far Kenema is lovely.

Not so bad

2009-11-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

My blog posts (and emails) of late probably give the impression that I’m mired in existential ennui here in the far reaches of Africa. Things have been rough at times, but I can’t help but feel lucky as I sit here, in my homey little Koidu office, sipping tea, eating fresh bread and oranges, and writing about land reclamations for a class at school. How super-cool is it that I get to sit right in the middle of the stuff I’m writing about? This is exactly what I hoped for when I decided to do distance ed.

Trip to the bank today precipitated my current calm…after a week of being concerned about funds (because during my first trip to the bank, I was told there was nothing in the account), a follow up trip yielded the information that there is actually a (relative) wealth of Leones in the OS account, thus relieving my concerns about the staff being paid. I fanangled a new chequebook out of the bank manager (who says he wants to ‘mate’ with me, by the way), and now just have to wait for word from Canada to start paying people. Yay!

On Saturday I have to go do a presentation for the chief of Kueyor (the area that MORFA farms in)- apparently, he needs to hear from me that the money they received is a one-time input, otherwise the chief is going to start charging rent on the land they farm. Yes, it makes no sense- what a dirtball. But if I do this presentation, apparently it will be ok. We’re going to go equipment shopping on Wednesday. I’m giving Sunshine Jalloh and the Sunshine Family the funds to shop on their own on Thursday, when I’ll be out of town, but I’m sending a camera along with them so that it can be documented!

Pick the ugly sponsor kids!

2009-11-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

Kids here are sort of terrifying. Being one of the countries where well over 50% of the population is under 15, and where children are given household responsibilities at a very young age (like, 2), it’s not surprising that these kids have a social structure and development process that differs from North American kids…but it’s certainly jarring if you are expecting a World Vision commercial full of loveable-but-disadvantaged scamps.

Roving gangs of children are what move Sierra Leone- as mentioned, they are the largest demographic group in the country, and many do act as menacingly as gangs; they set up roadblocks to extort money from people, they apprentice each other in pickpocketing and petty thievery, and they administer fairly brutal intra and inter group justice (ie they beat each other up a lot). It’s really not adorable, though totally understandable- these kids have to survive. Kids don’t have to be adorable, they shouldn’t have to be in order to deserve whatever assistance they need, but don’t we just want them to be? Isn’t it more satisfying to consider helping a doe eyed, button-nosed, silent fountain of strength than a foul-mouthed, yellowy-eyed street-hardened urchin? They’re one and the same though, it’s only individual circumstances (and, ahem, marketing) that separate them.

In the thick of it...

2009-11-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

Oh geez, what a couple of days. Rollercoaster. So, yesterday, I met with members of MORFA (the Moringa Farmer’s cooperative) to discuss plans for the funds raised…it went well, the plan hasn’t changed much from when I left. Today, meeting with the Sunshine family in the morning at the office, except- oh noes!- surprise meeting of the local cooperatives at the same time! I guess they meet once a month here at the office, and today was the day…so I got to tell them all, as a group, that the office was closing and that effective immediately they would not be receiving any more assistance. Fun! No, it was awful. And then I felt like a sneaky cheat, because while they were having their meeting in the main room dealing with this bad news, I was in the next room over giving another group money!

I just comforted James, my friend and a grown man (in his 40s), who was crying because he’s so upset about how things are going. It looks like his and the night security guards’ unemployment insurance never got paid, or at least that is what the ministry says, so they are super worried that they won’t get any national unemployment benefits (there are some, surprisingly). James’ wife is 7 months pregnant.

So, despite the good news for MORFA and the Sunshine Family, at this particular moment, I’m not pleased. I’m getting some heavy lessons in how not to do things, learning what to avoid. It’s not currently motivating me to be involved in non-profits long term, though admittedly this will probably pass.

It frustrates the hell out of me too because I’m the one that gets the brunt of people’s anger, and yet I’m the one here trying to support them all through this, totally voluntarily. I’m here on a grad research grant, I don’t have to do this AT ALL. I’d walk right now except then who would take care of things? When people direct their anger at me I start fuming, and I want to tell them to watch their mouths, because I’m so close to walking every single second. But then how can I not understand…I’d feel the same way as they do, in fact I’d be angrier and would probably behave worse.

Solace…there is some. I still love this town, and I am embracing the challenges presented to me. Hanging out with Sunshine is as good as ever, in fact his English is improved and my Krio has improved, so conversation flows much better.

More solace in the people I’ve met…I met a charming young lad who works for UNIDO in Freetown, and he’s in Kenema next week (not too far away) and has invited me to come down to stay with the UNIDO team for a few days, to hang out in the city (Kenema is the 3^rd largest city in Sierra Leone) and eat things that are not fried doughballs (the current specialty in Koidu). I’m excited, that will be fun!

If anyone who attended the fundraiser in September is reading this, both MORFA and the Sunshine Family send huge thanks for the support- they are very touched, I showed them pictures of the event and they were actually shocked, surprised, like “why do these people care, do they know Sierra Leone?” It meant a lot to me, but it means 1000 times more to them. After having the meetings with the group heads, I’ve decided the avoid the weekly meetings for both groups this week so that they can talk amongst themselves, in Krio, and not worry about being polite to me while they discuss their new finances. Both groups will be presenting me with a final budget/management plan before I release the funds, and I’ll attend their meetings next week to get more photos and video for y’all.

Firing people sucks!

2009-11-05T05:59:00.000-08:00

Especially in Africa...James, the caretaker, his wife is 7 months preggo. Sahr Yomba's wife is sick. Both of them are super concerned now, about not having employment. Obviously.

But it is great to be in Koidu. So quiet, nice. People remember me, which is sweet, considering I'm kind of just another white face. But people were at my window early this morning saying hi (ugh, so early), and people at the food joints in town remember my preferences...I guess I wasn't gone that long, but it felt awhile!

So, my birthday is coming up..I decided today to do 30 with a bang, and throw a big party in Koidu! Hell, I've got a space, why not. I'll get Sunshine to help me plan so I don't do wierd Canadian things, ha.

2009-11-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

Today, I am at Café Diaspora, a really sweet place that I just love in Freetown- it’s got Western standards, but somehow avoids being overrun by ex-pats…there are a few, of course, self included, but unlike other western-style joints, it’s never overrun by westerners. I don’t know why…downtown, inexpensive, wireless access, library/bookstore, cooperatively run- it should be! But I’m glad for selfish reasons that it isn’t, because it is an absolute oasis for me.

I’m trying to figure out how this office shutdown is going to go. I don’t think the suggestions I’ve received to date are feasible. I don’t know how the staff are going to react (are they going to cry? Am I?). I don’t know how the cooperatives are going to react, or whether I will take on the One Sky cooperatives and continue working with them. I’m considering it…groups like Bandafayie in particular have been so successful, this model is working- it seems a shame not to continue and see how far they can go. Some groups can be let go without issues, I think- Woama are a nice group, but they’ve pretty much ignored the whole project One Sky tried to implement, which is totally their prerogative and something I support if it didn’t work for them- a formal dissolution of the partnership is probably positive to neutral in their case. Kainsay will be fine on their own, I think- they are successful and very independent, which is wonderful. The partnership with Njaiyor never really took off…I wonder if they’ll even notice, lol.

Then there’s MORFA and the Sunshine Family…with all the One Sky stuff going on, I haven’t had much time to be excited for what’s going to happen with these groups. Thanks to all the wonderful people who donated time and money to the Isatou Society fundraising effort, these guys are going to get set up with the equipment they need to pursue their farming projects, and bring in some income for themselves. Yay! That is going to be fun times, reviewing the business plans with the groups and going equipment shopping! I will take tons of photos and video, can’t wait to share!

And then there are the interviews I’m doing for my thesis- the official reason I’m here! I’m still finishing up the ethical review (for ‘use of human subjects in research’!), so I wont be able to interview for about a month, but that works out fine…I can probably do it over xmas when I have my mum up there to assist me.

I’m really very excited about going to Koidu. It’s just the trip up that makes me want to scream. 7-8 hours mushed in a van with 23 other people, caked in a film of dust-sweat mud, unable to move, no pee breaks…wish me luck!

A little knowledge is a weird thing...

2009-11-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

31.10.09

Driving home last night with Moses, the driver I’m using in Freetown, was a bit weird. There are police checkpoints all over town at night-over the summer there was a spat of armed robberies, and so checkpoints are meant to help control that. The checkpoints can take up to 45 minutes to get through, I’ve heard, but usually it’s nothing much (I haven’t had to stop for more than 10 seconds yet). Moses is a police officer, so he can usually get us through checkpoints without issues, which is fantastic, but one officer who stopped us was a little bit vigilant (and maybe a little bit drunk) last night. Moses had a short interaction with him, and then asked if I had understood what had been said…I said no (but that wasn’t true). So he told me that he made a joke to the guard about my being his wife (as he’s done at previous checkpoints) in order to get us through (it works, for some reason!). What he actually said to this last officer, though, was that he was an ex-RUF soldier, so let us through. Jeepers! I’ve heard people brag about being RSLAF or even sobels and kamajors, but never RUF. The rebels from Guinea are apparently here recruiting ex-rebel soldiers…I wonder if that has caused an increase in pride at having been a rebel?
I had a Krio lesson the other day, that was fun. The teacher is super-nice, though I’ll only be able to see him sporadically because of being in Koidu and elsewhere. I’m pretty stoked about going to Koidu…not actually feeling like there’s much for me in Freetown right now. Certainly keeping busy with a good mix of work and play, but I almost feel like I could be anywhere at times… I’m spending my workday in front of a computer, hanging out with people that I just don’t really know. It’s not immensely satisfying at the moment. Perhaps I’ll take my computer and go to the beach tomorrow. Hopefully, my ride to Koidu will be arranged for Tuesday!

Shut Down

2009-10-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

Hm, I may have spoken a little too soon about the power…today has not been a very successfully electric day.
At the internet café today I got official word from Canada that yes, indeed, I am expected to shut down the One Sky office here. Now, I don’t think that is a terrible business decision- programming is close to a point where it can be reasonably wrapped up, but laying people off has never been on my list of ‘things I’d like to do’. Not to mention, wtf am I supposed to do with the beds, office furniture, solar panels, everything else? But I guess that’s life… this could be the kick in the butt I need to get the Isatou Society its own office out here, or to pick up work with another organization. I applied for a job with COOPI for which I feel I’m eminently qualified (it’s the exact same stuff I was and am doing in Koidu, and it’s in Koidu), but then who knows how it works with these big organizations…not me, that’s for sure.
So, needless to say, a little bit saddened by this news, but also not thinking it’s a huge deal in the long run. I’ve been working more in parallel to One Sky than directly for them, and my work can go on (though I may need to rent some digs in K-town now…not a big deal, it’s super-cheap there, or I can just stay in one of the guesthouses when I’m in town). I just hope that it’s not too impossible to find new work for Sahr and James. Hopefully they can both find jobs that pay the same or more- maybe Sahr can find a daytime job, and James can find a job where he’s around people more.

2009-10-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

Today, I’m taking it easy…I’ve had an uncomfortable belly since Friday- it’s a totally familiar feeling, I had the same thing my first time in Koidu last time, and it’s basically just some sort of adjustment pains. I expect to be fine by tomorrow.

In the upcoming week, I hope to meet up with Juliana, and ex-One Sky staff member who I worked closely with in Koidu last time, and visit the staff at the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (CSSL), who are my official sponsors here. Also am meant to start taking Krio lessons with a fellow named Francis, though I can’t seem to get hold of him yet. I really want to improve at least a little bit before I head up to Koidu! I should be on my way to Koidu in a week or 10 days, and am very much looking forward to it…spoke to both Sunshine and James by phone last week, which was great, I so can’t wait to see them! Koidu is so different from Freetown, it will be a whole new adjustment period once I get up there, but an easier one…slowing down, seeing friends, getting to work in the field, instead of on my computer.

