Tomorrow, I am heading back to Freetown for my final 3 months... It's been great being back in London and catching up with everyone (not so good for my caffeine intake), but I am starting to get fidgety and wanting to get back to work... It's also cold here!

There will be more blogs actually FROM Salone....so watch this space...!

Also, don't forget, you can always drop me a comment/email/myspace message/facebook message if you want to read about a certain issue that I haven't yet written on..(the scope of topics is mind boggling, I know, lol). In fact, this is a plea. PLEASE write to me and tell me what you want to read!! I am in need of inspiration if I am to continue this blog thing!!

Take care,

Xx

WOW. I'm speechless. I have no words to describe how USELESS I've been in this aspect of my time in Sierra Leone. lol. I won't lie, I hate writing this blog thing... It's seems like a stupid medium to keep in touch, BUT I do understand and appreciate just how powerful a good blog can be (global education ring a bell?!), so I am actually going to give this thing a go. I have been inspired by so many friends who have actually managed to get their blog off the ground...so....here goes, eh! *Blog Envy* You have the right to send me abusive emails regarding my lack of blog writing, if it happens again!

I guess I should update you all on my current situation. It's a bit of a long story, but I know for those of you who are also not at "home" and are working and living in places like China, Fiji, Rwanda, and indeed for those of you who just live there, you may not be updated on what I'm up to. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch more, I really am.

So at some point in 2007, when I realised that my time in Salone was coming to an end, I had a slight panic attack, and realised that I needed, and wanted, more time in Salone. For many reasons. Work. Well being in a "capacity building" position, I realised that the person (who will remain anonymous) who I was supposed to be capacity building in all things to do with advocacy, was not going to be able to perform as Advocacy Programme Officer by Sept 2007. There was a lot more work to be done. So I extended by contract by three months. That meant that I would be in Salone til December 2007.

Rainy Season and Peaceful Elections

Time ticked on. At a stupidly fast rate. My birthday came and went in June...and then...Suddenly the skies darkened, and it was rainy season again... Rainy season turned Byrne Lane, where I live, into a flowing river of sewage. It made getting to work impossible, unless you were willing to fight the sewage and then fight people to get transport...

Rainy season from our balcony at Byrne Lane

And then, I don't really know what happened, but it was like I blinked and we were in the midst of elections in August. Elections in Salone were really interesting, and much to the disgust of the international press, they were entirely PEACEFUL. It's difficult to ascertain what made them peaceful. Is it because Sierra Leoneans want peace, they know what war is like, and they do NOT want their country to go back to that state? Or is it to the credit of the National Electoral Commission, who ensured that the process was free and fair? Or is it due to the mass campaigning done by national organisations on non-violence in the electoral process? A combination, perhaps? Whatever it was, everybody is glad that they were peaceful, and Sierra Leoneans should be commended for this. It is quite an achievment. The fact that not many of you realise that we had an election says a lot. It doesn't say much for the international media's lack of reporting on peaceful occasions in Africa, but hey, you can't have everything. Here are some snaps of the day. I was fortunate enough to have been "trained" as a National Election Watch (NEW) observer, and so I had access all areas!

above: People running to get in line to vote at 6am, Aug 11

below: the first person to vote at the booth that I was monitoring

The result of the August 11 elections revealed that neither of the two main presidential contenders received more than the 55% vote which they needed to win. So...there was a run off in September. The run off concluded that the opposition party, the red party, the All People's Congress had won!

Visitors and New Arrivals!

September and October flew by, as 2 of my closest friends came to Salone!! I had Caro, one of my school friends from London come visit for two blissful weeks of hanging out, sitting on beaches, and being merry. A week before Care's arrival, Diya arrived in Freetown, which was wonderful! I was so excited (and still am)! Diya is also a VSO, who started work in Makeni in Oct. Byrne Lane also acquired a new housemate, which is very significant in our lives. Me and Kate did question if we could love someone else, but I think we've succeeded! Welcome Jayne! Xx
November came, and plans for Krystle's farewell party were well underway. The party was great, and I am very thankful to everyone at YAPAD, and of course my wonderful housemates Kate, Jayne and Dennis for all their help (monetary and emotional to be precise). It was quite amazing to have all the people I love in Salone under our roof! Little did we know that actually there was no need for this partayyyy...

What, I hear you ask?? December came, and YAPAD got a VSO called Serita to come and do a HR analysis. In her analysis she raised issues surrounding the running of the programme at YAPAD, the skills and capacities required to run the programme, etc. VSO and YAPAD concluded that either they needed to find another volunteer to take over my role, or I would need to extend again. So, Krystle's contract got extended! Don't worry, it won't happen again!

