The Hand Of God

Today we go to the village of Monominema (spelling?), where we will be for the next 15 days. The first thing we will do is introduce ourselves. We spent yesterday in meetings and mapped out our introduction to the elders because it is very important to make a good first impression. We will say that we are students and that we we are here to learn from them; that we want to collectively (with them) assess the needs of the community and will do our best to fulfill some of those needs. We discussed how important it is to be straightforward and to be very careful not to make promises that we can't keep.

We also talked about the logistical things that we will need to figure out when we get to the village, such as mapping out the village so we know where the homes of the chiefs are, where the main roads are, where we get water, etc.

Again, there are a lot of reminders of Lebanon to me here. There are many Lebanese restaurants in Bo (delicious!), and also pretty much every diamond store (which is about every other store in Bo) is owned by a Lebanese man (who I hope are running ethical businesses). Also, I was able to speak some Arabic to the Imam at a Muslim school that we visited, and Abu says that I will be able to use some Arabic with the villagers in Monominema, who are mostly Muslim.

Weirdly, I have seen this hilariously terrible Van Kilmer / Michael Douglass film, The Ghost And The Darkness, playing at Lebanese restaurants twice already; I saw this same film on the TV in Lebanon on occasion. I am not sure why this movie is so popular among Lebanese on two continents. The movie is really insulting to humanity because whole villages in Kenya are unable to kill a tiger, whereas the tiger is able to kill tons of people. (Moe's sister who is typing this for him looked it up on Wikipedia just now and amazingly, this film won an Oscar in 1996 and was penned by William Goldman. It is also supposedly based on real events. She also found the film really insulting the Kenyan people: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_and_the_Darkness).

ANYWAYS:

There is no way to charge the cellphone in the village so even if I have reception, I may not be able to call for the next two weeks.

However, do not worry about me, because Abu says that the UFO I saw the other night was the hand of God looking out for me!

Off With Your Head, Goat!

One more thing to add to my list of things I never thought I'd do: beheading a goat. The villagers of Nandeyun (spelling correction from last time) honored us by sacrificing a goat. They held it down and then invited us to participate. Austin slit its throat, other people cut off the legs, and I had the great honor of cutting off its head! I then got to hold up the bleeding head and the bloody knife for a photo-op, which I'm sure my mother will use this year for the Christmas card. After getting all the goat blood off my hands, we cooked the goat meat in a stew and ate it. I got to eat some of the organs including the stomach and intestines, which tasted like calamari except more perforated and fuzzy.

We visited this village as a followup to what some of our fellow Robertsons did last summer here. It really brought home the complexity of doing a project that has a sustainable impact. Last year's group was able to procure three beds for the hospital, two of which today were used for women who had just given birth. However, there are still many difficulties with health care. The nurse we spoke with often has to tell people that she is out of their essential drugs. She is in fact out of them right now and doesn't know when a new shipment will come.

Last year's Robertson's also bought supplies for a hair salon such as a mirror and weaves, and the salon is still in operation (the people here are able to purchase shampoo and other smaller supplies on a monthly basis). We also were able to visit a group that is using looms to make cloth; however, there are not enough supplies to keep all three looms going at once. For example, there is one pair of scissors for the whole group.

I was especially interested in an initiative involving Microfinance for women. The women use palm oil to make soap; however, they were unable to produce any soap for the first three months because it was the rainy season and palm oil is too expensive during that time because it cannot be extracted during the rainy season. I asked if there was a possibility of storing palm oil to use during the rainy season, but there are not enough jugs (which are also used for food) and what palm oil they have is also in demand for cooking. Even if they could store it, they would have to overcome the issue of getting it to the other villages because it is so hard to travel during the rainy season. Another layer is the issue that some of the women were forced to withdraw from the group and stop making the oil because of their husbands. This was a real eye-opener for me: it brought home the idea that there are environmental and cultural factors that must be taken into consideration with any project; the success of a project is not simply a function of supplies, finance, or even the product.