Arrived in Freetown, promptly went on vacation

2009-10-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

I arrived last Wednesday (today is Monday), and it’s been suitably busy. First with legitimate work- sorting out my money, accom., contacts, meetings, work…and then with fun, as I was lucky enough to land 2 days prior to a planned excursion (by some of the ex-pats here) to Banana Islands, some islands not too far from Freetown. The former was as rewarding and frustrating as it could be- high point was meeting Nyake, a young environmental scientist who just finished work on the Bumbuna dam (there’s national power in Ftown now, and it’s pretty regular! It was not like this last time), and is now seeking employment as an environmental chemist anywhere that will take him. I am unfortunately in no position to give him a job, but even after telling him this up front, he still really wanted to have lunch- straight up, he’s thinking long-term networking, and I’ve got to give him huge props for that, because that is something you don’t see here, like, ever. Low point was (and always is) dealing with stupid bureaucrats. I can very confidently state that one of the major problems with Sierra Leone is in the powertripping bureaucratic culture, whereby once someone gets a position with any authority ( or a dress code that includes a tie), they take it as license to act like total jerks and mess with people to demonstrate their power. No foolin’, it’s not just a white lady thing, I hear it all the time from local friends as well. It’s absolutely part of the culture here, as is harboring resentment towards people that ‘come up’, or attain a position of comfort in life. I suspect that these attitudes are not unrelated.

On to the fun…I met up with Dave, a Canadian guy who is here on the same grant as I am (totally different work). Great to meet after speaking online for some months, and also a nice comfortable touchstone after my hectic few days post-arrival (the one thing that makes me consider working for a large NGO is the potential of having my arrival sorted out in advance…that is some stressful stuff). Went to The Atlantic Friday evening (which is ex-pat central, as mentioned in my blogs last time)- it’s a nice bar, right on the beach, that caters to foreigners and as such is…comfortable. Saw some people I’d met last time out, met many new ones. Found out that an excursion to Banana Islands was being planned for the weekend and invited myself along. The islands were lovely…an overcast day on Saturday was perfect for me, as it allowed me beach time without worry of burning to a crisp. The water was perfect (though there were some jellyfish stings in the group, I was fine), and after that played beach volleyball, at which I suck immensely (first time playing volleyball since elementary school though, so I give myself some slack- plus, my serve got decent by the end of it!). Despite my suckage, it was really fun, as was the rest of the evening. We were staying at a beach resort (or, most of us were- dave and myself camped on the beach, me in my hammock tent, which by the way was stupendously fantastic and ridiculously comfortable, AND weathered a night storm perfectly), and so of course they offer faux-cultural activities, including a devil-dance around a bonfire. Someone ordered that, and it was pretty funny- village youth, already drunk on poyo (palm wine), came in makeshift costumes (we believe ‘the Devil’ was wearing a knock-off Fendi jumpsuit, along with a pest control mask), and danced around the fire, making music by drumming on old jerry cans and tomato paste tins. Enjoyable for us, and hopefully for them too (as with legitimate griots, they expected small donations thoughout the dance, which were provided). Sunday brought sunshine, and more relaxing beach time. I managed not to burn, yay me. Took the boat home (it’s about 30 minutes by motorized boat each way) full of lobster (I ate 2!) and very satisfied, save for the fact that my jackknife was stolen in the night. I hate how much I have to worry about theft...all the drawers and closets in my hotel room are locked with titanium cords and padlocks that I brought, and my backpack has little suitcase locks holding the zippers shut at all times. If I am off my guard for a second here, my stuff will be gone. Understandable, but so annoying to never be able to relax!

Last day in Koidu Town

2009-05-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

Already? How does a month go by that quickly?? How do 2 months go by so quickly, for that matter? In just over a week I'll be home in Vancouver...craziness! I'm excited, and nervous! Nervous for many reasons, but nervous I am. I have already become so accustomed to my routine in Koidu that it feels strange and foreign to consider wandering around Vancouver, though of course I know from experience that the moment I get home, it will be like I never left. Which always annoys the crap out of me, and contributes to my schizo inability to believe that Africa is part of the same reality as Canada.

1 week in Freetown, and then the big haul over the Altantic...wow. I know if I look back over my blog to last year, I wrote some hopes and expectations for my trip to Sierra Leone. More than fulfilled- fulfilled to the point where it seems strange to me that I've ever had a trip that was otherwise.

Definitely will miss this town, and looking so forward to coming back.

Spotted at the MORFA site...

2009-05-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

Look at this guy! All adorable and eating a frog. A Green Mamba, not poisonous to humans.

Gross content, not for mums or grandmas

2009-05-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I ask people about their experiences during the war. Usually I don’t- I don’t want to bring up bad memories for people, especially considering that much of the healing here has been done via a conscious effort of “forgetting”. Forgetting in this context does not mean the same thing as it would at home- it seems to be a euphemism that encompasses all aspects of ‘moving on’. Certainly, people bring the war up often enough, but details are limited, for obvious reasons…

I was asking a friend the other day about ‘secret societies’ in Salone. I still don’t know much about them, as most non-members don’t, and white people are especially and specifically excluded . From what I can gather so far, they are generally linked to circumcision, and act in ways similar to the ‘motorcycle gangs’ in N.america, as a kind of civil force often operating above the law. Members of secret societies here also get the secrets of juju passed on to them, and thus develop magical powers…some very surprising people, including many of the ex-pats that have been here for awhile, attest to the reality of these magical powers, saying that they have seen things that can’t be explained any other way…thirdhand, I heard about a western girl my age who saw someone shoot laser beams out of his eyes and kill someone. I am skeptical, but not going to write any possibility off! Anyways, when the secret societies decide to party, people run indoors, as they are very much feared in Salone as having the ability to kill magically, easily, and indiscriminately if outsiders even look at them the wrong way.

The best known secret society is, I think, the Kamajors…during the war, this society reformed as a sort of self-proclaimed civil defense force, best known in the west as being the guys who thought themselves bulletproof. They would walk right into gunfire because they had magical powers that made them bulletproof, although events such as looking at a woman could inactivate the bullet-proof-ness, so many were killed by gunfire.

There is much debate about who were the ‘worst’ perps during the war…the popular opinion says the rebels, but it depends upon experience, I guess…this friend, when I asked about the Kamajors the other day, told me about what finally drove him and his family to flee to Guinea for several years. The Kamajors came to Koidu Town, and, considering Koidu as a rebel outpost, proceeded to brutally murder people randomly. My friend saw a group of Kamajors slit the throat of a man, and then flay his torso open, extract his liver, and eat it raw, in the street that we both walk down every day. The Kamajors, and many secret societies in Salone, are said to engage in cannibalism and ritual sacrifice as a means to gain wealth, power and influence. So I guess that’s what the Kamajors were doing.

I still have trouble understanding the reality that all this happened. There are the remnants of burned-out houses all over the place- one right next door to me, in fact. There is a huge electrical power plant about a block from me that hasn’t functioned since the war…some of the poorer people in Koidu Town squat there. To walk down the dark street at night, illuminated by flickering candles and the occasional roar of a generator powering a lone light bulb, it’s hard to believe that 20 years ago, Koidu Town had 24/7 electricity.

070509

2009-05-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

it’s 9:06 pm, and there’s an exorcism going on about 20 feet away from me. It’s a little scary. Bloodcurdling female screaming and shrieking…a priest yelling to the devil (or whatever is in her?) that he isn’t welcome, to come out, and then speaking in Latin or in tongues, I can’t tell. Now she’s crying a bit. Its public, the priest is doing it all on a stage through a microphone, in the bamboo-walled church next door. This is a picture of a different exorcism that a different preacher gave me (why? Don’t know, but it was nice of him, and interesting).

Oh, the thoughts running through my mind right now…after doing the sensitization and soil tests at bandafayie today, got a call from Daniel, the husband of Rebecca (a former One Sky intern) saying that there was a woman he thought I’d like to meet…her name is Trudy, and she’s a Ghanaian dynamo. She’s lived much of her life in London, but travels back to Africa yearly…about 8 years ago, she came to Sierra Leone, right after the war, and decided she wanted to create work here. So she started a mining company. Yeah. A successful one, which employed may for a long time…sometime last year, she started feeling that mining was not the best way to benefit Sierra Leone, so she started a farm. A 1000 acre rice farm, in the middle of nowhere, currently employing 20 permanent staff, and 80 temporary staff. She started 2 months ago. This lady is not rich, that’s the best part…she goes back to England once in awhile to work in old age homes (she’s a caretaker), just to make money to bring back here to do these things. Yeah! I like her a ton already. She was hoping that One Sky could help her with funds to build a workshop/toolshed on the farm…unfortunately, the fact that I have no jurisdiction over what One Sky does with their programming aside, while she is creating jobs locally, her business is for profit, so I don’t think there will be much funding from ENGOs available. However, I think that she can surely find some sort of grant for African women entrepreneurs. Any ideas? (Not Kiva, she is terrified of the concept of debt and loans).

Meeting Trudy was my daily inspiration, and as I went to visit Sunshine Jalloh (a friend to myself, One Sky, and all white people in town, it seems. A sincerely awesome guy, I love him to bits), I started thinking…about employment in Koidu. I asked Sunshine, hypothetically: I am a 16 year old girl, and I want to find a job in town, such as shop assistant, cashier, whatever- the kind of jobs we have in high school in North America. How difficult is this? Sunshine’s response: oh, difficult. Very very very difficult. He explained the many barriers, including nepotism (familial and tribal), the fact that shopkeepers and interviewers often have to be bribed into favouring applicants (!!!), and the general shortage of formal employment. Self-employment always exists, of course- it is by far the largest economy in Salone, and probably all of sub-Saharan Africa- the people that sell food from trays on their heads, or man fruit stalls on the side of the road. However, not only does one need capital to even start doing this, but it’s scary and daunting for young people. So kids are either idle (‘idle youth’ are blamed for all evils in Salone!), or if they need money, they do it in the way that is easiest for them…self-employment sometimes, sometimes crime, often prostitution (for females). Prostitution is so common here that it’s not looked down upon, as I mentioned before, and while I have zero problem with prostitution morally, I DO have a problem with kids selling sex (not to mention the nasty-ass johns who are buying from them), especially unprotected (very likely), and at the survival level. There are working girls here who do it as a career- no problem, rock on and rake it in, ladies. But 10 year olds doing it to pay for school…breaks my heart. If they want an alternative, I want them to have an alternative!

So thinking thinking thinking…how much does it cost to rent a shop space in Koidu Town? Short answer: $500 a year-ish. Thinking thinking…what does a white lady have to do in order to rent a shop in town? Talk to the paramount chief, local chief, mayor, counsellors, distribute small cash and kola nuts, probably totalin g $20 total. Hmm. Are there currently any employment programs for youth in Koidu Town? There were, but no more.

So you see where I’m going…these cooperatives exist everywhere (but not Kono, yet), whereby women (usually) do things like crochet purses out of plastic bags, make paper bead jewellery, &etc, and an intermediary (um, me) negotitates their sale to fair trade orgs such as Ten Thousand Villages. Young boys here have SOME option for employment, via mining, being bike drivers &etc. Women seem to have self-employment or prostitution as options, generally. Maybe another option, even if only for 10-20 girls, would be helpful? So…$500 a year rent, + $3000 a year in pay (6 days a week, 3000 Le ($1) per afternoon (after school), 50 weeks per year) would employ 10 young girls who are currently hooking to pay for school for a year, AND give them a place to hang out, learn skills...boys would be welcome too, of course. But I think the focus would be girls.

This is what I’m thinking. I’m going to look into it. Major barrier in my mind: the constant need for intermediary between the co-op and foreign traders means that it will never be self-sufficient. Also, it may be child labour, depending on the ages of the members. But that concept is laughably irrelevant…children work here. No way around that. Please send me any suggestions/comments you have.

The One Sky work is going swimmingly…seeing the Banda coop is always great, they are such a committed, cohesive and dynamic group. Always full of comments, suggestions, requests, complaints…they speak their minds, in short. Tomorrow Kainsay, to do it all again. Fulvio, the Italian man who ran the One Sky Home for Wayward Girls in Freetown (ie the guy who let me sleep on his couch) is in town, so am going to have to show him how Koidu Town likes to party.