So now I'm back in sunny (sic) London, where I am chilling, catching up with friends, using the internet, EATING, spending quality time with fambule, generally having what some people would call a 4 week holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The longest holiday I've had in years - I'm starting to pull my hair out! It's been so lovely catching up with people... Sometimes it's a bit surreal, and I wake up thinking where the hell am I, but I know I'm going back to Salone next week, so I don't have to deal with the emotions that are associated with permanent departures! We'll deal with them in April - the beasts!

Much love to you all - and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Photos at last!

so, on the left, me and Francis,
a good friend of mine on a boat going to
Sussex Beach one weekend a few weeks back...






Here is the launching of voter registration...
all voter education materials, like this banner were designed by Simon,
a fellow YfD/VSOer.


On the left is also at the
launching of Voter Reg -
Victoria Park, Freetown..
And here, check it out - along with the approaching election, we get STREETLIGHTS!! In the DAYTIME! lol. imagine. This is a streetlight along Lumley Beach..

PRESS RELEASE

BLOOD DIAMOND THE MOVIE (this is from a Sierra Leonean point of view, not exclusively mine)

The Coalition for Just Mining (CJM) is an effort by Non-governmental organizations to put their voices together for more accountable and transparent mining practices in Sierra Leone. In CJM’s opinion, the movie, “Blood Diamond” is a fine piece of filmography. The drama and fast-paced scenes stunned many Sierra Leoneans who have had the opportunity to watch it, however the storyline lacks substance and depth.

The movie portrays a piece of Sierra Leone’s sad past; a darker phase that is long gone and reconciled in the minds and hearts of the population. The situations shown in the movie were bleak; they were violent, bloody, but many Sierra Leoneans acknowledge that they are an accurate depiction of what happened. Diamond mining fueled the brutality and chaos of the civil war. Millions of dollars swapped hands, and crooked dealers encountered vast amounts of wealth at the cost Sierra Leone. What happened to those dealers who brought, and continue to bring in the guns and other weaponry? Nothing! Or if it did, the movie failed to go into sufficient depth to acknowledge it.

The movie hails the dealers, portrays them as philanthropists that have Africa at heart. However on closer analysis, DiCaprio, the hero of the movie, is a racist, who continually refers to Africa as a God-forsaken, doomed place, and to any black character in the movie with derogatory terms such as “kaffir”. On the other hand, the African characters in the movie are one dimensional and unrealistic. The main Sierra Leonean role manifests the colonial legacy of whites atop blacks and Africa’s dependence on the West. Hounsou plays the role of a meek victim, who is inevitably “saved” by DiCaprio. Hounsou’s son, is just another black character in the movie who is portrayed as a violent, mindless, blood-thirsty killer. These depictions of African characters are superficial, inaccurate and harmful to the image the world has of Africans.

Sierra Leone achieved peace in 2000. We had Elections in 2002. In 2006, the UN which had a peace keeping force here gave us a clean bill and declared us stable and able to handle our security before pulling out their peace keeping troops. We currently have various post-conflict development plans and are moving towards economic stability. A successful reconciliation process has enabled us to live in harmony, in an inclusive society that is accepting of former child combatants, as well as people who have been affected by the conflict such as amputees. Surely the situation has changed a lot? Why didn’t the movie recognize our progress, instead of allowing the world to continue in the belief that Sierra Leone is still a war torn country?

And yes! We still have problems in the diamond industry. After the dust settled in 2000 the big multi-national companies sailed in with their big investment. The government, desperate to draw in foreign investment signed various agreements that were not made clear to the chiefs and the rural people who own the lands. The companies waved their agreements each time the people called for transparency and social responsibility.

We are not the blood thirsty people you see on “Blood Diamond”. We are a country working hard to get past a difficult history, to regain economic, social and political development. Blood Diamond does not recognize this, does not recognize the progress we have made in the last six years, and does not understand the intricacies of our country, or the conflict that occurred here.

Co-written by: Alimamy Kamara and Krystle Lai

Blood Diamond?? Stay home and wash your underwear…(mother hen - right as always, lol)

Last night was the screening of Blood Diamond at Mamba Point (a horrible ex-pat bar/restaurant that packs out with NGO workers, UN personnel, high commissioners and the like)…BUT it plays movies every Tuesday and is the only place to see recently released movies on a biggish screen in Freetown…So anyways, intrigued by how Hollywood had portrayed Sierra Leone in this new blockbuster starring DiCaprio….we went along..

WHY, why, WHY do I always have such high hopes for these STUPID films!!!!?? If you haven't seen Blood Diamond yet, please don't let me put you off, but please keep in mind that....

First of all, the entire film was shot in Mozambique, WHY!? Kono district (which was mispronounced all the way through the film), is home to many mining companies, so understandably these companies may not have wanted a Hollywood filmcrew wandering around, (because they have mined and exploited the landscape so much it has become dangerous for people to walk around without falling into enormous holes created by blasting), but surely they could have filmed the Freetown scenes IN Freetown?? The war is long over, there is no reason why they couldn't have filmed in country. The backdrop was unrealistic, and very un-Salonean.