This also reminded me of some things I studied in Dr. Greg Gangi's Environmental Studies class. We learned that microfinance is more successful when loans are given to women than men because women are more likely to save the money or use it on family needs, whereas men are more likely to spend the money on themselves such as purchasing alcohol or prostitutes. (This is a general point about microfinance world-wide, not a statement about Sierra Leonian culture.) I wonder if this statement is true for somewhere like this village where there is social pressure for women to stop involvement in something that gives them personally an income, which can be seen as threatening to the husband (which is the case for some individuals across all cultures). I feel very fortunate to have been able to study a concept in North Carolina and then travel to a place where that idea is implemented and get a broader perspective.

SIDENOTE: If you can take a class from Dr. Gangi, take it!

On a lesser note (assuming that you don't esteem UFO-logy as much as Environmental Science and Anthropology), I really did see a UFO, like I said. I was the only one outside (unfortunately) and it was completely pitch-black. The UFO was about the size of the hole you punch out of paper and was red and strobing. It moved in a very erratic and strange way impossible for any man-made craft that I'm aware of (and I have done extensive research on these things). It was able to jump great distances in less than a second, such as jumping from in front of me to 90 degrees away to my left. After four such jumps, it was gone. I hope that the lack of light pollution here will enable more sightings and will keep you posted. (Moe's sister who is typing this for him still doesn't believe him).

Aliens! (And I'm not talking about the Robertsons...)

Greetings from Segwemba, a village in the Kilhaun district of Sierra Leone! We recently arrived here from Bo. Bo is the second-largest city in Sierra Leone but for some reason feels about the size of Carrboro, North Carolina. We stayed in a "Guest House" (like a hotel) in Segwemba. The Guest House has generator-powered electricity from 7 pm to 12 am each evening.

We had a little trouble when traveling from Bo to Segwemba by truck: we tried to take a shortcut but the truck couldn't make it up the hills and kept rolling back. Eventually we gave up and took the longer way, and the reason this second way takes so much longer is because of the large number of checkpoints where we had to stop and present our passports.

Here, we got to spend time with a member of Parliament whose future plans include running for President of Sierra Leone. He is called The Honorable ________ (name withheld so I won't blow the surprise when he declares his candidacy on June 16). He and his sons, who were about our age, were very gracious. I enjoyed talking about futbol (soccer) with the younger generation, one of whom even did some pretty good rapping for me!

As for food, we've started eating a kind of "bush meat" called Grasscutter, which is a large rodent in the guinea pig and porcupine family. The meat is soft and chewy; it tastes a little bit like beef but is extremely tender, more tender than any meat I'm used to eating in the states. It actually seems more like the fat that you scrape off the meat than meat itself. You can see a picture of this cute creature that I'm eating above! We've also had lots of cassava leaves, rice, and fish. And I should add that the Grasscutter is really, really delicious.

More animal news: so far we have spotted lots of chickens, goats, bulls with very long horns, and lizards. There is also a giant spider that seems to follow us everywhere which we have named Aragog (Harry Potter reference). Brent keeps telling it, "Goodbye, friend of Hagrid!"

And I know that nobody will believe me, but I really did see a UFO here the other night! Details to follow. (Moe's sister who is transcribing and posting this for him is very skeptical.)

**Note: I did not take the picture above, which is from womenofvision.wordpress.com, but it was too hilarious not to use.**

What in the World Is FuFu?

Our first week here has been chock-full of new experiences.

This was my first time taking a water-taxi, which some of us took to the wrong hotel. In some ways, Sierra Leone reminds me of Beirut (where I was this Spring) because the water is so close to the mountains, so you can see them at the same time. It also reminds me of Beirut because the driving is pretty crazy (one cab driver ran over a dog) but most of all because of the warmth and hospitality.

You're probably wondering what FuFu is, since I mentioned it at the end of the last post. FuFu is a popular food here which is similar to mashed potatoes and is made of cassava leaves among other things. Another popular and delicious dish is Yum Yum which is a loaf of bread with the center cut out which one can then fill with what he or she pleases, such as meat.