04/05/09

2009-05-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

The interviews at MORFA went exceptionally well. The ‘sensitization’ (as they call it here) of the One Sky cooperatives starts on Wednesday, and the following Wednesday we start planting. Hoping to have it all done before I leave town on the 19th (ish), which is a tall order but quite do-able. I’ve hired Jim and James to do the sensitization and planting instruction for me, as they’re both experienced in farming, experienced with Moringa, and speak Krio. While they’re doing this, I’ll conduct the soil tests and water tests at each site. Efficient! Getting stuff done is HARD here, so I’m actually quite surprised that I’m getting everything I wanted to and more done- the only thing I had to drop was the biodiversity surveys, which while it was what interested me the most from abroad, is just not feasible here…there is not enough reliable information on what plants are here, and NO photo guides, so pretty much impossible for me to do. I may attempt it on my next trip, but likely not.

I got introduced to another group last Saturday that I’m also interested in fundraising for. They’re called the Sunshine Family Social Club, and are a group of students (junior and senior high) who self-formed 3-4 years ago to address youth issues. It’s pretty incredible- they don’t benefit in any ways from it, except in personal satisfaction…no outside money (except a few random donations), no academic credit, they’re not doing it so they can put it on university applications…just because. And they do amazing stuff- they perform dramas about HIV for the community, they collect money to pay the school fees of girls who sell sex in order to attend school (common- there are a lot of orphans because of the war, and these girls are now 10,11,12,13,14 years old, and if they want to go to school…well. The rate for one sexual interaction is 2000-5000 Le- $0.75-1.50. When I buy street food for lunch, it costs me 2000-5000 Le, to compare). They also help pay the school fees of anyone who has dropped out for financial reasons, and they hope to start an agricultural cooperative so that 1) they can generate some income for the group’s activities, and 2) they can provide after-school employment for kids who otherwise wouldn’t be allowed to attend school because they are expected to bring in an income for their families. These people are teenagers and younger, so impressive!

It is this agricultural cooperative in particular that I am interested in helping out with (obviously!). Not only because it is my area of so-called expertise in these here parts, but because it is something that once established, can hopefully put the group on the path to being totally self-sustaining. They’ve been operating for 3-4 years on their own, but often go months without being able to do much because of lack of funds. I’m sure I’ll go into more detail later.

Many of the female members of the Sunshine family are ex-street workers, and I was very interested and concerned with finding out how they were treated by the group, by students at their schools, by their communities, considering their former involvement in prostitution is always well known…turns out it’s not a big deal, socially, and they’re treated, from what I’ve been told and can tell, totally normally, no judgement. There is an incredible level of tolerance in Sierra Leone- across the board, perhaps the most tolerant and accepting society I’ve ever met. The reasons people do what they do are always understood and accepted, and judgement is low here. Just do a google search for religious tolerance in Sierra Leone and I’ll bet you find some amazing articles (I haven’t yet, btw, so I’m just assuming it’s out there)…it’s spectacular. People are devout muslims, christians, jews, whatever, but they will interact, intermarry, attend each others’ churches/mosques/synagogues/whatevers- no problem. Nobody has ONCE tried to convert me to anything, even when I say I’m atheist. I didn’t have the guts to say I was anything but Christian in Ghana, and in the Gambia when I told people I was atheist, I was subjected to intense conversion attempts. Here, I say it and people are like “ah, ok, cool. So anyways…” I’m sure there are some zealots out there, but religious tolerance seems to be part of the social/cultural fabric here, something people pride themselves on so it is self-perpetuating…like Canadians and politesse, I think.

MORFA

2009-05-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

So, there are two Moringa-based things going on around me; there is the Moringa planting at the four One Sky sites, which will happen over the next two weeks, and there is working with an independent Moringa-based cooperative here in Kono. Re: the latter, I love the fact that a bunch of people got together of their own initiative a year ago to form the one and only Moringa cooperative in Kono (with the unfortunate acronym of MORFA), and one of very few (if any others) in Sierra Leone- I agreed to join the cooperative as international coordinator (ie white person who procures funds) because it’s something I believe in, obviously, and because it is so the epitome of community-directed! So often you see cooperatives that are half-assedly put together in order to get funds from international NGOs (and in fact, NGOs often require that THEY be the ones who form the cooperatives, no names *cough*worldvision*cough*), but this one has been fully operational for a year, has a constitution and 24 members, dues, a contingency fund…it impresses me very much. I think this will become something I fundraise for through Isatou.

On another topic, I just LOVE the way things work around here! So my camera got buggered by some orange juice, and I tried to find one to buy in town, but was getting quoted outlandish white-lady prices (1000000 Le, or $350, for a base model 5-megapixel Samsung- would be $99 at home! I get supply and demand and scarcity, but f that- too much). So I expressed this to the Moringa cooperative, who I’m going to work with tomorrow, and you know what they did, unbeknownst to me? They called around until they found a guy in town with a digital camera I could borrow! How nice is that? I didn’t even know this, and was on my way through the market to go find this guy and try to talk him down to a more reasonable price, when I ran into Pastor Macaulay, one of the coop members, who was just on his way from picking up the camera. Niceness!

Krio

2009-04-28T09:10:00.001-07:00

I’m learning Krio! I didn’t pick up much at first, but I think I’m one of those learners that starts slow and then suddenly knows a whole lot, like kids who start speaking in full sentences. It’s not hard, it actually just takes guts, in my opinion, to start speaking Krio, because you feel like a jerk at first. For example, hello is “how de body?”, and the response is “de body fine”. Think about actually saying that without feeling like you’re doing a horribly offensive impersonation! Or saying you’re done eating…”me beleful”. Me belly full! I love it. ‘Hurry up’ is “mek hest” (make haste), and ‘be careful’ is “tek tim” (take time). Unfortunately (for me), you can’t just pidgeon-english things up and be speaking Krio- it’s a formalized language with grammar (‘grama’!) and syntax, and as much as the temptation is there to just consider it to be simplified English, it’s not. People will literally not understand you if you use English synonyms that aren’t part of the Krio vernacular. There’s also some French in there…’a lot’ is “boku” (beaucoup), and ‘to know’ is to “sabi” (savvy…savoir).

Desastre!

2009-04-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

Right after my last trip to the internet café, I walked up the main road in Koidu barefoot, because my flip flop had randomly broken at some point while I was on the internet…everyone noticed ( I didn’t think anyone would, half of the people walk around barefoot, and I was strolling all casual-like), and before I had gone 15 metres, someone was bringing me to a cobbler, and actually paid to have my shoes fixed! 200 Le, which is about 7 cents. I tried to pay her back, but she was having none of it- so sweet! So I sat on the side of the road while the cobbler fixed my shoe, and attracted a crowd of kids who wanted to show me how they dance- it was adorable, and I was feeling very up. I felt like some orange juice, so I decided to buy some…stopped by the Lebanese supermarket, where things like tetra packs of orange juice are available for relatively exorbitant prices (8000 Leones for 1L, about $2.75), but I was dehydrated, craving juice bad, and rationalized, as I do, that I could afford it. When they started putting the juice in a plastic bag for me, I said no, I’ll put it in my backpack, as I do…forgetting: 1) that I had all my electronic equipment in there, and 2) that things in Africa are often old and broken. Like the plastic lids on tetra packs.

The juice leaked, badly. Into my backpack. My backpack is waterproof, so it pooled at the bottom without me noticing. My computer, video camera and camera sat in it for the time it took me to walk home, about 20 minutes. Ouch. They were all DOA.
I flipped out! In my head I did, anyways- I was beyond crying, I just got so…depressed. So angry at myself! I destroyed $1000 worth of equipment- 3 years of average salary here- in one fell swoop because my western ass wanted some tetra pack orange juice. Omg guilt and remorse like you wouldn’t believe- I was feeling it.
I did what I could. I layed the equipment upside down to let the juice drain from the innards, and sucked the rest out with my mouth (ew, by the way, it tasted awful). I called my mum and asked her to look up what to do on the internet, and to check costco’s warranty program (it doesn’t cover orange juice spills, boo). I wondered how the hell I was going to finish my work here without my computer! It would have been possible, but difficult. And still, the guilt over wasting all that money on equipment that lasted one month…this is why I can’t have nice things!
Mum’s research suggested that I take the equipment apart and clean it out as best as possible, so I did what I could- went into town and bought screwdrivers, used the sterile water and q-tips that larissa had left behind, and went into intensive surgery. My computer made it back to the land of the living, a little bit worse for wear in the screen area, but otherwise in perfect working order. Hallelujah, for reals! My camera is currently in palliative care…it is working again, but there is so much orange juice inside the lens that everything is blurry and it is essentially useless. I’m going to try to clean inside the lens today, but am not holding out much hope, as I don’t even know how to get in there, or if that’s the only problem. The video cam died- I think it shorted out while still in the orange juice pool in my bag, as the battery has burn marks on it.
So the final result is that I feel like only 50% of the asshole I did before. I’m bummed about the cameras-I should have access to friends’ cameras once I return to Freetown, but I really need to document up here, so I think I’ll have to buy one, but all I’ve found so far is 35mm ones, which I barely know how to use anymore, and don’t trust (I can’t take 100 pictures and delete 80 of them???). But it may be my only option. My computer has a webcam, but I’m not going to whip that out in the field. I can live without the video, since I took so much video in the first month, and also have access to Sheryle’s video of the reclamations, so will have enough to work with. If I find a digital cam, it will also likely have video. But I do feel like a total jerk for ruining such a nice video camera- that’s really the main source of my annoyance. Who does that? Argh.

The upshot of all this is that after my computer came back to life, I went into intense appreciative mode. For everything, but for whatever reason, for my place in the community here. Don’t try to make logical sense of how the electronics are connected to my feeling of community, I have no idea, it just is. I had been struggling with intense annoyance for the first week in Kono, at the fact that every time I step outside, there are 20 kids on me, and 20 adults too, all 40 of them wanting money and attention. The oft-repeated phrase here while passing on the street is “hello, I want you for my girlfriend”. Which at first made me be like “why?? You don’t even know me, I could have a bad personality!” But I of course realized very quickly that it’s just a greeting, like saying “how are you?” The other source of my annoyance was James, the caretaker at the office…James is intense. He is in my face from 7am to 5pm every day, and even on his days off (apparently). He hugs me anywhere from 20-80 times on any given day, his hands often end up on my boobs (not in a sexual way, boobs just aren’t a big deal here, so they accidentally get patted sometimes, but I notice! No one ever goes near my stomach or legs though, to contrast, as stomach and legs are to Salone as boobs are to North America), he puts his hands all over my face while I’m working, wiping away my sweat or poking my pimples, shoves food in my mouth when I’m not expecting it (literally!), randomly does things for me like I’m 2 years old, like cut my food into pieces and tries to feed me…it’s very full on, and I was miserable for the first week of it, wondering how I’d survive another 3 weeks. I did speak to him about laying off, but with the knowledge that he is so well-meaning, it was difficult…I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but wanted to protect my sanity!

Anyways, yesterday was a turning point. Sunday, James’ day off, he stopped by because he was bored (or something). We started talking, and since I didn’t have to work, I enjoyed it, a lot! We hung out for 5 or 6 hours…I told him about Canada, he told me about Sierra Leone, his experience in the war, his thoughts on mining, the environment, his work history, his hopes for the future…we looked through my photos of Sierra Leone to date, he marveled at how many I took (I only showed him the first week!). We talked about moringa, a favourite topic for both of us, and about health and nutrition in general. It was absolutely delightful, and made me realize that I am not an antisocial cow, I just need space sometimes, like when I’m working. I think james realized this at the same time as me.

Bolstered by my joy at having a working computer and a working relationship with james, I decided to set up an arts and crafts table for the local kids and invite them inside. Wow, did they ever love it! The ones who didn’t happen to make it inside and found out later were upset, but I’m going to make it a regular thing, and told them that. Arts and crafts are great- I remember how much I loved them as a kid. Today is Independence Day here, so with that, I’m off to see what in town is open- ideally, I’d like to go to the internet, buy some food (avocados and mangos everywhere, I love it!), buy these Obama flip flops I saw (because I usually introduce myself as “Michelle, like Michelle Obama”, I am now called ‘Isha Obama’ in town, so it just seems hilarious to me. Obama here is like Hello Kitty in Asia- on everything!), and get some more craft supplies for the pikins (kids).