The other thing that annoyed me the most is the fact that the hero of the day was Di Caprio – who plays the part of a white Zimbabwean!! Oh my days. Need I say more??? So Blood Diamonds, in short, is all about a white Zimbabwean who smuggles conflict diamonds across the border to Liberia, who ends up being a martry by dying and in the meanwhile saving poor ole Soloman, the poor Salonean man and his child soldier, Dia. Oh pleeeease, how bad can it get! Good one Hollywood – good reinforcement of people's wrong pre-conceptions – this is a film aimed at White audiences – to make them feel good; so how are Salone people supposed to feel when they watch it?? Think about it.

If you do go see it, please remember that Sierra Leone was not saved by such shady characters.

For those of you who have chosen not to see the film for whatever reason (genius), and for those of you who were intrigued like me and did see it (optimist), and well, even for those of you who liked it (?!^*@>), you may also want to check out: http://www.hostgallery.co.uk/
They've got an exhibition going, which is due to end soon, so London folks, get down there to see it (and then drop me a line to let me know if it's any good, lol)!

If you want a good read, read this: Blood Diamonds by Greg Campbell.

Also check out an NGO called Global Witness: http://www.globalwitness.org/

Hope you lot are well. Peace. X

Two Months In...

So, ok I realise I’ve been here over two months, and I’ve only written 3 blogs. I’m crap, I know!

So anyways, here’s some of my most recent ramblings…

Well first of all, I was struck down with food poisoning, and other nice infections for the past week. I was left vomiting for the first day and feeling extremely nauseous for the rest of the week. Visited the doctor 3 times, and am now on a dose of antibiotics for my sins. My sin being eating everything that comes my way. Deary me.

Anyways, I’m back on track now…..

I finally feel like I’m getting properly stuck into things here, and time seems to be ticking by at a pretty fast rate. So fast that sometimes I think that a year here isn’t long enough! My days here are pretty busy…

Although I do find my mind drifting a lot and wondering about things…some trivial, some not so trivial..

Like...

It’s so weird that Sierra Leone is in the same time zone as London, and just six hours can transport you there if you have £500 to spare... Yet they are literally worlds apart. This month, theUN Human Development Index (HDI) was released in South Africa. The Index ranks all (well almost all) the countries in the world according to a range of variables such as literacy rates, education, and life expectancy. Countries like the US (ranked number 8), the UK (number 18), Australia (number 3), are all dandy, but little regard is given to the countries at the other end of the Index. Imagine being from Niger (bottom of the Index) or Sierra Leone (second from bottom).... Sweet Salone has been branded the least livable country in the world!!!!

I can’t count the number of conversations I’ve had with Sierra Leonean people who talk about their country in such a demeaning way, like they’re ashamed of what their country has become. Some people I speak to are so ashamed of their country that they insinuate that the white man should come back because back then things were “fine”. No NO NO!!!! This is not good!!! I hate the bring back colonialism mentality. The people of Sierra Leone are all too aware that their country is at the bottom of UN indexes, and it is humiliating, degrading and unfair. Statistics can be very damaging. ...what to do?

Anyways, enough of my rambles...

For those of you who are keen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

Take care.

Hit me with comments and emails to make me feel better pls.

Xx

Last weekend me and Moonie got invited to Charlotte Falls with Simon and Maro (2 other VSOs that live about 15 mins walk away from us)..S&M sorted us out with a vehicle from the National Electoral Commission (Simon’s employer)…and off we went..

Charlotte Falls is about 30 min drive from Freetown….on a very bumpy road. It’s so beautiful there, really secluded and serene, up in the hills. A couple of young guys from Charlotte Town offered to show us around, and we had a really nice day swimming and basking in the sun. Blissful! Unfortunately I managed to slice my left foot on a jagged rock, and yesterday I ended up at the doctors in town to get a tetanus jab…Great! Just when I thought I was done with jabs, after the 20 odd I had in London! Had a peek under the dressing the doc put on for me yesterday and it looked absolutely vile. YUK. Lol.

I’m sitting at work right now, enjoying the cool breeze of the office fan. It’s hot. And it’s only going to get hotter, although I’m told that it gets cooler til December, then we’ll all fry til March/April when Harmattan (dry season) will end and it starts to cool down again. Nice! It’s wet season at the moment, and boy is it wet. It seriously rains here. A lot! Umbrellas make good shields against the forces of nature and good walking sticks for the rocky roads.

I really don’t know what to write in this blog thing. The idea of writing my thoughts and then posting them on the WORLD WIDE WEB is a bit weird to me…. So any suggestions about what you’d like to hear about on here would be great!

So til I get some suggestions…. :o)

17th Oct 2006