Before I left for Sierra Leone, my family made me some dishes described online as Sierra Leonian food (see picture): Chicken Stew with veggies and peanut butter sauce, avocado/lemon/peanut/cinnamon salad, fruit salad (mango, papaya, banana, pineapple), and Ginger Cakes (like shortbread but with crushed red-pepper and lots of ginger -- these have a kick!). Here's the recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/African-Ginger-Cake-2155.

Since we've arrived, we've been in lots of meetings with some really interesting people including the Director of Economic Policy and Research Unit for the Ministry of Finance, the Director of Government Politics for Sierra Leone and Centralization Secretariat, and a Professor from Boston College (Dr. Joe Allie) who gave us a history lesson. We are also working with Catholic Relief Services and have had meetings at the US Embassy. Except for the meeting at the US embassy, things have tended to start about an hour late, which is another thing that reminds me of Lebanon (except with Arab time, it is two hours late!).

All of us Robertson Scholars stick out very prominently and are sometimes greeted as "Hey white man!" or "Hey little white girl!" Although some of us have gotten a hold of it faster, I'm still having trouble understanding Krio, which is like English but with missing letters (which were considered "unnecessary").

Most of the houses here are made of corrugated metal. When received as a guest, one is given food as well as a bowl of soapy water for their hands. Also, most of the electricity comes from generators. Again, the hospitality is so welcoming; our new friend and colleague Abu Bakar Juanna is one of the people gracious enough to have us to their home.

A few more fun moments: 1) A cab driver watching a Bob Marley video on a portable DVD player while driving, 2) a club called ACES that played the same seven decade-old pop songs on repeat, 3) when we ride in the Poda Poda (a small bus/van), nobody likes to sit next to me because it is pretty cramped inside and I take up a lot more space.

That's all for now -- today we leave for Bo for a couple of days and then go to the village in the Kilhaun district where we will spend the next 2.5 weeks!

Stuck In Algeria with the Sierra Leonian President

Welcome to my Sierra Leone blog which will chronicle my summer here with the Robertson Scholars Program!

Above is a picture of Brent, Michael, and me at the RDU airport shortly before leaving. We look so excited and have no idea that what will follow will be not a 20-some hour journey, but a 48-hour adventure. After flying through London, we had to be rerouted because of the volcanic ash from Iceland, so instead of going straight to Freetown (the capital of Sierra Leone), we had to through a random assortment of countries. We refueled in Naples and sat on the runway for four hours, while trying to get clearance for Algerian airspace. Luckily, the President of Sierra Leone was on board our flight (!) and was able to do the negotiating. Eventually, we got to Freetown, but Cameron's bag didn't, and we're still not sure where in the world it ended up!

David Fiocco, a previous Robertson, has been taking care of us here, and since we arrived, he has lost his phone twice. Since he's never lost his phone before in the past seven years, I'm starting to think we are harder to deal with than the torrential rains. (Summer in Sierra Leone is the rainy season.)

RECOMMENDED READING:
Right now, I'm working on "Stone Child", a collection of poems by the Sierra Leonian poet Syl Cheney-Coker. It contains poems about the war and life in Sierra Leone as well as about travels in other parts of the world from the perspective of someone from Sierra Leone.
I also recommend the memoir "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Child Soldier" by Ishmael Beah, which I had read a few years ago, never dreaming that I would one day have the privilege to be in this amazing country. Also, this isn't a book, but if anyone is able to get hold of it, "War Don Don" is a really compelling documentary that I saw at the Full Frame Film Festival with Brent and Cameron; it covers the Special Court of Sierra Leone's prosecution of Issay Sesay, former RUF commander.

As a random note, I named this blog after a Krio (the main language in Freetown) proverb:
A Nכ DE BLEM FUFU, PAS כKRכ (NA כKRכ A DE BLEM).
Translation: I don't blame the fufu, I blame the okra.

*In case you are wondering how I'm able to blog, my sister called a phone here on skype and I dictated to her.*