23/04/09

2009-04-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Getting under my mosquito net feels like getting into a fort, and I like that. There is no solar power for me tonight, I used it all up boiling some water for tea about an hour ago. Resultingly, it’s 8:30 pm and I’m in bed, after having a dark, chilly and wonderful shower in the rain. I needed it, today was a frustrating day.

Today was my first day of fieldwork- mapping the perimeter of the Kainsay-Kapeteh site. I had a nice plan, basically to walk the perimeter of the site holding my GPS unit, to map the borders. I explained that to the office caretaker here, who was showing me the route to the site. He and I both communicated that to the head of the cooperative, who said sure, who told the chairlady, who didn’t object. We then went to the site, and as I set off to begin walking the perimeter, suddenly there was a change of heart, and there was no way I was going to be allowed to go on my own. I didn’t want someone to come with me simply because I wanted to take my time, not be rushed. Admittedly walking the perimeter would have been no easy task alone, as it involves forging streams, climbing small hills, trudging through deep grass and swamp, and etcetera. So I agreed to have a local escort, a lady named Sia. We started walking, at first around the border, and then more and more towards the centre of the field. I told her that I wanted to stick to the perimeter, showed her the GPS, tried to explain satellites (feebly, I don’t know what satellites are about), and we went on…zigzagging across the field. I tried several more times to explain why I wanted to walk the perimeter, to which she pointed out the difficult path around the perimeter, and the neat path towards the centre. Two men came to join us, listened in, and sided with Sia. I should definitely not walk the perimeter, it was a stupid idea. Well played, Sia.

I managed to get enough edge readings via the zigzagging that I have just enough edge waypoints to draw the outline…I think. I was told, when I returned to the office, that there was an old survey of the site I could use to supplement my data. I got excited, until I got it…a polygon penciled onto white paper with ‘Kainsay’ written above. Oh.

2009-04-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

21.04.09
The internet is out in Kono! Bummer, but I’m still pretty pleased to be back here. Freetown was superduper fun, but I was pretty much just hanging out. No complaints, mind you- there was a 60 minute period on Sunday in which I swam in the warm Atlantic, ate delicious fresh lobster, and rolled around with nine 3-week old puppies on the beach. Yeah, that was ok!
Side note about lobster- that was my first time eating it out of the shell, and MAN does that just look like a giant insect! All barbed and hairy on the shell…weird experience eating it, because it was so delicious, but I was mind-gaming myself by imagining it as a giant red tarantula…I’d like to get over my aversion t o eating insects (and arachnids, yo), but it’s a huge huge mental block for me. So I think the lobster was a good first step. I ate it quite happily while staring at its many legs and hairy exoskeleton…where I’m at now, with the insect-eating, is that I think I can stomach the concept quite well if I was just eating the ‘meat’…it’s the idea of organs and interstitial fluid (or whatever insects have) that bothers me! I’m going to stop there and say I feel OK being bothered by that, and I feel evolved enough in my potential insect-eating abilities. Pa Koroma, the guy who took us to Otamba-Kilimi, was amused to hear about how much I hate termites- but they’re so delicious, he said! Noooooooooo.
Tomorrow I will plan out my ridiculously intense work schedule. Eck. The next day I’ll visit a site (don’t know which one yet…probably Kainsey), and do the GPS walkaround to start the mapping.

work? right.

2009-04-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

So, I'm here to do stuff! What kind of stuff? I'll start with step 1, mapping the sites. Basically, there are four sites, and in order to make my surveys scientific, and to ensure that I can retest the exact same spots in 18-20 months, I am using GIS software, government and UN maps, GPS, and photos to create maps of each of the sites. I will then use software to overlay a grid, and randomly pick sampling spots within the grid.

So, right now, while in Freetown, I'm reading GIS books and putting together a plan of attack. I'll be visiting each of the sites with my GPS unit next week, and using the information to outline the sites. I hope to have it done (enough to move on) by the end of next week..it will be a lot of work!

And what I wrote this morning

2009-04-13T12:23:00.001-07:00

I am so impressively bloggy so far! I just can't shut up.
i
I’m thinking a lot this past few days about my feelings on a very specific topic. A lot of the ex-pats here are working in the special courts, trying people for war crimes. There are 8 main people being tried here, I think…Charles Taylor is being tried in The Hague. So, if people aren’t NGO workers here, it seems they are almost universally working in special courts, and predictably, about half are working for the prosecution, and about half for the defense. I have major internal turmoil about these defense workers. Logically, I understand the requirement that everyone receive fair treatment under the law. Logically, I don’t fault those defending the war crime guys- law wouldn’t work otherwise! But it freaks me out, I can’t yet really talk to defense people, even though there are some super cool (seeming) ones. I frustrate myself with this! I mean, I guess I should talk to some and just ask straight up about it…like, are they gunning to get these guys off the hook completely, or just wanting to ensure fair trial? The former is awful, the latter extremely commendable, imo. But still, the knee-jerk reaction is there, and I only want to hang with the prosecution people so far. Not fair, not right, I’m aware, working on it. Interesting though.

Found my USB!

2009-04-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

Miracle, my USB drive was actually still at the internet cafe where I left it behind. Today, easter monday, is a big deal here...everyone goes to the beach and walks along it, some fly kites. So we went and hung out at Lumley beach, it was nice. Here's what I wrote a few days ago:

The disparity in Sierra Leone exists even for privileged NGO workers, and is such that there is almost no middle ground; I constantly find myself being shuttled between difficult conditions and moderate luxury- and I haven’t seen half of the luxury of ex-pats in Ftown, so I’m told. Where one day I can be squatting in a rural field in the beating sun with bugs biting my bum, thirsty, tired and sick, the next I am in a Freetown condo with 24/7 electricity and cleaning people, being served a breakfast of herbed eggs and fresh pineapple. The latter condition is where I will reside for the week I am in Freetown, as the convent is having a nun convention, and Larissa’s roommate Fulvio, an exuberant Italian guy with a talent for Diablo (circus stuff), has graciously agreed to let me stay on his couch. His flat is killer- I was actually there my first night in Freetown, as it’s where Jon (Larissa’s friend that I met on the water taxi) used to live. Not only does it have electricity, but I had my first hot-water shower in Africa ever there! There’s a fridge, satellite TV, and the bugs think it’s too fancy to hang out, so no nets! I think I just haven’t been exposed to all the fancy ex-pat stuff that exists in Africa previously, as everyone seems to think I’m crazy for continually exclaiming at these things, and they tell me stores of pool parties at mansions and such.

So, I’m happy to be in Fulvio’s nice Freetown flat, as I’ve been unwell the past few days. A bit of gastro stuff, but mostly it’s my back! I don’t know what happened, maybe I have my dad’s crappy back and it’s just kicked in, but after a lifetime of no back problems, yesterday my upper back muscles seized up sometime mid-afternoon, and never let go…and then I had to make the 6 hour bumpy road journey from Kono to Ftown. By the time we arrived I was in excruciating pain (watching 30Rock on my computer and laughing was not helpful), and so I just went to sleep. I woke up this morning much better, but sort of worried…what the hell was that? I still feel the tightness, and it hurts to laugh or breathe too deep. It’s not a broken or slipped rib, I’m quite certain, so…hmmm. I’m going to take it easy, anyways, and do lots of stretching.

Koidu is so nice…so calm. The office is great- the intern bedroom is comfy: big beds, shelves, nets- there’s even electricity, courtesy of the solar panels! The bathroom is bucket baths, but I like those anyways. The toilet flushes- as in, you have to take off the back and manually fill it with water first, but toilet stuff goes away and doesn’t smell up the joint- yay. I met some key people, including Sayumba the security guard, and James the office manager. James is super-cool and someone I’m going to hang out with a lot. He has a big interest in Moringa, has just started growing a tree, and put me in touch with a guy who considers himself to be a moringa specialist- Jim Kelly (local, but with a very western name!). Jim is currently tracking down seeds for me- Moringa hasn’t been introduced to Salone yet by the big groups that do intensive moringa education/promotion programs (Church World Service and Trees for Life), but some of the coops have specifically requested it as part of their land remediation, so I’m happy to help with that. I’m relieved that it’s already been introduced somewhat though, as I didn’t want to be ‘the one’ to introduce a non-native species to an area.

Koidu Town is the wild west- it’s a frontier town, it’s where people come to seek fortune, and it looks like it! The colonial-era buildings with balconies, saloon-style doors, the dusty roads…it makes me laugh. Visited Woama, a 45 minute motorbike ride away, and they have a nice small uncleared plot for me to map and test. It will actually likely end up being my control site, as it turns out there was no mining activity in the area- they just have bumpy land. Bandafayie is about 30 minutes away by bike, and the site is HUGE! Gigantic. It’s been reclaimed in stages, including a few acres that were just flattened and some that heven’t yet been, and the cooperative is very awesome. They are probably the most unified and dynamic of the 3 that I’ve met, likely because they’ve been operating the longest. They sang a goodbye song for Larissa and a welcome song for me, and gave Larissa a chicken and some bananas to thank her for her work! It was sweet. But yeah, the site is massive, kind of overwhelming…it would take me 10 minutes just to walk across I think. Finally, went to Kainsay, which lies on the border of two chiefdoms, so has been one of the more difficult sites for Larissa to coordinate the reclamation of, but it was recently started. Some work needs to be done still, but as it’s all being done by hand, it will take time. Doesn’t affect me too much- I can map, test and survey just fine, bumpy or not. There are still active artisanal miners right next to the Kainsay reclamation site.

Finally, it’s important to note: I hear the song ‘Careless Whisper’ at least once a day here…sometimes random covers, sometimes the original. As a huge Careless Whisper fan, this pleases me. It’s on right now. Also, there is a song that I’ve been singing since I was a kid, that I was half-convinced I made up because I haven’t heard it since it imprinted itself on my brain…my friends Faith and Jen will probably recognize it from my constant teenage wailing (the “oh babby babby blue” song)- I heard it here! Several times! So exciting. I still don’t know what it is, what the real words are, but it exists, and that is fantastic news to me.

photos!

2009-04-11T13:49:00.001-07:00

I lost my USB card with my most recent, 2 page (single spaced) blog entry, so I'm replacing it with photos. I'm in Freetown until Friday, when I move up to Kono for the rest of my time here (probably). I've done up my schedule and I just barely have enough days to get everything done! 2 months is such a short time to do so much!

This is me with Sayumba the security guard on my left, and James the office manager on my right. They are both awesome. James I get along with especially well, and we have similar interests in ecology, botany, moringa etc, so we'll be hanging out tons I'll bet. He's not grabbing my boob, by the way, I promise- they are both totally not lechy.

This is me with Sheryle (left), the filmmaker documenting the reclamations, and Larissa (right), the One Sky intern who has been here since September. They're both leaving April 19th.

The top of a hill at Outamba-Kilimi, and the view:

Not bad.

What a cutie! We met this boy and his family catching crayfish on a hike in Outamba-Kilimi; I was unwell that morning, so decided to stay with them while the rest of the group hiked on; they picked me up on the way back.

The One Sky office in Koidu Town. Bedroom is in the back, has two big double beds, shelves, lock.

Below is a small part of the Bandafayie site- it's huge!

Internet cafe is closing. Love to everyone!

2009-04-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

So this past 4 days I…rode on a motorcycle through the jungle, got sprayed in the eye with burn-juice by some asshole bug, got 100+ bedbug bites, saw 7 hippos and lots of monkeys, and swam in a bathtub-warm river.

Otamba-Kilimi National Park is about 6-12 hours from Freetown, depending upon luck and finances. The last 25 miles is the most fun- from Kamakwie, the last outpost before hitting the jungle, the only way to get to the park is to take motorbikes. I was not keen on the idea, very grumpy indeed about the prospect, but it was the only option, and wouldn’t you know it, it was just too damn fun not to love it. They don’t actually go fast enough to kill you if you were to fall off, in my estimation, and though I’m not totally down with ripping through nature on loud gas-guzzlers…yeah, the fun thing. It’s fun! And absolutely beautiful...I think I saw the brightest greens of my life on that trip. Dense and lush, interrupted at intervals by sparse burned land, as slash & burn is the name of the game here, and there are a few local villages that have grandfathered rights to the park land.

We were lucky enough (x1000) to make the trip with Kali Kamara, an Outamba-Kilimi park warden who also works with the Conservation Society of SL (CSSL). He proved to be a wealth of information (obviously), and I pumped him for the identity almost every plant and tree out there. He obliged, and I remember a good lot of them, because he tested me on them! He’s into ethnobotany as well, so always made sure to tell me the economic uses of the plants, and even brought me some old documents and reports to read on native plants of the Bombali district. I adore him, and want to hang out with him all the time. I’ll be stalking him for sure, and have already promised a return trip to the park when I come back to SL in 2010- this time for at least 10 days, so I have a chance to trek out to see the elephants!

We canoed down the Little Scarcies river one fine morning, spotting a group of 7 hippopotamuses blowing and yawing and ear-wiggling. Next we went for a bush walk to a dry lake, where we saw a bazillion different birds, and some warthogs. I found a snakeskin and got a bit worried (we were trudging through tall grass), but there have been no snakebites in the park since it opened in ’82, and they were upfront about other-caused deaths, so I believe them. I liked seeing the animals, but I keep wanting to write about how amazing the cotton trees were! They flanked the sides of the river, SO huge, bigger than Baobabs, bigger than Mahogany…just BIG! And always so prominent, as I guess they’re greedy, and so their immediate surrounds tend to be less dense. Little balls of cotton everywhere, and monkeys running around in the trees…black and white colobus and green monkeys (not actually green) were seen by us. Larissa also got a huge kick out of the birds…and amateur ornithologist, that one: “look, a hornbill! Oooh, a blah blah crested heron. A blue kingfisher!”…and so on. Lol, it was cute. She had the camera, so lots of pics of those, but I had the video, so lots of video of trees!

The camp is a series of cute thatch huts, with a basic outdoor pit toilet and an NGO-installed borehole for water. All on a beauuuutiful riverfront beach. We were the only ones there- clearly they do not get many visitors, if the guestbook, which we were pretty much forced to sign, is any indication. I think that’s really too bad, as it’s Salone’s one and only National Park, and apparently used to be rocking before the war, but then turned into an RUF outpost, and had all its infrastructure destroyed. Rebuilding the park for tourists is understandably low on the list of priorities for the government, but NGOs should be on this…some definitely are, as the rangers spoke warmly and excitedly about every group that has visited and offered assistance in improving the infrastructure, but so much more is needed to make it workable (read: safe and accessible) for even the roughing-it types. I don’t mention Sierra Leoneans only because it seems silly to consider weekend excursions to the national park for 99% of locals based on what I’ve seen so far, and I only mention tourism at all because the park needs some goddamn coin to stay alive! I’m learning more and more that conservation, especially in a ‘developing’ world context, is not and cannot simply be a matter of just letting nature be nature. There are poachers, there are prospectors, there are people who will move onto the land and start burning it. I’ve been brainstorming ways of getting some funds to the park…I’m thinking, beyond just straight up helping CSSL with funding applications, which they already do well on their own, but just are a bit understaffed, of perhaps putting together a visitor’s guide that the park could sell to help them generate income as the tourists trickle in more and more. I certainly would have shelled out a good $5-10 for a plant identification guide if I hadn’t had a walking, talking one with me.

Anyways, the river is safe to swim in- the crocs have been gone for years, the hippos don’t come anywhere near the camp, and the water is clear and warm. We did some swimming. It’s also where you bathe and wash your clothes (which get soooooo omg filthy in the jungle, they had to be washed halfway through the day just to be not-disgusting to wear in the afternoon). Monkeys hang out in the trees around the camp, including a mama and baby that I got lots of video of. There was an awesome tree at camp called ‘Black Tumbler’ (say ‘Black Tom-bla’ in your head) that has my new favourite fruit...it’s common in the area, maybe in the country? I bought some more along the side of the road on the way home…it’s tiny little black velvet-y pods with a powdery-sweet fruit inside (and a big seed). Not what you want to eat when you need volume, or are thirsty, but really neat and tasty.

So, the bugs…they ate me. I had the hut infested with bedbugs. Woke up first morning thinking some noseeum-type bugs must have gotten through my net, but it was obvious after night 2 that it was bedbugs…my body is all bit up, everywhere. Spent the last night in a different hut, no probs. Not that the park staff will admit to there being bedbugs! Lol. And then there was the asshole bug that sprayed me in the eye…so I was sitting at camp, minding my own business, when a huge bug, maybe the size of a wasp, flies right into my eye! My lids closed a nanosecond too late and held it in place, and it released this awful chemical that BURNED all over my eyelid! I actually screamed, very earnestly, “my eye, it burns, it burns!” I flushed it out with water and was rewarded with no permanent problems (it would seem), but had a beautiful stink-eye going on for a few days…still have it a bit now. Jerk. It really hurt!

The ride home was a bit of a lame experience…the motorbikes were fun (again), but the cab driver we had arranged to have meet us in Kamakwie was drunk when we phoned at 8:30 or 9am. We’d already missed the last bus out of town by that time (they go early!), so after some brouhaha that involved Larissa’s world champion crazy-white-girl loud screaming at everything, we hired some bikes to chase down the poda-poda (minibus…only other transport). Larissa and Sheryle’s bike ended up having a driver who was on his way to Freetown anyways, so he brought them to Makeni (middle-ground, middle-sized town), while Pa Kamara and I suffered on the stupidly overcrowded poda-poda (which was admittedly nice enough to let us on). It was dreadful though, worst poda-poda, galli-galli-, tro-tro or matatu ride of my life. Maybe not as bad as the trip to Njau. But just like that, with other people’s sweat instead of rain, and less padding on my butt. Sucky. We stopped for about 1hr in Makeni so that my cranky ass could eat a shwarma, and then hired a taxi to take us into Freetown, where I got to experience East Freetown traffic. Worst ever! It took an hour to go 5 blocks, and that’s WITH the cab driver bribing police officers to make traffic yield to us! I got to the convent a little over 12 hours after I first hopped on the bike this morning (it was an 8 hour trip up), and promptly jumped into the shower, maybe for the first time ever not wincing at the cold water, just getting as much of it on me as possible. Weekends like this take a huge toll on the body- the bugs, and the sweat, the dirt…it just congeals into a giant disgusting mess of a coating on me, and makes me feel icky. Still totally worth it, but also worth ranting about.

Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I hop into another car, and travel clear across the country in another direction (east), for my first visit to Kono! Larissa and I, plus her colleague Steve and an outside consultant named Marie, will be spending 2-3 days in Koidu town, combining my orientation with Larissa’s goodbye and Marie’s site and program assessment. Then it looks like it’s back to Freetown to wrap things up for Sheryle and Larissa, and get things going for me! I’m definitely looking forward to meeting the people in Kono, seeing the sites, the office, where I’ll be living…even if it’s just briefly now. If Larissa’s experience is any indication, I’ll be spending a lot more time in Freetown than I anticipated, as it’s simply the only place any kind of real business can be done. We’ll see though…I have definite plans to try to spend as much time upcountry as possible.

I love you, white scum

2009-04-01T04:54:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit sobered today...the excitement of past weeks and arrival is wearing off, and reality has some very dark components here. Not to say I'm not ecstatic, or that I'm upset...just missing home a bit, and somewhat overwhelmed by what I've seen in such a short time.

I get a chill everytime I see political graffiti- I felt a full on physical shock at seeing 'RUF' tagged on a wall in Freetown. Within about 5 seconds yesterday, Sheryle, Larissa and I had "white scum" and "I love you" shouted at us on the street, and later on my own, a young guy walked by me and hissed "bitch". I'm not taking it personally, I'm just saddened overall.

I spent the morning being a creeper, watching the catholic schoolgirls in the yard under the convent. In particular, there is a white girl (not krio, not visibly mixed, not albino- full on nordic caucasian) who attends the school, and I was watching her interact with her peers. She obviously grew up here...her posture, speech and mannerisms are completely local, and as far as I can tell, her colour isn't really a thing. It may not be much, I can't explain why it should be, but it was amazing to me.

Good news- I will not have "kicked out of a convent" on my list of experiences. As badass as that would be, I love the convent, and really admire Sister Angela...I was sad at what happened the other night, and apologized profusely as soon as I was able to find her. She was forgiving- obviously!

I just met with Victor Koroma, the head of IFFDO and the guy I was delivering equipment to. He impressed me, and when I have some time, perhaps near the end of my trip, I'll be dropping by his offices to learn more and maybe help out (if I can).

I really love it here, so I can't explain exactly what is making my heart feel so heavy today, but I'm attributing it to culture shock and general arrival anxiety. No worries, I'm still on top of the world happy overall about pretty much everything.

Day 2

2009-03-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

Today, Larissa and I are spending much of the day holed up at Bliss Patisserie, which is clearly ex-pat central. I came here with designs on avoiding the ex-pat community as much as possible, but how quickly I threw the towel in on that one…not only are these people really nice, and obviously have a lot in common with me, but it’s also just who I’ve been introduced to so far. I expect the balance will shift when we go up-country to Kono. Which will be….sometime in the next few weeks? Larissa and Sheryle (filmmaker) are leaving on April 19th, and they want to visit the Outamba-Kilimi national park before they go, so it looks like we’re heading up there, along with one of the rangers from CSSL (Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, our in-country partner org), on Friday. Yay! It sounds amazing…crocs, hippos, elephants, lions, buffaloes, bongos, chimps, leopards and a bunch of fancy birds…we’ll be travelling mostly by canoe within the park…and of course, with Mr. Kamara, one of the chief wildlife experts in Salone as our guide. Should be excellent.

There was drama at the convent last night, as Larissa and Sheryle had nowhere to stay (they thought they had a room there, turns out not), so we of course decided they could stay in my room. Sister Angela was pissed- that’s inappropriate. I can see it, it’s a convent, I get it- but at the same time, I’m not going to make people go out on the street when I have a roof and a net for them. That would not be the catholic thing to do! So, hopefully I’m still welcome there, but if not, no regrets- I couldn’t have done anything differently, except kick my friends out onto the street.

I think we’re going to mamba point tonight to watch a movie. No idea what movie, but I guess it’s the Tuesday thing to do in Freetown. Tomorrow I’m meeting Mr. Koroma, the director of the International federation for disabled orphans, as I have a computer and camera for him, donated by a friend back home. Tomorrow is also the day my grant officially starts, but because of the requirement that 50% of my work be in Salone and 50% in Canada, I don’t really have to do much besides get oriented until April 15th. However, I’m going to get a head start on the GIS mapping, as this is my first time. The next few weeks will be spent almost solely on getting together the data necessary to do the mapping of the sites; I need to digitize the big fancy maps from SLIC while I’m in Freetown, and will do the nitty gritty GPS and layering when I’m in Kono, whenever that is…

So yeah, no complaints! I’m on the Lebanese food here because we’re moving around so much, I haven’t had much of a chance to prepare food for myself, which while great for my tummy, is hard on the wallet. So I’m going to have to cut back on eating out. But right now, I’m thoroughly appreciating my mint tea and falafel…plus, Larissa got TWO tapeworms from eating street food here, and I don’t like that idea, so I’m thinking I’ll just buck up and dig into my savings if I have to…tapeworms= gross. I’m not feeling the streetfood thing if it means I’ll have a stupid flatheaded parasite in my guts.

Day 1

2009-03-31T08:40:00.000-07:00

Oh boy did I smile when I woke up this morning (7:30am)! The convent backs onto a stadium and houses a girls’ school (Catholic, of course), and the morning sounds were so familiar. The convent in the daylight is just gorgeous, and wow, what stellar accommodations, especially for the price! There is a kitchen and a laundry room on the roof (which is scary to be on, as it’s about 4-5 stories high and just…drops off, no barrier), and electricity all day! This is so my home in Freetown; maybe I’m being myopic, but I doubt it gets any better than this for $15 a night. Did I mention flush toilets and toilet paper? And showers! Cold, but that’s not a bad thing in this heat.
I just toodled up the road and bought some foodstuffs at the Total gas station; I don’t actually even know where I am on a map, and don’t have Larissa’s new number (lost phone), so I’m not going far today, or until L calls me and helps orient me in the daylight. There’s enough for me to see and do and experience here at the convent for the day.

My phone number, by the way, is +232 76535782. If you want to say hi, I recommend texting and then checking with your phone company (or on the internets, or w/e) to see how much it cost. I have no idea. I called my mum last night for about 2 minutes, and it cost about $4USD. I think texts will be much cheaper, but we’ll see! That said, don’t hesitate to phone or text if you so desire- it doesn’t cost me to receive, so don’t worry about that.

Um, jeebus, are all my blog posts going to be this long? Who knows, probably. I can get pretty darn writey when I’m in the mood, and this is as much a personal journal as anything. Oh, and hey Gambia peeps- there are bean sandwiches here!!

Night of Arrival

2009-03-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

Wowowowowowow! I’m so happy to be here. It’s 1:45am, I’m in a room at a convent, and am just…yes. Amazing. I’m so lucky!!! Ok, so the flight to Freetown was uneventful; I noticed myself watching the people in the departure lounge- I’d guess about 20% West African/Sierra Leonean, 40% western black (US/UK accents), 20% whiteys, and 20% asian. No surprises really, except I was sort of expecting it to be just me and a bunch of Sierra Leoneans, for some reason. Because I’m that special! I slept through the flight (thanks, Ativan!), arrival was the smoothest African arrival I’ve ever had. Is it because of the people here, or because I’m more experienced? Who knows. But it was relatively stress-free. There was a lady and a fellow who had a sign with my name- yay, thanks One Sky! The fellow, Abdul, helped me book passage on the water taxi ($40USD- the airport is separated from the city by a large body of water), buy a sim card for my phone (the Gambia phone, y’all!), and exchange some Euros. I tipped everyone like crazy because I was so relieved to have been so well taken care of, and though I came here with the sentiment that I’d not worry about what tipping like that ‘means’, truth is, I feel shitty for having done it. Tipping Abdul and his friend 20000 Leones each ($7 each) is like tipping $20 on a $2 cab ride. Crazy. I want them to have the money, but I don’t want them to target future tourists because of my actions. Same old story.

So, I phoned Larissa a few times, no answer. Got to talking to the other whiteys on the water taxi, and eventually starting talking to John, a UK boy who was on his way back from dropping his visiting girlfriend at the airport, and who has been here since November or so. I started getting very nauseous talking to John, not because of him, but because of the g-darn water taxi ride- 30+ minutes of fast moving, small vessel action in choppy waters. I’m not prone to motion sickness, so if I get nauseous, it’s bad! I told John I was from Canada, and he asked if I was a friend of Larissa’s. Yes! Apparently, her phone was stolen the night before, but it just so happened that she is actually staying with him…nuts. Luck! So John brought me to his pad, and we drank beer and talked while waiting for Larissa to arrive. After Larissa’s arrival we decompressed a decompresseda bit (more to come, undoubtedly), and suddenly it was 12;30am and way past the time I was to check into the convent. My slightly tipsy self and L found a cab, she negotiated the fare in Krio (so impressive!), and I was brought to the convent, welcomed warmly by Sister Angela. I hope she never finds out my true nature, lol. My room is great, and not too expensive at $15USD a night (for Freetown), but still a bit rich for my blood, long term. I will however stay here until we depart for Kono on the 4th (?), quite happily. There’s electricity!

Tomorrow…who knows? I have a list of people to call, and some schoolwork that should get done (lame!), but I figure a day or two of low-key relaxing, working and checking out the town is the perfect way to acclimate. Larissa is leaving on the 19th, and is totally burnt out, so I think I’ll just focus on observing, learning and having fun with her until then; I have to complete the GIS mapping of the sites before I can move on anyways; that counts as having fun.

Here, safe, settled, good!

2009-03-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Will write tomorrow. Realized my favourite thing about Obama being elected; Africans now understand and remember my name (his wife's also named Michelle)! Being called Michelle Obama makes me laugh. Freetown is the awesome so far.

laying over

2009-03-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

the only flight I could get in my price range involved a 23 hour layover in London. I took it. With pre-departure preparations running behind as they always do, I elected to skip doing the tourist thing (I have lived here...twice), and instead am holeing myself up in a pod hotel at the airport, frantically writing papers that will be due while I'm in Africa. I'm surprisingly comfy and happy- props to the LHR Yotel, a blacklighted oasis. The beds are made of organic materials, the shower is one of those monsoon showerheads I love so much, and everything is cozy cozy small, my favourite...being in limbo never felt so good.

yesterday, the day of departure, was a bit of the crazy. Well, first off, I only got my 'official' approval for the grant funding this trip in the morning- yes, the morning of departure! Though i had received prior verbal approval, I was nervous about laying out thousands of dollars for equipment if there was even a chance that something would go wrong...so on the day of departure, I shopped! Huge thanks to my mum for chauferring her riled-up girl around. Laptop, video camera, GPS...that stuff was fun to buy. Soil and water testing supplies? NOT FUN! My intention had been to order particular test kits from Britain, but as the day of departure grew closer and closer and no official approval yet...well, I did what I could. After phoning every laboratory and chemical supply place in Vancouver, I ended up getting my reagents at...Art Knapps Plantland. Yep! I've been assured that the quality of the tests is sufficient for my purposes, and from what I can tell, I agree. There are still a few reagents I will either have to procure from freetown (university, maybe?), or eliminate from the survey. Not a huge deal; my scope is a bit broad anyways.

Saying goodbye was difficult...the past week has been full of successive goodbyes. 2 months isn't that long- it seems to be my standard- but SO MUCH is happening at home, I feel like it took actual strength to pick up and leave. I so know it's for the best though.

arrival at the airport in freetown...well, I'm not actually positive who's picking me up! I'm going to wear my glasses and look for a sign, and otherwise, I know I'm supposed to take the 'Pelican Water Taxi'. larissa will meet me on the other side, and hopefully will take care of my jetlagged ass.

This is going in the One Sky newsletter.

2009-03-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

On the eve of my departure for Sierra Leone, I find my thoughts settling on relatively inconsequential things...excitement over drinking bagged water (I love it, it's wrong, I know), and wondering what the popular songs are in Sierra Leone right now. I'm dreaming of red earth and lush green rainforests with exotic species, each one so interesting and so necessary to the whole. The sights and smells of West Africa, already so familiar, but sure to be surprisingly different in this country that is so new to me.

All this very likely is my brain distracting me from the reality of the unknown...where am I going, what am I doing? I know as much as can be known, but that is nothing compared to reality.

I'm excited, I'm nervous. I'm grateful that I have another One Sky intern picking me up at the Freetown airport! The process of getting me over to Sierra Leone, in this tumultuous year of cancelled funding, has been long, and I can't wait for this dream to come to fruition!

Back!

2009-03-26T00:14:00.000-07:00

Here I am, back in green-background blog land. I'm leaving for Sierra Leone in 2 days- finally- and it's juuust beginning to hit me. I don't expect reality to really dig in until I'm on the plane, as per usual, but I opened up my box of 'Africa-stuff' today, and the smell...wow. It's like...dirt and laundry. Earthy. I love Africa-smell!

I'm not excited. Yet. I'm not unexcited, I'm just stoic-stoic, waiting, hoping I get everything done. It's been a heck of a few months, to say the least, and life-events other than this trip have kept the anticipation low. Which is good, but also makes me feel oddly unprepared. Not that I can really prepare- I've learned that much so far!

some pictures

2008-08-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

A quick round up of some pictures...http://picasaweb.google.com/michelleville/Gambia2008

last

2008-08-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Totally looking forward to the journey home, though I really have to move to Dakar at some point. If only for the coffee...no eye rolling, the coffee here isn't actually coffee-coffee, it's a clove and coffee drink, sort of like chai, that you can buy for cheap, anytime. any street corner, and its amazingly delicious.

Goree was a great day, and the night out last night was really fun too. No gay clubs, but one of the volunteers got legitimately confused for a prostitute because the pattern of her skirt is what the working girls wear here...the skirt wasnt scandalous by any standards, except for the particular pattern....sort of funny. No, ridiculously funny.

My flight from NY got changed, thank goodness, so I dont have to make the impossible connection I originally had...so now it's just the impossible connection in Casablanca to worry about.

I'm going to miss these guys...aw, these trips are so weird: you form these tight bonds with people that pretty much necissarily have to be dissolved at their peak. But, half are from WA state, so I think a reunion of some sort is fully possible.

Spicy coffee time.

2008-08-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

So I pretty much love Dakar. It is so far one of my favourite cities I've ever visited...I expect it will be my next destination in Africa (a couple of years down the line).

The bus trip up yesterday was long but successful...saying goodbye in Bwiam was hard for some of the group; I definitely didn't form any bonds strong enough to provoke an emotional reaction...the closest I got was when the tailor from the next town over (an old man who spoke french) bicycled over to say bye to me. It was pretty adorable.

Through the goodbye process I got to analysing the connections I'd made a bit...I guess because of my position, I realized that the only significant friendships I'd made in the community were with local merchants, and with the hospital administrators...I literally didn't have the time to chill with any local peers. I think I'm OK with that though- for a 6 week stay, it seems kind of ridiculous to try to form some sort of deep bond. 6 months though...I definitely hope I can make some real friends in SL.

Goree Island (slave castle) tomorrow, then a nightclub (the place we're going is described as 'the glittering queen of Dakar nightlife'...I'm thinking that's Senegal-speak for 'gay club'. Hope so, anyways).

2008-08-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

August 2nd
It’s worth mentioning that I’m completely over bugs being in my food. Ants, especially. The main food around here is ‘tapalapa’, which refers to white bread, baguette style. It’s pretty yummy, but the major problem is that bugs get cooked right into it. You can see them...mostly ants, but sometimes small beetles, and once, a moth. We eat tapalapa with every meal, so bug ingestion here has been high. If they didn’t crunch when I bite into them, I might not mind so much, but I just don’t like the sound or the feeling. I had one loaf, bought on the side of the road, that tasted recognizably like ant. The fact that I can recognize ‘ant-flavour’ is, to me, a problem. Making coffee today, a bunch of ants floated to the top of my cup. I just sighed and threw it out...there’s no escaping it, but I’m just tired of eating ants.

The group is in Brikama today...I am mercifully almost alone here at the living quarters. I took a practice GRE, cold, no prep (like, ever). I scored 760/800 verbal (very good!), 380/800 quantitative (very bad!). I guess at some point I’ll have to practice those elementary math skills...blech.

I got my order of moringa soap for the store delivered yesterday; since they were short a few bars, they gave me several kilos of crushed moringa seed in exchange. Exciting! Moringa seed is used in soapmaking and water purification, as well as being edible and medicinal (And, the seed oil doesn’t go rancid when crushed!). On Monday, Tamara and I are exhibiting Moringa recipes to the community, along with nutritional information, seeds, and growing techniques. Moringa (“Never-Die Tree”) is not an unknown thing here, so I’ve been struggling with how to present it...I’ve discovered that 95% of people are fully aware of its existence, and that it’s ‘nutritious’ but still they don’t cultivate it or use it much (there are no local taboos- the ones I had found turned out to apply only to the North Bank and Senegal). So I’ve decided to focus on teaching how to grow it as a high-yield vegetable (rather than tree), and to encourage the sale of crushed leaf powder as additional income for food vendors. We’ll see.

Sneaky sneaky

2008-08-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

I managed ot connect my computer:

"August 1st 2008 (11:40pm)

I saw a baby be born today! I also saw my first circumsized vagina. Same time, lest it need be said. On our way back from lunch at about 2:30, a few of us decided to pop in to maternity to check on a woman who’d been in labour all morning- this was her 9th child (!). Within 5 minutes of our arrival the nurse got up and hurried into the delivery room. We followed, and the baby’s head was just coming out. Within one minute the baby was out, with maybe a little ‘ooh’ sound coming from the mother. Gambian women don’t make noise when giving birth- even the first timers. My theory is that it’s a useless expenditure of energy, since sympathy is a bit non-existant in medical care here...sympathy is pretty much the only reason any of us ever make noise in pain, no? Anyways, a lot of really thin (diluted) blood gushed out and onto the floor (no fancy hospital beds here, it was a glorified stretcher), which scared me a bit, but apparently is normal. Note, while all this is happening, we are just standing there in our shorts and t-shirts, gawking. I felt like a jerk, but it’s no big deal here, anyone can pretty much walk in and watch anyone else’s medical procedures, so...

The baby born was a boy, 3.8kg. He will be named next week, as per Gambian tradition. This is the third newborn I’ve seen here (under 7 days); interesting note, black babies are born whiter than me. Truth- the genetalia and a few other random parts are dark, but the skin of the face, torso and limbs is practically translucent. I had no idea. The first word spoken to the baby was me, saying “toubab!” (white person- it was a joke. Clever, no?). I was also the first to hold it (except when it was coming out...I got it when it was clean)...I tried to bring it over to the mum to show her, but she was having none of it. I guess after 9 it’s no biggie? No one even told her the sex...I lifted the blanket a bit to show her, but she wasn’t looking.

In other news, Tamara, our infected foot volunteer, is better. My scabies are still a bit there, but mostly gone. I might bring home a few buddies as souvenirs though. I’m pretty happy to be coming home in a week...I like it here, but I’m ready to wrap up this adventure. I certainly do like this whole being a leader for groups of volunteers gig...I enjoy it, and I think I’m pretty good at it, if I can be so bold. The budget balanced beautifully, the group has I think had about the best experience they could have, all circumstances and resources taken into account, and conflict was totally minimal. Best of all, I led in a way I’m really proud of. I’ll definitely be doing this again-"

Last days

2008-08-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have a few blog posts typed up on my computer, but the internet is out at the hospital (turns out 'someone' transferred the hopsital's internet debt onto our account, to the tune of $300USD, so it got shut down), and internet cafes dont let you connect with your own comp here.

Things are pretty rad- we had our 'community day' this morning, with 100+ people showing up for an HIV/AIDS talk, HIV testing, and moringa stew made by me and one of the volunteers. Great success. Tomorrow we are hosting a movie night for the community, and will be serving snacks & drinks. We had matching shirts made- oh yes we did.

I'm excited about everything that got catalyzed in me while here. Yay. Also feel immeasureably more prepared for Sierra Leone, esp. with the farming project having been such a big part of my summer.

But mainly, looking forward to some time at home with family & friends.

xoxo

The scabe

2008-07-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

So the bites i had all over my body...scabies! Half of us are infested, and have been since week one...yummy. Have been treating it, I think most of the bugs living under my skin are now dead.

My scabies & I watched a surgery yesterday...not from an observation area...if I'd reached my hand out, I could have easily touched guts. It was pretty cool- I think not too many non-docs get that opportunity. It was an emergency appendectomy that once they cut in they realized was actually twisted intestines, with some necrosis. So they cut out a chunk of the intestine and sewed it back together...the guys intestines were out of his body and on his stomach for almost 2 hours. I have tons of photos and video. Patient confidentiality...not really a thing here, I think.

With one week left, things are moving at light speed around here. We've had some dramas too...a very suspicious theft a few days ago in one of the boys' rooms was a huge downer...no idea who did it, but it was either a community member or a group member, and both options suck. We won't find out, I don't think, so I'm opting to just write it off and forget it...it's too easy to point fingers, and with so little time left, why bother?

Tamara got quite ill at the end of last week with a foot infection that made her unable to walk. I took her to two hospitals in the capital city- at the first (MRC), we were turned away because patient hours had ended at noon, and at the second, we were in the waiting room for a few hours before I got fed up and snagged some crutches from the physio department to get her back to Bwiam. Tamara ended up doing most of her own treatment, including putting in her own IV- the doctor (that's singular) here called her a barbarian.

Internet is down at the hospital- I'm in town right now trying to get it sorted. This week I'm hopefully watching more surgery, and checking out the maternity ward. On wednesday we're making soap with the gardening kafo, and on the weekend some of the group are going to Georgetown (not me, I'm staying put at the hospital). Next Tuesday we have a community awareness day and thank you dinner, then wednesday, off to Dakar. Time flies.

2008-07-21T04:15:00.000-07:00

Back in Bwiam for the day; it turns out Njau is waaaaay to the east, and the directions we got were ridiculous. We travelled 9 hours to get there following the directions given; using a map and a different route, we got home in 3. Quite frustrating on the way there...long, rainy, cramped, far. We worked with the coop for the afternoon, learning their techniques for crocheting from plastic, and beading. I bought some Moringa soap for the store, to be delivered next week (20 bars). Njau was hoooooot. With lots of flies. Mosquito season is also in full swing, and I'm getting a good 40 bites every night. It's kind of miserable sometimes.

The trip back was great though...took the ferry, met some nice people in a galli-galli, held some chickens, and stomped around in a big mud bay for awhile. I'm meant to head out again today for Brikama and then Banjul, for the events mentioned last post.

It's skin infection central around here...scabies, some staph, a boob infection that might be an abcess, might be a botfly, and tons of bites. The conditions are definitely rougher in that sense than anywhere else I've been...it's harder to stay clean, plus we're in a hospital, and the scabies especially is so common. I had a bit of non-MRSA staph that I caught right away and has been treated without incident, and I luckily haven't suffered any of the other infections that the group has had (yet?). Especially glad not to have a fly hatching in my boob...I nearly passed out when I saw that.

Things are good. I'm a bit tired, and am trying to figure out how to wind all this up, for myself and for the group.

culture shmulture

2008-07-18T04:31:00.000-07:00

Culturally, I'm very not here this past couple of days. It's odd, because I'm very contented here, happy in my work and feeling like things are going well, but the cultural differences are really grating on me...it's a normal phase I believe, it's just interesting to observe it in myself.

Some things are really obvious, like when men order me around or make inappropriate advances (both common occurences that weren't as anoying before), or even things like the kids calling out "toubab!" all the time, touching my hair and wanting to crawl all over me even when covered in open wounds, urine and snot.

Have I mentioned that this trip has really solidifed for me the idea that it's a very good thing I didn't go into health care? I don't have that nurturing touch that others do, and pus makes me queasy. SO, I'm actually really happy with that definite realization, because I think I might always have been like "what if...maybe I should have gone to med school...". Leave that to those well suited to it..there are definitely some in the group that have had the opposite experience as me, and its really solidified their desire to go into medicine.

Will be away until next Thursday...weekend up north meeting with the fair trade cooperative, Monday in Banjul visiting Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital and the Gambia Forestry Department, Tuesday is a national holiday (Army Takeover Day!), so we're going to stay in Banjul for the festivities, and Wednesday Megan, Tamara and I are going to a Rotary Club meeting in Banjul.

Miss everyone!

2008-07-16T04:45:00.000-07:00

I alluded in my earlier post to a new project I’m working on...today was the kind of day where a whole bunch of things come together, and a path that I will be taking is suddenly very clear.

Details will be brief here, but basically, I had planned on opening an online store selling African goods (crafts, jewellery, cosmetics, fabrics, art, whatever- stuff) for the purpose of fundraising. I’ve reserved the domain name westafricangoods.com, and have started building a webpage.
One of the volunteers here, Megan Meyer, has a non-profit that she started last time she was in Gambia (on this same trip). The non-profit is registered in the US, fair trade certified, and eligible to give tax receipts. They are more than happy to act as an umbrella for my venture, which works for me, because I have no urge to reinvent the wheel.

What I’ll be raising money for, at this point anyways, is the publication of informational books on edible wild plants for specific areas. Right now, obviously my focus is on Bwiam, and my plant focus is on Moringa oleifera and several others (haven’t narrowed it down yet). I plan on having it in English and Mandinka, and on including nutritional breakdown, recipes, identification guides and farming manuals. Hopefully, more books/pamphlets will come in the future. I really love the idea of blending my interests in ethnobotany, publishing and African empowerment through health and nutrition. Yay!

The hospital is way into the project, which will culminate locally in a ‘Moringa day’, with taste-fest, recipe contest, and a large educational component. Adjunct to this is the farming project, where last week we planted several intensive Moringa stands on hospital grounds.

Pretty cool!

The first major fair trade venture I’ll be taking on will probably happen this weekend...we’re going to take a trip north to go visit a women’s cooperative that makes wallets, bags and purses from plastic bags (waste). I’ve seen some samples, and they’re great. If I can, I’ll buy a bunch of stock to bring home (postage from W.Africa is too expensive, not to mention questionably reliable), but space may be an issue, as it will all have to be packed home with me.

I travelled 9 hours in Kombos yesterday for the sole purpose of mailing a box home and getting 2 keys cut...mailing is $25 a kilo to Canada, so it’s so not happening...my box was 8 kilos. I found the only key cutter in The Gambia hidden in the Serekunda market, and paid the US equiv of $7.50 per key!

Will be documenting the trip to the cooperative for the website. Today am working on the Moringa project with Tamara, as well as getting some of my own work done. At 4:30 we’re making soap with the gardening kafo.

2008-07-15T02:34:00.000-07:00

This experience is making me excited and nervous about Sierra Leone. On good days, I'm excited, but on bad days, I'm discouraged and wonder why I'm bothering going. It's a good question; in a way, I still have no idea why I come to Africa at all. The best I can come up with is 'it feels right'. The right answer is of course 'to make a difference' or whatevs, but that's garbage- I know without a doubt that NGOs do more harm than good here on the whole. They don't have to, and I don't think NGOs are objectively bad, but I think it's a very fine balance to do no harm...my mere presence here feels exploitative at times. However, I also think that just being present here is perhaps the most powerful thing I can do...bridging the gap and starting to break down the 'otherness' between Africa and the west is not going to happen if everyone stays home.

2008-07-14T03:50:00.001-07:00

Today is an exciting day!

Apologies to thoise that I worried with my tales of projectile vomiting...all illness is cleared up within the group.

We pretty much all went through our first 'down' period this past week...myself with the illness and a lack of clear direction here, others with similar. From that, however, we worked through and came up with new goals and expectations for this trip.

I've decided to lessen my focus on learning the medical aspects of hospital life- while it's really interesting, and I'm excited about observing surgeries and such, I realized that the best use of my time and resources is not in deflecting the time and resources of the staff here in training me with negligible skills I will never use. Instead, I will double my supportive efforts for the rest of the team, who are benefitting from the medical internship experience.

Along with this, one of the group members and I are developing a side project that encompasses my love of plants: basically, we're going to write a book (pamphlet) and teach classes on the benefits and uses of local wild foodplants to the community. It's odd, and I didn't believe it at first, but there are plants that grow wild here that are edible, nutritious, and completely ignored. So far no social taboos have been found with regards to the use of these plants as food (Moninga oleifera and Baobab leaves, mainly), and yet people literally starve next to them. This week I will be researching the social aspects of these plants, and if all comes out clear, in the following weeks we will develop the text of our pamphlet, and work on some recipes that we can present to the community.

My turn is up, will write more later today

2008-07-11T18:18:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone-- Carolyn is posting my blogs for me because my connection is not allowing access to blogger. I will write something more comprehensive soon, but for nowm, her'd the round up for the past week:

Kotu was lovely...we had room right on the beach (14 people in it!), water was gorgeous, warm, we were the only ones in it.

I've been sick most of this work week...projectile vomiting and 101 degree fever, awesome! I semi-self-adminstered a malaria test in the lab, and it came back negative. Several others with the same symptoms...probably just some lame virus circulating. I feel better as of this afternoon...if I wake up not vomiting tomorrow, I'm going to go help recover the farm bds from the crazy storm we had tonight...it was like a hurricane! 20 minutes of the strongest storm I've ever seen in my life. It flooded my second floor room with an inch of water, and I sear there were chickens flying through the air.

- Tomorrow is also a naming ceremony for a baby born in the village last week...we were invited via the gardening coop. It's a big deal here-they're going to sacrifice a goat.

I will write more soon and send it to Caro to post. Thanks Caro!!

xoxo to everyone

Internet at the hospital!

2008-07-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Only have half an hour...my other blogs were pre typed. Today was another great day...found the local tailors (no seamstresses, what the hell?), and hung with the women's gardening cooperative agan. They came to the hosptial to teach us traditional plowing techniques. That is some hard work. My hands are both giant blisters.

Tomorrow work pharmacy 8-2, then head to the Kombo for the weekend. We're ostensibly going to meet up with a group of Swedish dental students, but realy, I'm going to check out the beach and go back to Banjul market.

Miss everyone!

A Day in the Life

2008-07-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

July 1 (11:18pm)
My day was sooo ‘African’.

Woke up at 7:30, it’s raining (rainy season just started, this was the third rain of the season, first morning rain). Went to the staff canteen for breakfast (tea and fruit, paid in advance,served 7:30-8). No one there, probably because of the rain. Hung out of a bit, and then all went to our individual rounds. Mine was pharmacy. No one there (as in, no pharmacist to open the door), again, because of the rain.

So I went back to my room and started to read. Fell asleep, was woken up by Megan saying “Ebrima [hospital driver] is leaving in 10 minutes to go to the Kombo [town], you said you needed to go, so you should go with him!” Get all my stuff ready really quickly, rush out, and spend half an hour trying to figure out where Ebrima is and what exactly he’s doing...am asked to sit in the Director’s office for another half an hour while he ‘figures it out’ (me- I read), then am told we’re leaving ‘right now!’, so I go outside and wait...and wait...wander into the pharmacy and fill some prescriptions (haha)...wait...and an hour later, we finally leave. After the 2 hour drive into town, we hit Gamtel so I can get an internet account for the group (dial up on library phone). Also buy a steel basin so we can sterilize some dental instruments with boiling water, and a few other things we’re missing. Visit the slaughterhouse so Ebrima can buy some steak...awful place, smells like death, dead animals covered (totally blanketed) in flies strung up everywhere. Ram’s horns with bits of their scalps still attached littered all over the floor.

Exchanged some money on the black market totally unnecessarily...the rate they gave me was the same rate as the Western Union right next door, but my host insisted, so whatevs- marked my 3rd, maybe 4th black market money exchange in a week. New record for me! Met Ebrima’s wives, scared his kids with my white face, and then we took off for home. Along the way, the military stopped us and made us give a ride to one of their guys. Home at 8pm with a really sore butt from the bumpy roads.

2008-07-02T13:27:00.001-07:00

Monday, June 30 (10:15pm)

My rotation this week is pharmacy; I did a bit of it on Friday too, I love it! It’s so fun. Really hectic, and challenging because one, I’m not a pharmacist, and two, 95% of business is conducted in Mandinka. What that means is, literally by halfway through my shift today, I was filling scripts in Mandinka, including giving the verbal explanations. Simple stuff: “kiling somanda, kiling ularu” is common, and means “take one in the morning, one in the evening”. Variations on that to include different amounts/ times of day, plus greetings, still makes up the bulk of my knowledge, but its apparently enough to be a competent pharmacist. I handed out lots of Coartem (malaria meds), LOTS of Paracetamol, and lots of multivitamins. Very much looking forward to tomorrow. Not to say that I want to become a Western pharmacist even a little bit, but I now know that drug dispensing is a pretty fun way to learn a language!

The rainy season started two days ago, and with it came cooler weather and a mass infestation of bugs. Like, apocalypse-style swarms of moths descend every night after the rains, and are dead all over the place by morning. It’s really revolting. Also saw the tallest beetle of my life today...not only big, but it had long hairy legs and was a good half inch off the ground.
(Later, 12:50 am) Sungjin’s 21st birthday today. We all woke up at midnight (or stayed up, ahem) to celebrate with some Julbrew (Gambian beer).

It hasn’t been a week yet since we arrived in Bwiam, and we are pretty settled and comfortable. It’s kind of amazing how long the past week seems, but not in a bad way at all. The time isn’t dragging, it’s just very concentrated.

2008-06-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

I just ate the spiciest pepper...my whole face hurts! I thought it was a boiled totmato so I just chowed it down...seriously, I blackout out for a few seconds. Brutal! I can't believe anyone eats those for fun.

At internet cafe in Kotu...doing a bunch of errands. We don't start on official hospital rotation unbtil Monday, so I have no idea what the group is doing today...the hospital director told me it was being 'taken care of'. Ok. Met with another agriculture committee this morning, this one in regards to establishing a small farm on the hspital grounds. Everyone seems really excited about my interest in plants, so these opportunities have come up, which is great, because I'm not sure how well I would handle herniated scrotum surgeries anyways (one of the most common surgeries at the hospital, caused by a lifetime of difficult manual labour).

Internet timing out-

Fadu Banja

2008-06-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

25/06/08 (11:56pm)
Waaay too much already. So hard to keep a journal because I don’t even have time to write! Was one of our group members’ birthdays tonight...we drank and danced and sweated big time in a tiny 10x10 room. Yeah! It was actually quite awesome, though there were definitely some points where I was like “am I being a bad leader? Should I tell them to put their shirts on?” But meh, everyone had fun, self included.

Earlier in the eve, 5 of us attended a female-run gardening cooperative. We sort of thought it might be boring like a town hall meeting. No. It pretty much consisted of drums and dancing, with a few sentences spoken here and there. The few sentences were good ones. We’re going back next Wednesday to do some work and join the cooperative formally (for 6 weeks).

Had a tour of the hospital today, which actually took most of the day. Much like a western hospital, but smaller scale, and with many of the staff being trained apprentices rather than formally educated. Fine by me...I’d much rather a doctor with experience over schooling, myself. We were also assigned Gambian names, to facilitate communication...mine in Fadu Banja.

The trip over was not too bad at all...Royal Air Maroc gave us hotel rooms and food during our layover, and we all trekked into the city centre to do some aimless wandering (literally). Some shenanigans at the Casablanca airport, as they tried to deny a few of my group members entry to the plane...it’s amazing how quickly my French cussing-out skills came back in that situation. All turned out well. Some more shenanigans upon landing in Dakar...I ended up in some back room black market at the airport changing money for our first night’s accommodation (after being assured multiple times by the head of OCA in NY that it was taken care of and we wouldn’t need CFA...). Next day was about 14 hours on the road, Dakar-Banjul-Jambanjelly-Bwiam. Amazing to see the switch from the Sahel desert landscape of Senegal (think stereotypical cow-carcases dotting a desert...it’s the end of the dry season, and that’s exactly what it looks like), to the greenery of the Gambia. It practically changed at the border.

Gambian communication is a tough adjustment...it’s impolite to talk dollar figures, but I have a budget to keep, so its kind of frustrating; the hospital has offered to prepare our meals, but haven’t specified an amount, either per meal or overall. Not even a ballpark, and I can’t seem to get it out of them! I’ve requested a formal meeting with the ‘canteen supervisor’, and I will write a number down and slide it across the table if necessary. ;)

I’ve already been mocked a few times by locals for saying “we’ve got 5 minutes, hurry up!” Time is sort of not really a thing here...it’s pretty amazing if you think about it.

UN

2008-06-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

Aw, I get to be proud leader and say my group is qualifiably the best one here. Ha. But seriously, they're quite fantastic, geting along really well, and so exuberant! They, as a group, started a big ol' bus party on the way home from the UN today, got an African acapella group to put on an impromptu show for us, and are just clearly the coolest. lol.

We went to a 'celebration of hope' commemorating 50 years of Operation Crossroads Africa today, which was fine...a bit too Presbyterian for me, but otherwise really nice. THEN, we went and had lunch/dinner at the UN! It was fantastic, there were hundreds of people there, including African UN delegates, and minor celebrities like Miss Liberia, not to mention former Crossroaders going back to the first year (1958).

Our group has amazing connections in the Gambia (no thanks to me, heh), so besides our hospital work, we've got a million side opportunities, like visiting and possibly helping with a women's microfinance project in the district, the Jambanjelly library project, possibly hooking up with medical groups in Banjul and Dakar, partying with Miss Liberia (:D), and visiting quite a few villages (and their chiefs) :D. So yay, I'm totally excited today.

Leave tomorrow at 4pm EST!

Met the group today

2008-06-19T20:22:00.001-07:00

Everyone's here, I met the gang...they all seem great. Quite a few pre-med students, a few artists; 4 EMTs! Plus we're going to be living at a hospital...yeah, I'm feeling like we're OK on the medical-care front. I feel like an a-hole being all 'leadery' with them though...it's my first full-on leadership experience with peers, I think it's going to take some getting used to.

I got news today that the last generator blew at the hospital, and the solar panels wont be installed until mid-August (some are already up, but they are solely for hot water). A working hosptial with no electricity! Seriously, one of the volunteers who has been to this site before told us today that one of our jobs will be holding the patients down when they wake up in surgery due to there not being enough ansthesia to go around. :O

For anyone who wants to Google, the hospital is Sulayman Junkung in Bwiam, Gambia.

My roomate, Anne, is co-leading a group in Gambia as well, a few hours away in Jambanjelly (pronounced Jam and Jelly), building a library. Anne is great, (except she's snorng right now, grr), and I think we'll be trying to coordinate our groups extracurriculars together, if the groups want it. It would definitely help with cost cutting, for one.

Cuz yeah, got the budget! 10 people, 7 weeks (including one week of travel), [22/06/08 edit] $2800. $40 a person/week for everything! Obviously, cost of living is significantly lower in the Gambia, but considering a good $1000 is probably needed to support travel for 10 people for 1 week, not to mention the expenses on the 2 day trip to the village, keeping those numbers balanced is definitely going to be one of my big challenges.

Thank you for posting comments, I like them!

Found

2008-06-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

Finally got my bag back at 9pm tonight. Yay. Now I get to pop it on another plane in a few days and hope for the best.

The residence hall has been flooded with 100+ volunteers (before it was just us 10 leader). Anne (my roomie) and I are hiding out, trying to delay the meeting process. We're going to be spending 7 weeks with these people...I want to enjoy my last night of peace!

First Drama

2008-06-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

Soooo..my bag, containing everything needed for 2 months in Africa, is lost. Not delayed...they just don't know where it is, period. Thanks, Delta!

Airporting

2008-06-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

I'm in the Vancouver airport, waiting for my flight out to New York for training (there for a week). It hit me in that vague way that I'm getting used to when I cleared security..."oh. I'm going to Africa for a couple of months. Gonna be living deeply, 24/7, for 2 months. Ok. Crap."

I don't know what's so scary about it...not concerned with illness. I'll miss people, but 2 months isn't that bad. Can you actually fail in this experience? I guess so, if someone in my group has an awful time, or dies or something. I will have to avoid that!

Compounding it is the fact that I've just returned from the orientation for another internship I'm undertaking after I return from the Gambia. This fall/winter/spring, I'll be working with and through One Sky, doing some ethnobotanical work in Sierra Leone. Holy crap wow, that's awesome! The orientation was heeeaaaaavy. It was amazing; I've realized over the past few days that it doesn't translate properly into words. Or at least, not my words, so far. I will make an effort, but not right now.

I think because of a little abandoned mine I saw recently while up in the Smithers area, this little cartoon is stuck in my head. Hilarity! Dedicated to my co-interns at OneSky, all of whom I appreciate deeply. ;)

Jammeh

2008-05-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, I finally got my passport back, with visa. Yay! It's a very fancy visa too- I'll have to make sure not to lose or damage this passport (also, because I got a 'warning' when I got my replacement :().

Here's some fun Gambian news : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7416536.stm

Greeeeat. I mean, it's not surprising based on West African context and a heavily Muslim country, but it's always a bit of a surprise (to me) to read things like that. Also note the end of the article, where Jammeh claims to have found a cure for HIV/AIDS. That's going to make the educational aspect of our trip extra-fun!

First!

2008-04-17T00:59:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the bloggedy blog for my 2008 trip with Operation Crossroads Africa to the Gambia (or, as I like to call it, the Gamb).

I'm pretty psyched about this adventure after my amazing time in Ghana last year. I love travel, I love volunteering, I love volunteers, I love West Africa, and I love new things. So, this pretty much works for me on all levels.

In any case, I haven't received my official introductory package yet, because of the fun of international shipping, so there's not much to say at this point. I am slightly relieved that I wont be leading in French, even though I was looking forward to improving my french skillz. Gambia is surrounded by Senegal, a french-speaking country, so I expect I'll have some opportunity to use it. I have ordered a 'Wild Flowering Plants of the Gambia' book, because I'm me, and I would like to find a Jolla language book if I can.

I will update with all the boring details of my preparation. T minus 2 months.